Vanuatu - What a place

We have just returned from a stay in Vanuatu and what an amazing place. The people are so poor and lots of them live in what you can only call a 'shack', no windows, doors etc but OMG they are the most friendliest and happy people you could ever meet. There are no real road rules and ive never seen 'pot holes' and rough surfaces like i did there,lol

We flew from Brisbane 2 adults, 2 kids (although 1 now 15 yrs ,so paid adult prices for some things) and stayed 5 nights in the Holiday Inn at Port Villa. The hotel was great,lots of free activities, staff helpful and friendly and the food amazing.

Weather was fantastic,we had no rain and we saw some great attractions, snorkeled on Hideaway Island, climbed Cascade Waterfall, watched the amazing Fire Dancers (twice,lol) and overall had a fantastic time. I would highly recommend Vanuatu as somewhere for a great family holiday that doesnt break the bank and feels 'safe' for children.

Looks lovely Cal, glad you had a great time.

Is there lots of begging and crime? I just wondered with you saying the locals are poor.

A girl I went to secondary school with used to live in Vanuatu when she was younger with her parents. When she lived there she said it was more isolated and there was only a certain amount of time you could have electricity for and they were very self sufficient there.

She loved her childhood there but her parents moved back to give her an education in the UK.

I would love to visit there xx

I worked there and was involved in installing their mobile phone service, when it was the old analogue system. Had a good time. Work were paying for everything too.

The ex-pats working for Cable and Wireless are on a great number. The guy who I was working with had a fantastic house supplied, house keeper and a really good salary.

Cable and Wireless must be a good company to work for, they manage all the comms in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, West Indies and a lot of nice places. If it weren't for them though nothing would work.

Looks lovely Cal, glad you had a great time.

Is there lots of begging and crime? I just wondered with you saying the locals are poor.

We saw no begging or trouble,especially in around the 'town' were the locals seemed to hang around,talking and yelling to each other in their own language. It was 'messy' around there with lots of litter and believe it or not 'outer' shells from nuts all over the ground, makes a change from cigarette ends,lol..

We want to return during school time so we can take supplies to some of the schools. My son was playing with a local boy who said he didnt have a bed ,just a mat on the floor in the corner of a room, its heartbreaking for us to see but these kids know no different and are playing out and happy.

Cal x

We saw no begging or trouble,especially in around the 'town' were the locals seemed to hang around,talking and yelling to each other in their own language. It was 'messy' around there with lots of litter and believe it or not 'outer' shells from nuts all over the ground, makes a change from cigarette ends,lol..

 

We want to return during school time so we can take supplies to some of the schools. My son was playing with a local boy who said he didnt have a bed ,just a mat on the floor in the corner of a room, its heartbreaking for us to see but these kids know no different and are playing out and happy.

 

Cal x

Didn't see any begging or trouble when I was there either. The locals like to drink carva and when I'd been there a week or so and went in the same bar nearly every night they felt like they could trust me enough to give me some. Weird stuff it is, tastes horrible, drunk out of a coconut shell and has an hallucinatory affect. Only tried it the one night, stuck to the beer after that. Lot of ex-pats live there and there are a couple of bars popular for ex-pats.

Worked in the Solomon Islands too and the people are about the same there, maybe even poorer. Bone idle mind you. A lot of them worked for Cable and Wireless and Friday (pay day)there were Cable and Wireless vans driving all over Honiara with lots of people in the back. I asked the guy I was working with and he said it's pay day and market day, the locals take the afternoon off, go and pick the rest of the family up in the works van and take them to market. The company just have to suck it up as that's what the locals do. They work very hard to get locals into management and engineering positions but not many of them want to step up. The ones that do can do really well.

Brings back some memories! We went to Vanuatu in 2012. Stayed at Hideaway Island which I think is where one of your photos was taken. Both kids got their PADI dive licenses while we were there. The Waterfalls were walking distance and we went up there one day, and swam down the river all the way back down, lovely on a hot sticky day. Did you go to the Tanna Coffee place near there too?

The only negative thing I'd say is that because the people do live in such primitive conditions, the sanitation from the villages isn't ideal. Where we were staying was a marine reserve, but it seemed that the waste from the nearby village was just pumped - or washed - straight out to sea. Walking along the beach and crossing the river that flows down from the village was a little unpleasant, dodging the loo roll that was floating around, and we did all end up with quite bad stomach bugs - it's pretty inevitable when you are in the sea water all day I guess if there are bugs.

There is a strong french influence on the island, as it used to be a french colony I think, and many of the locals speak both english and french. We had a laugh with a guy we hired for a day to drive us around about how the men in Vanuatu are built for soccer, as opposed to the Fijians who are built for rugby! Many of the locals have invested heavily in their future by planting sandalwood trees, the oil from which is highly priced and sought after, although the trees take many years before the oil can be harvested.

Overall we found it a bit more expensive than Fiji, but that's not a bad thing as you feel more like you are paying for what things are worth, rather than lording it over the locals. Also if you go there, and stay in Port Vila, make sure if you are in the shops you somehow subtly indicate that you are staying on the island and are not a day tripper off one of the many cruise ships. Prices tend to rise for Cruise Ship passengers, who are often to be found around the duty free shop in Port Vila when a ship is in town - they wear their cruise IDs with pride, not knowing it's adding a premium to most of the stuff they buy!

Oh, and just remembered - yes, the Cava - made my whole mouth go numb and was like drinking mud!

Hi Diane

There were 2 days we had cruise ships in and i too heard about the price hikes on these days, personally we didnt find much difference tbh, but it's always worth knowing about.

We didnt go to Tanna Coffee but agree about Hideaway Island and the snorkeling / diving,we said it was great for a few hours but the resort looked tired and tatty so we are glad we didnt actually stay there. The little market area and village where you get the boat across is a bit tatty too, is this where you meant with the locals and their waste ?

We had a nosey around a few of the resorts and wasnt overlly impressed with most of them, although Poppys on the Lagoon looked ok, it was very small and we would still prefer to go back to the Holiday Inn.

Did you go to the Volcano? We wanted to ,but ran out of time so maybe next time.....

Cal x

Hi Cal, no we didn't go to the volcanic island (Tanna?) as you had to get another flight there and we were on a bit of a tight budget. How was the weather on your trip, was it the rainy season while you were there?

I went in September, very nice place. Wouldn't say the people were destitute or anything, didn't see any shacks, but they were very friendly and helpful. No begging, but most bizarrely, no dogs. No strays, no pets, or anything. Really really odd. I did see a very big rat one night walking to dinner (best steak I've ever had!) and screamed like a pansy, the locals walking in front of us laughed their arses off at me, as did my sister in law! I went for my visa validation trip so I could re-enter Aus as a resident.

I've wanted to go to Tanna ever since reading about the cargo cult in David Attenborough's autobiography. Has anyone else ever stayed there? Having done my PhD in volcanology I have a soft spot for dodging lava bombs so that's the other attraction of the Island, but not being into diving I wonder what else is there particularly.

Having a PhD in volcanology is about as cool as it gets. If I was you, I would casually mention it in every single conversation I had.

Having a PhD in volcanology is about as cool as it gets. If I was you, I would casually mention it in every single conversation I had.

I think Vulcanology would be cooler!!

NWM

I think Vulcanology would be cooler!!

 

NWM

Hmm....not cooler ....geekier possibly! :wink:

Having a PhD in volcanology is about as cool as it gets. If I was you, I would casually mention it in every single conversation I had.

Unfortunately the conversations would go along the lines of "well, if you set up an open-path Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscoper using an active IR source of around 1800 degrees, you then can measure sulphur dioxide concentrations to parts per billion..."

It's a lot less exciting than it looks on paper.

Unfortunately the conversations would go along the lines of "well, if you set up an open-path Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscoper using an active IR source of around 1800 degrees, you then can measure sulphur dioxide concentrations to parts per billion..."

 

It's a lot less exciting than it looks on paper.

Yeah, you've just convinced me. Ha!

Thought I'd post some pics of vanuatu. Great holiday destination from queensland , cheap too. Lots to see and do.

Tried to go to vanuatu once for a long weekend. Plane bailed on landing, and ended up going back to Brisbane.

It looked nice from about 100 feet above the runway though!

I see you enjoyed it too cal. I enjoyed showing my wife around. I like driving round in the back of the utes over there, was a experience my wife hadn't seen. We fit 10 of us in a toyota hilux. Wife took over 600 pictures. Out of all the South Pacific islands, vanuatu locals are definitely the friendliest IMO. Person we stay with has lived their 20 years and does his part for the mele village. Watching locals fish at night with a torch getting lobsters out of holes on a coral ledge that drops down 200 metres was something you don't see everyday. The fresh seafood was great. I would highly recommend Efate to anyone . The other islands are more remote.

Looks lovely Cal, glad you had a great time.

Is there lots of begging and crime? I just wondered with you saying the locals are poor.

The only locals you would see ask for something in vanuatu, are ones that are not part of a tribe. It's very rare to see. They are poor in the sense of no money, but money does not matter a great deal in their life. The majority are the happiest race of people I've experienced. I'm pretty sure years ago they were labelled the happiest race on the planet. They collect their seafood and fruit, but only enough to feed the family. The locals that do work , don't work for much but the money goes to the family.i envy them, and hope their culture does not get spoilt like other places.

I see you enjoyed it too cal. I enjoyed showing my wife around. I like driving round in the back of the utes over there, was a experience my wife hadn't seen. We fit 10 of us in a toyota hilux. Wife took over 600 pictures. Out of all the South Pacific islands, vanuatu locals are definitely the friendliest IMO. Person we stay with has lived their 20 years and does his part for the mele village. Watching locals fish at night with a torch getting lobsters out of holes on a coral ledge that drops down 200 metres was something you don't see everyday. The fresh seafood was great. I would highly recommend Efate to anyone . The other islands are more remote.

We absolutely loved it and want to go back soon. My son wants to live there,lol.

Your brave going on the back of utes,lol, i have never seen roads as bad as over there,lol

Cal x

The only locals you would see ask for something in vanuatu, are ones that are not part of a tribe. It's very rare to see. They are poor in the sense of no money, but money does not matter a great deal in their life. The majority are the happiest race of people I've experienced. I'm pretty sure years ago they were labelled the happiest race on the planet. They collect their seafood and fruit, but only enough to feed the family. The locals that do work , don't work for much but the money goes to the family.i envy them, and hope their culture does not get spoilt like other places.

I had one of the luckiest trips to Vanuatu. I had been working at a company here for about a month and they asked if I would go to Vanuatu to change over a hard disk in some equipment we had out there. I didn't even know where it was, never heard of it before. I didn't have a passport at the time so work paid for that.

Got to Vanuatu and during my flight the bosses back in Perth had decided I may as well fly on to The Solomon Islands to do the same job there, they had sent a disk out to Vanuatu and I was told I would have to wait until it arrived and then fly on.

Disk got a bit lost in transit and I ended up staying 2 weeks waiting for it to arrive. The job took me about 10 mins to do. I did a bit of UNIX scripting while I was there to improve the operation of their gear, as I felt a bit of a fraud. Had a brilliant time. Guy I was working with was an ex-pat working for cable and wireless. Had a house and car provided so took me all over the Island sightseeing and taught me to scuba dive. Decent hotel too.

The locals are very friendly and I didn't experience any trouble the whole time I was there. I ended up going in the same bar every night for a couple of looseners that had a lot of locals in. It was cheaper beer than the tourist places. They got to know me enough to give me some Kava one night, drank out of a coconut shell. Tastes like crap and has a hallucinatory effect. One was enough.

The Solomon Islands were good too. Locals there were friendly too. Was told not to go into a couple of bars but went anyway as I got to know a couple of the local guys so went with them. Had a few strange looks but no problems.

I've never been to Solomon Islands. I will in the future. Lots of expats in vanuatu . It's a tax haven. If you have the right source of income could be a good place to live.

I enjoyed some kava too on this trip, looks like dirt water, lol. i actually brought some back with me. Its offensive to decline it if a chief offers it too you.

I'm sitting here at the moment sorting out work stuff , wishing I was back on the island. Hard getting back to reality after being there.

I've never been to Solomon Islands. I will in the future. Lots of expats in vanuatu . It's a tax haven. If you have the right source of income could be a good place to live.

I enjoyed some kava too on this trip, looks like dirt water, lol. i actually brought some back with me. Its offensive to decline it if a chief offers it too you.

I'm sitting here at the moment sorting out work stuff , wishing I was back on the island. Hard getting back to reality after being there.

It's not as nice as Vanuatu a bit drier and really hot. At least it was when I've been there. Honiara looks a bit third world and it seems to run on a wing and a prayer. We had power cuts a couple of times while we were there and even the hotel had run out of diesel for their generator the second time. I got a bad bout of food poisoning and felt really ill for a few days. That was eating in "good" restaurants too.

Not been since they had the uprising there and there is a bit of trouble between people from different Islands. They had a soccer competition whilst I was there and there was a bit of trouble between supporters from different Islands. I think there is a bit of bad feeling between the Malaita Islanders and Guadalcanal, didn't affect me though so all good.

We absolutely loved it and want to go back soon. My son wants to live there,lol.

Your brave going on the back of utes,lol, i have never seen roads as bad as over there,lol

 

Cal x

The roads are a eye opener hey. Under the surface of the bitumen roads they use coral. With all the rain they get , the roads open up big pot holes.. Port villas tyre repair shops get alot of business by the sound of it.Where I stayed was about 15 Kms out of port villa. The road surface was just dirt with some huge pot holes. At night we seen loads of crabs on the road. The local women collect them. My wife couldn't believe the airport.