{"id":3478,"date":"2018-05-14T23:10:43","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T23:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svslowflight.com\/?p=3478"},"modified":"2018-05-29T20:46:20","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T20:46:20","slug":"mind-blowing-literally-tanna-island-mount-yasur-and-the-most-primitive-villages-we-have-experienced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/14\/mind-blowing-literally-tanna-island-mount-yasur-and-the-most-primitive-villages-we-have-experienced\/","title":{"rendered":"Mind Blowing…literally: Tanna Island….Mount Yasur and the most primitive villages we have experienced"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Drone footage of the village at Port Resolution bay on Tanna Island, Vanuatu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Drone footage of the anchorage (from left to right): SV Slow Flight, SV Tucan (Baz, Jules, and Gordon), SV Henrietta (Michael), SV Another Adventure (Frank and Ivonne)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We must give you an introduction into some of the Vanuatu intricacies we have been told\/read\/learned about as they are much different than what we had experienced thus far throughout the pacific islands.<\/p>\n

— History-\u00a0<\/strong>the French and British fought over Vanuatu for hundreds of years and until very recent (1980 to be exact) Vanuatu became an independent country.\u00a0 With that said, there are still divided practices depending on if that village was dominated by either the French or the English\u2026. Or even cults (look up the Cargo Cult\u2026it\u2019s is specific to Tanna Island).<\/p>\n

— Bislama-<\/strong> is the national language which is a mix of English, French, and local tougne\u2026.it is similar to \u201cpigeon talk\u201d in Hawaii.\u00a0 There are 35 different languages spoken on Tanna Island alone.\u00a0 Many villages have their own local language so communicating with each other from different villages could be an issue but they all understand each other somehow.\u00a0 Most villagers speak their local tougnue rather than Bislama.\u00a0 But it is clear that most villages speak multiple languages: English, Bislama, sometimes French, and all the surrounding village languages they communicate with.\u00a0 These people are super intelligent\u2026I can barely speak English!<\/p>\n

— Hospitality-<\/strong>\u00a0 is a very sensitive and delicate social relationship with lots of rules\u2026.it\u2019s like hospitability is like status\/class to them:\u00a0 The more you give the higher rank you are.\u00a0\u00a0 For us visiting other pacific countries, we are used to gifting small gifts when we see fit but here in Vanuatu\u2026.gifting is complicated! It\u2019s best to keep the attitude and perspective that we are THEIR guests in their villages and gifting to just 1 person could be served with consequences .\u00a0 Trading is different\u2026..as long as each party feels the exchange is equal.\u00a0 We have traded more here in a few days than all other countries combined!\u00a0 Pots, cooking utensils, T-shirts, coffee, milk, tinned cans of meats, rope\/line, small gifts for children and wives. \u00a0\u00a0We are being very cautious of this particular culture, even though we pay cash for a tour of the village etc., we don\u2019t just hand out stuff, we always accept what is being offered in return\u2026which is hard for ME : )<\/p>\n

— Money<\/strong>– is not \u201creally\u201d important to them\u2026at least in the remote villages.\u00a0 They build their houses out of natural materials, there is usually a village garden so food is free.\u00a0 There is cell service but no electricity. Little solar panels are everywhere and there is generally 1 generator that is run for an hour or so in the evening for electricity.\u00a0 Money earned generally goes to a village fund to make purchases for the villagers as a whole or to help families send their children to secondary school in Port Vila.<\/p>\n

— Kindness-<\/strong> is taught as part of the “Tanna” way.\u00a0 We were told by Tanna Island\u2019s own director of cultural relations whom we met on the truckride back to the boat to Port Resolution as he caught a ride home. Literally \u201ckindness\u201d and acceptance is part of the upbringing of the children\u2026.we definitely experienced this!<\/p>\n

The Village –<\/strong> <\/span>After a good night’s rest, we woke up to another vessel coming into the bay.\u00a0 It was SV Tucan, a custom aluminum catamaran (hence the name…get it?).\u2026we told them the scoop about clearing in:\u00a0 We needed advanced approval to make landfall and clear into the country at Port Resolution. The officials are on the other side of the Tanna island and have to drive hours on a dirt road to get to us to check in.\u00a0 Frank had spoken to Stanley at the yacht club and was told the officials couldn’t come to Port Resolution until the next day and that we were ok to go ashore.\u00a0 So that is what we did!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Trevor outside the Yacht club<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Inside view of the yacht club….dirt floors, an old couch, table and a few chairs. They serve beer but only if you like it warm…otherwise you need to wait until they run the generator at night to keep the beer cold.\u00a0 A funny story:\u00a0 There was a truck parked outside the yacht club playing music.\u00a0 There was a lady who was dancing so I joined in…she and I danced for 2 songs and all the women inside the yacht club were laughing “with” us (i hope).\u00a0 Men started to show up wondering what all the ruckus was about and stood outside the yacht club just staring at us.\u00a0 Then the truck rolled away and the music stopped.\u00a0 Bellies hurting from laughing…it was a great welcome!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The yacht club had a visitors book and we saw a familiar boat name! SV All Day (Vlad and Nicole)…we miss you both dearly!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We took a tour of the village after obtaining permission from Stanley, the guy who “runs” the yacht club and we assumed was the chief of the village.\u00a0 We were kindly escorted to Stanley’s abode and met his beautiful daughters.\u00a0 He then walked us to the center of town and told us we could walk to the beach on the other side.\u00a0 On the way to the beach, following a dirt road, we almost passed through a cleared area where 2 men were sitting. They quickly got up and told us we couldn’t be there and that this space was “sacred” and we needed to take a separate path around this cleared area.\u00a0 We were a bit surprised but of course followed him to the path around.\u00a0 We deeply apologized for disrupting this space but asked the nature of the space.\u00a0 His response totally made sense:\u00a0 There is a ritual here in Vanuatu called Nakamal.\u00a0 This is where MEN ONLY drink Kava.\u00a0 In southern Vanuatu the traditional method of preparation involves chewing the roots, then spitting the resulting paste into a container. Current methods involve preparation in rams (in which kava is pounded in a section of pipe), meat-mincers, and mechanical grinders. After grinding the kava is mixed with water and sieved before serving.\u00a0 Basically, women are not allowed in the Nakamal…so we walked around : )<\/p>\n

\"\"
As we walked to Stanley’s home, these boys were headed home as well…. I love the image of the boy bringing home the fish..it’s what’s for dinner for sure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
This is Stanley’s new home still being made. Notice the donated sail as a roof currently. All the homes are built with natural materials. We learned that this is better for cyclones as the wind can move through the material….even though it can be blown down.\u00a0 After cyclone Pam (category 5) that hit Vanuatu back in 2015,\u00a0 and in theory, the surviving villages could just started to make new homes and could because they didn’t have to wait for “materials”.\u00a0 However, there was a drought just after cyclone Pam and food was scarce and so were the building materials, hence the villages are still working on rebuilding their communities. These islands don’t get government aid very often so they are literally “on their own” when it comes down to it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Though I found the mix of new and old startling: Here there is a brand new Luci light (blow up solar light that costs about $30 usd) charging on a portable solar powered battery. This was inside Stanley’s new almost build home. Some of the older kids had cell phones and little solar panels on the side of homes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
This place is owned by Sarah, probably she lives just behind this structure. She offers dinner and coffee…it’s not starbucks so sorry no Flat Whites here : )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Boy hanging out in a tree…kids were playing in the nearby field<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
These homes are incredibly primitive….it was really like in the movies of a small village out in the middle of nowhere…this village was the most primitive in nature than we have experienced as of yet…yet these are the happiest and kindest of people we have met…seriously I am not just saying that….and believe me we have met some incredibly nice people…but these folks, by far take the cake!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Meet Jill, and her mother, daughter, and grand mother…4 generations on 1 mat. She is weaving a mat for the floor but was proud to show us the other baskets she has made. The pink color was purchased, I asked, I hoped it was dyed naturally and they could show me what they use…but it was probably made in china….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Kids playing\/throwing a …… fruit? It wasn’t a ball or a rock (thank goodness)…definitely a fruit of sort…maybe an orange…which we bought some later that day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
After being kicked out of the sacred Nakamal space, we arrived at the otherside of the bay (the ocean side) and the beach was covered with pumice rocks…I took a few for a spa day on Slow Flight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Also at the beach there was a “volcano bar”…closed unfortunately but Trevor is being his typical optimistic self…..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
On our way back to the boat….around the Nakamal…..we saw lots of sand writing…. practice for sure for the kiddos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were all invited to have a few sundowners and dinner aboard SV Tucan: Captain Baz (short for Barry), Julie or aka Jules and Gordon (both crew).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Our first dinner party in Vanuatu…it was a good sign for more good times to come with new friends!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mt Yasur –<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0We had arranged with Stanley (the yacht club guy) to go see Mt. Yasur, the active volcano on the island.\u00a0 It was expensive; $25 usd\/per person for transportation to and from the tour center and then another $100 usd\/per person for the actual tour (bring Vatu – Vanuatu money..they don’t take other currencies or credit cards).\u00a0 Two separate villages “own” the rights to the volcano and have obviously done a great job commercializing it.\u00a0 However there are politics behind it all.\u00a0 We assume these 2 villages have a great say in what goes on around the island or near the villages that could reap any benefits from infrastructure the tourism has brought to the volcano.\u00a0 With that said, Stanley was very keen to make sure we had the money to pay for the tour (SV Tucan didn’t have enough cash but said they would go to town and get some and pay the next day) and stated that if we couldn’t pay, “they” wouldn’t be happy with him.\u00a0 We assumed “they” were the 2 tribes and would know that Stanley sent people who could not pay and that might not be a good thing for Stanley and his village… We also heard that the Vanuatu government “dislike” Tanna island, probably because they don’t get any proceeds from the volcano…therefore villages on Tanna fend for themselves a bit more.\u00a0 This is all hearsay, no one has confirmed it…<\/p>\n

Despite the politics and expense…my gosh\u2026it was a lifetime experience that is hard to articulate but here I will try:<\/p>\n

All photos here are courtesy of Ivonne (SV Another Adventure) as my phone took a swim and all was lost.\u00a0 Thanks Ivonne again for sharing<\/em> : )<\/p>\n

\"\"
We hopped into the village truck…they put the yacht club’s couch cushions in the back for us (too kind) and we all packed in to head to the volcano. Let me tell you..this road …to say it was “bumpy” is such an understatement! Watch your head too because limbs and branches would hit your head! Photo courtesy of Ivonne\u00a0 : )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Late add: This was a volcano dance the local villagers performed. You could hear their feet stomp against the ground all in unison….it was fun to watch and feel the ground move underneath your feet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Meet Noel…our tour guide for the volcano.\u00a0 Noel actually came to our boat the next morning to get a certificate from a computer course “laminated” as paper deteriorates quickly in this environment.\u00a0 After the tour was over, he just came up to me and asked if I was from a yacht and if we had materials to help him accomplish this (they are not afraid to ask for things).\u00a0 We said yes and he said he would come canoe to us the next morning.\u00a0 We had a nice chat and photo opp with him but sadly it is lost with my phone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
On our walk up to the top of the volcano, we passed this! It’s real…we heard as well Vanuatu has an underwater post box and sells waterproof post cards to be mailed….how crazy is that?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Can you see the people at the top of the ridge? We hiked around the rim of the volcano…the wind would blow all you could smell was sulfur and ash would hit your exposed legs and arms…I suggest a mask of sorts and glasses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Frank and Ivonne from SV Another Adventure at the rim of the volcano!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
It’s hard to articulate what it felt to be this close to an active volcano!\u00a0 We had the perfect night:clear skies, wind was light, and this thing “burps” every 20 minutes or so…some big some small…I happened to be behind of the group on the way around the rim fumbling with my phone I am sure….then\u00a0 “BLAMMMM!”\u00a0 I looked up and I could see a pulse (sound wave or pressure of sorts) right before the lava shot up into the air.\u00a0 My heart stopped and I think I screamed but no one could hear me…All I could do was stand there in total AWE!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not sure what can top seeing an active volcano for the first time…but after the tour, we all arranged to have dinner in the small village at Leah\u2019s place.\u00a0 She was all ready for us when we arrived at 7pm for dinner with our own beer and wine.\u00a0 We had no idea what to expect\u2026but pleasantly surprised with the local cuisine and especially for only $8 usd.\u00a0 It just got better! : )<\/p>\n

\"\"
From left to right: Gordon (crew on SV Tucan), Jules (crew on SV Tucan), Trevor at the head of the table but in the “short chair”, Leah the owner of the restaurant standing in the yellow dress, Baz (captain on SV Tucan), Ivonne (crew on SV Another Adventure), and Frank (captain of SV Another Adventure).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next morning, Frank, Ivonne and I decide to take a tour of the steam vent we would watch while at anchor.\u00a0 We were greeted by curious kids who helped us pull in the dinghy and a lovely lady, Sheila.\u00a0 Sheila is from another village who’s “range” includes this steam vent and they are trying to “commercialize” it like the volcano tribes have done with the volcano. In her village, the women rotate who ‘mans’ the beach for possible tourist to come see their steam vents.\u00a0Shelia told us any money earned in her village goes to a fund in which they send children off to school.\u00a0 The schools in the local villages are free but only go to about primary level.\u00a0 If a family wants their kids to go to secondary level, they have to pay lots of money for the child to go to Port Vila.\u00a0 Something I don\u2019t think happens very often.\u00a0\u00a0Remember people trade here…time for something so we all offered her something as we didn’t have much cash to give.<\/p>\n

All photos here are courtesy of Ivonne (SV Another Adventure) as my phone took a swim and all was lost.\u00a0 Thanks Ivonne again for sharing<\/em> : )<\/p>\n

\"\"
Just pulled in to the beach. These boys helped pull up the dinghy…it was almost like they were taught to do this for yachties…they have done this before : )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Shelia, our tour guide to the steam vents which are just on the other side of the volcano. The girls followed us and would want to hold our hands and we would hi-five each other. Notice the girl with the pink plastic bottle…we would watch her play with it walking up to the steam vents…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The steam vents….it was really hot but you could see the air being pumped out by the force of the volcano on the other side of the mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Sheila took us up to a viewpoint where there is colored clay which use to be used to paint faces back in the day …now they just use store bought paint when they decorate their bodies and face we were told. Here Sheila is “painting” the girls faces”….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Then she painted ours ; ) She would stick a branch into a hole and pull out different colors of clay..she joked she needed to find the right “tone” for our skin colors…we all laughed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The view from the view point from the otherside of the bay. If you notice the beach to the left of the photo…we were told this beach is sacred and that no visitors are allowed. We asked why: Sheila told us there is a pool where it is calm and there is where they would wash the bodies of the dead before they would “send them off”. She said that sometimes someone would be taken there because they were sick and the bath would have healing powers. It wasn’t the actual practice that was a bit creepy but how Sheila told us the stories….it’s a very real thing to them and in a place where “magic” is practiced I don’t believe I will be stopping at this beach. They don’t practice this now but she seems to know all of the past stories related to this beach so it runs deep.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

That evening, SV Henrietta sailed in and then there were 4 boats.\u00a0 Michael on SV Henrietta is also headed to Indonesia and on the same rally as we are… We planned to head out the next morning so we invited everyone over for dinner, Slow Flight style, A\/C and all!\u00a0 Everyone got a little tipsy and stuffed with Trevor’s baked pasta.\u00a0 I wish I had my photo of everyone.<\/p>\n

We were told later the officials were at the island of Anatom and would not be able to check us in until the following Monday and to proceed north to Port Vila and clear in then if we like\u2026.AWESOME\u2026we didn\u2019t have to pay the extra cash for the officials to come to us…how cool is that?!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Yes this little girl is walking arouond with a machette…she is mean mugging us at the moment but in a few moments after she will be holding Ivonnes hand and showing her something on the ground to look at. I just love this image though!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The island of Erromango up next\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We must give you an introduction into some of the Vanuatu intricacies we have been told\/read\/learned about as they are[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vanuatu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iVSN-U6","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3478"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3539,"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478\/revisions\/3539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svslowflight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}