Vanuatu
Karinya
Tim And Vicki Schofield, Captain Cal 7 and Jess 4
Sun 23 Oct 2011 00:16
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19.31s 169.28e
With SA no longer in the WRC we headed for Vanuatu
a 3 day sail. We had the choice of Port Vila or the really remote island of
Tanna. As Tanna would be tough to get to from Vila, and we did not need TV
coverage, we decided to head straight to Tanna,
where they have the most accessible active volcano in the world. From 20
miles out we could see the smoke coming out of the island and at night the whole
skyline is ablaze with fire.
So after anchoring we took the dingy to shore,
found a guy called Stanley ( no he did not say Livingston I presume) he
arranged via bush telegraph for a truck to take us up to the
volcano.
WOW, it was one of the best experiences of our
trip. A very bumpy 40 minute drive in the back of a bakkie to get
there. Dust up your nose, in your ears, you get the picture. Finally
we arrived, a short walk from the car park (no marked parking spaces or "pay and
display") to an amazing rumbling canyon. The smoke coming out was
incredible, and of course where there is smoke there is fire. It erupts
about 80 - 200 times each hour so no chance of missing the
fireworks. We got there at 5PM daylight and stayed till 7PM dark so we got
the different aspects of the eruptions. The best description is huffing and
puffing with steam smoke and lava, then the wind gets sucked out of your chest
and it explodes, rocks the size of cars are flung 500 meters into the sky and
molten lava splashes the the cliff sides then cools. During the daylight hours
we moved around the rim to see different aspects, but at night we moved to the
"safe area" where the rocks don't usually land. We were up when the volcano
was at stage 3, at stage 4 you cant go to the rim as 2 people were actually
killed from the lava rocks last year. Who knows who does the
classification, but this is not a country with litigation, so "enter at your own
risk" springs to mind.
After that we made some unannounced visits to a
couple of local villages. 3rd world countries would look like Silicon valley in
comparison,no power no water but luckily food falling out of the sky. They live
in grass huts, and mats made from tree bark on the floor. Entering the
village you see men holding machetes, visions of cannibalism fly through your
mind, but they are a very friendly community, the children were
fascinated by ours. After giving the children all some biscuits, they
reciprocated with with bananas and lots of their local vegetables. It was
a wonderful experience. One village had managed to get hold of a
generator. After we had a visit from a local guy in his dugout to our
boat, it was clear it wasn't working. So we offered to come and look at
it. Imagine 10 men all crowded around this thing, and no joy. But
they don't use it for light, oh no, they want to power their laptop so they can
watch movies!!!!! So with a failing generator, they use us yachties to
power this, and numerous mobile phones!!!
They then invited us and another boat, Connect 4,
to have a dinner on the beach. They did want a donation but that was
fine. So, the wife (Sarah) of the generator man (Tom), cooked up lots and
walked it the 500m to the beach for us to eat. All laid out beautifully on
straw mats. A variety of local veg, chicken(but we couldn't find the
chicken only the bones!!), sweet potato, bean and rice. Mostly cooked in
coconut milk. So they can eat really well. It was actually quite
nice, but we had our taste buds numbed a little from the Kava we had to drink
before.
This is another story in itself. So read
on......
In Fiji, they grind the Kava root which is dried,
and then mix with water and use implements to assist with this. So when
Tom says come and drink Kava, we were looking forward to the whole ceremony with
the bog bowl. WRONG.......
Picture the scene, man sitting on floor chewing a
huge amount of tree bark. We say oh this is novel, the real thing.
So Tim and Steve had a wee chew. I didn't as I didn't want to chew on the
same tree branch as Mr. Gob. Well, Tim then says oh, check out the big cow
pat on the leaf over there. Ummmm, Mr Gob chews the raw Kava, then spits
it out on the leaf. when there is sufficient of this cow pat, it is put
into a bowl, any will do, and water added. Then the numerous small kids
(whose hands I care not to think where they have been), continue to mix
thoroughly with their hands. Mr Gob by the way has eyes like
saucers,chipmunk cheeks filled with Kava and is as black as the ace of
spades. Thoughts of gonorrhea, syphilis, Hepatitis, go through our
minds..you get the picture. Then we are offered it in the customary
coconut shell. But funnily enough we were not that enthusiastic!!!!
Tim still is struggling with this!!!!
So a great night, but not to be repeated for
us!!!!
We also saw some local dancing by men dressed in
their traditional gear. This comprises of only a grass skirt at the
front. Apparently they are supposed to wrap there dangly bits in the skirt
so it is raised, but I wasn't so sure (I had the zoom lens!!!)
So off to the capital Port Vila on an island
called Efate. .
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