Morning walk through Kastom Village
Take Off
Jörgen Wennberg
Wed 12 Jul 2017 07:34
The day after our explosive visit to the volcano we had a nice morning walk through the village of Kastom in Port Resolution. This country is amazing showing how you can live side by side with 2 languages and several religions as they have simultaneously been governed by England and France during the 20th century. This is without counting that every island have their own language and that they also have Bislama: a mix of English, French and some Spanish that is spoken on all the 83 islands. Most people speak the four languages and the children go to either the English schools (where they learn French) or the French schools (where they learn English). Even within the families, parents and children separate from each other are either more French or English depending in which school they went to. I guess that having these four languages around them in their daily life makes them more tolerant. The people of Vanuatu are very friendly, generous and peaceful. I think we Europeans do have some things to learn from these people. Vanuatu’s history: a Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1750 kilometres east of northern Australia and west of Fiji. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island in 1606. In the 1880s, France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the archipelago, and in 1906 they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through an Anglo–French condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was founded in 1980.    Their simple fishing tools.  Visiting the Port Resolution Yacht Club where we found our Swedish friends, Pia and Erik’s flag, from the boat Spirit whom we sailed with from St Lucia to Fiji. They were here exactly a year ago.   We also found legacy from our friends from last year: Into The Blue, Spirit, Mearra Nieida, Wishanger II, Paradise Found, Barbara Jean, Belafonte, Overseas Express, Meermowe, Toujours Belle and more...  This is a legacy from the World ARC 2 years ago where our friends Caspar and Nichola sailed with their children Bluebell, Columbus and Willow on Aretha.    Walking our way through the village with our guide John.       Inside this building we found a shop where they sell home made handbags and other arts & crafts. I think that the most popular service they offer is being a charging center...   Owning one of the few solar panels in the village the shop has a major role in this society.   In some countries families let their children fetch the milk, while in other countries the children fetch the charged telephones and lamps.    We continued walking through the village and found 2 restaurants!   This one we booked a table for tonight: “Chez Léa”. As for the name Léa is French, while her kids are more English as she put them in the closest school being English. However she chose to put her last born in the French school, being an hour walk one way from the village, as she needs someone else in the family to speak French when serving French speaking guests.  We continued walking to the other side of the island. Alex with Jeff from the American boat Altair.     Alex and Inez finding a fun climbing tree on the beach.        In the evening we had dinner Chez Léa with Dirk and Bettina from Ain’t Fancy (GER), Emma and Dietmar from Ceserina (GBR and GER), Terje and Pia from Aurora Polaris (NOR) and Nicole and Armin from Ashia (GER). Totally amazing how Léa manages to cook this so well tasty dinner behind the curtains in a for us quite non-existing kitchen.       |