Around the World in 106 Days with

Ray & Claire!!

Part 26 – Vanuata

Pedro Fernandes de Queiros was the first European explorer here in 1605travelling on behalf of the Spanish Crown.

The Population of Port Vila (where we docked) is currently 40,000 whilst the total population of Vanuatu is about 250.000.

The first Christian missionary on the scene was the Rev John Williams from the London Missionary Society. In 1839, he stepped ashore on Erromango - and was promptly eaten!

In 1848, Rev John Geddie arrived on Aneityum and (having not been put in the cooking pot) started the Presbyterian mission in Vanuatu.

With the discovery of sandalwood in the 1880’s, both the French and the British became extremely interested in the islands making up Vanuaru and led to England and France both

laying claims on the island group

In 1906, they agreed on a

framework of jointly managing the archipelago

as the New Hebrides

(so named by Captain Cook in

1774)An this was

referred to as the

“British-French Condominium

In 1980, amidst the brief Coconut War, the Republic of Vanuatu was created

Vanuatu has been divided into six Provinces since 1994. The names in English of all provinces are derived from the initial letters of their constituent

islands: ie • Malampa (Malakula, Ambrym, Paama)• Penama (Pentecost, Ambae, Maewo – in French: Pénama)• Sanma (Santo, Malo)• Shefa(Shepherds group, Efate – in French: Shéfa)• Tafea (Tanna, Aniwa, Futuna, Erromango, Aneityum – in French: Taféa)• Torba (Torres islands, Banks islands)

In terms of natural resources there is not really a lot here and, although there has been some mining for manganese in the past, this ceased a long time ago and tourism is getting more and

more important.

Port Vila general view, the bay in the background is where we docked

...as you can see, the actual town of Port|Vila is a little stretched out

At the gates to the port area we were greeted by a local welcoming committee playing instruments

Hey Ray, these guys are great - do you think you could get them to join our Black

Watch Show Group?!

Hurry up you two – the mini bus is waiting to take you to the Cultural

village at Ekasup!

The new Parliament Building is close to the waterfront and is a contrast to the old colonial houses nearby

And here is the Town’s Post Office – complete with ATM machine (very convenient for using the HEC company card for withdrawing cash.....but don’t tell Rozz!!)

There is a wonderful furit market in Port Vila – which wasn’t of much use to us we are not allowed to take any local produce back on board the Black Watch

(it didn’t stop us tasting a few bits and pieces, however)

As you can see in this part of the world, there are some very good graffiti artists around

There was a chance to look around at Mama’s Arts and Crafts market on the way for some local handicraft and souvenirs, but we “unfortunately” didn’t have enough time as we were on our

way to see and enjoy the Cultural Village.

Ekasup Village (funded by the French and tourism) has been voted the best tourist attraction in the country several years running with the locals dressed in their traditional dress and demonstrating the ways and lifestyles of ancient

Melanesia

Looks like a pretty dangerous place to me! These head-

hunters look serious

Oh come on you coward – I found quite a friendly one

just now

She's my heroine!

The villagers showed us some of the ways that they used (and still do

today to a certain extent) to hunt for animals and

fish

The “cage” on the left is used to catch chickens

and smaller animals

Coconut is left inside the cage (like a normal

mouse trap) the animal triggers the frame to drop around its body – but this time, without harming the animal which can carry on

eating the food and get fatter before being

consigned to the cooking pot

They catch their bait by collecting spider webs and swishing them

around a triangular shaped

stick.They then swish the sticky web in

rock pools around the

waters edge to catch the very

small fish which are attached to the stickiness of

the webs

They use lobster pots (similar in

shape to our modern ones)

and a pole with

layers of fresh vines which have been

frayed.

This fraying releases the juice from

inside the vine and when the

stick is swished around in a

pool, it extracts the oxygen from the pool and the fish just float to

the surface

(Algars please note for future

use!!)

The villagers also showed us some of the traditional medicines and remedies used by the tribe

...such as

Red coleus (if that is how you spell it?) plant provides juice which is similar to that used in iron tablets.

The green coleus juice is used as an antiseptic etc

We were also shown some of their handicrafts and cooking

Basket weaving

Grating banana and drying it for future use in years to come

A 200-300 year old

Banyan tree that was large enough to get

most of the village inside in case of a

typhoon

We were then entertained to some dancing in time to their local “band”

A very realistic piano using partly filled bottles

Don't worry

– I’m only looking!

NO Comment!!

Did you see the size of

those vanilla pods?

Fred & Suscha

Yes I see what you

mean Claire – some of the locals

are friendly when you

get to know them

What a lovely place to have a house!

And the sea is just on the doorstep

Perhaps we should think about moving

from UK?

But meanwhile, our ship awaits us

So it is once more its time to Buckle up – and enjoy some entertainment at sea.....

...before arriving at out next

port of call

Which will be Fiji