Trip report from Vanuatu

We spent almost 3 weeks in vanuatu. We stayed at Mangoes in Port Vila, Friendly Bungalows on tanna and Coral Quays on santo, we also stayed one night at the Melanesian in vila because of flight problems. Here is my report on all of them...........

Firstly I would like to recommend Melanesian tours (melanesiantours@vanuatu.com.vu). They will organise your days tours and outer island tours for you as well as your airport transfers. They are always full of helpful advise on where to go and what to do. Glenda and Ray are lovely people and them and their staff are always on time and because they are a small operation they are more reliable.

We arrived at 3.30 pm on monday sept 4th. We were picked up by melanesian tours and taken straight to our accommodation at Mangoes resort. Mangoes have recently been purchased by a small group of people and Michelle and Callum are always on hand for questions or for help. We had requested garden bungalow no. 20 because we had stayed in that one last year. When we got there Michelle said she had upgraded us to a view bungalow for the night. I should have booked a view bungalow to begin with! It is so lovely sitting on your balcony which overlooks Le Meridian and the lagoon. We liked it so much that we decided we would upgrade and pay the extra money ($50 a night for both of us) and stay in a view bungalow when we got back there from visiting tanna and santo. That night we ate at the Waterside restaurant in town. Its a lovely atmosphere and the meals were great.

The next morning we were picked up by Melanesian tours for our transfer to the airport to go to tanna. We got to the airport and the line wasnt too bad to be checked in. I was reluctant about the plane ride. I escaped being weighed (maybe they thought I would bust their scales). They usually weight you and all your luggage. We got into the plane which is an 18 seater. Not the most comfortable plane to be on and the seats were kind of like the old bus seats we used to have years ago. There were 18 passengers and two crew so it was fairly packed. The ride was ok and wasnt too bumpy. We get to tanna and go to collect our baggage which didnt arrive on our plane. When we spoke to an airport worker he said it would be on the next plane which would arrive in 10 minutes. We didnt remember seeing another plane on the tarmac in vila so we were doubtful. The plane arrive 2.5 hours later and our bag was on it. The guy that picked us up from friendly bungalows wanted us to go without it and he would pick it up tomorrow but we insisted that we wait for it, god knows where it would have ended up!

Our transport was a ute. Brian, myself and our bag got in the back. There are wooden planks in the back of the ute for you to sit on. Not the most comfortable seats. We got started on our 1.5 hour trip over dirt roads which are filled with pot holes. Its hard to stay on your seat and hang on at the same time. We were glad when the journey was finally over and we had arrived at friendly bungalows. We were showed to our bungalow and were told that we would move to the one next door the following day after the people that were in it had gone. Our first bungalow had a split level floor and the floor is hard enough to negotiate at the best of times let alone when its split level. The bed is made of bamboo and only has a thin mattress. The shower had no hot water and the floor is coral so take your reef shoes to wear in the shower. The cistern lid on the toilet was sitting on the floor and to flush the toilet you had to put your hand in the cistern to flush it. The floors are very hard to walk on and I had to wear shoes at all times. It croaked and groaned wherever you walked and I thought I would go thru it at any moment. There are a few nails sticking out of the bamboo that we also had to watch out for. That aside, the bungalows are at a very beautiful environment. Right on the beach. The swimming is best at high tide here but the tides were always wrong for us and we didnt go into the water there. The village children play most of the morning on the beach and some of them go fishing on the reef at low tide. They use some sort of adapted spear to catch the fish. The next morning we were moved to the bungalow next door. This bungalow had hot water which was a little hard to work. You had to turn the water on first, then turn the gas bottle on and then light the hot water system. Brian always was there to work it when I showered. There was a coral bathroom floor again. In our second bungalow there were two single beds as well as the double bed so we took the mattresses from the single beds and put them under the double mattress for more comfort. At night we could hear Yasur volcano booming and in the morning we would wake to ash over everything. Friendly bungalows is approx 6 klms from the volcano. We were suppose to go to the volcano on our second night but I had a really bad headache and we decided not to do the trip in the back of the ute on such bumpy roads. I figured my headaches were from the anti malaria tablets I was taking so I stopped taking them.

We package that we paid for in advance included accommodation, breakfast and dinner, the transfers from the airport and the volcano trip. Lunch had to be purchased from friendly bungalows or your bring your own but with no fridge available in your bungalow this was difficult. For breakfast we were given tea, coffee, a bowl of fresh fruit and bread and butter. The bread is baked there. They do not toast your bread for breakfast. Lunch was a toasted sandwich or an omelette of some sort. You do not have a choice of what to eat, it is just given to you and since you have no where else to go, you have to eat it. The first night for dinner we were given beef and vegetables. The second night we were given just vegetables (I wasnt impressed) and on the third night I requested that I have beef as she had said she was doing fish for dinner that night. Brian had the fish as did the other couple that were staying there. The power is on from about 5.30 pm until about 10pm. This is so that they can cook dinner and cool the drinks in the fridge for the following day. Take a torch for night time. Drinks can be purchased all through the day, that is if you can find someone to get it for you. We made the mistake of not bringing snacks which would have come in handy when you didnt like what you were given for a meal. For me personally, one night at friendly bungalows would have been enough. We did have nice soft towels and a fresh cake of soap but for other luxuries, there are none. Everyone eats together at dinner in the restaurant. The floor is sand and the tables and chairs are made of bamboo with cushions on the seats. Your bungalow is not serviced during the day and we had to ask for more toilet paper. On the beach in front of the bungalow is a grass hut with two reclining bamboo lounge chairs. It is lovely sitting there watching the ocean or reading a book. Their water comes from a well. We would wake to not being able to flush the toilet and would see someone take the generator in a wheel barrow down to the well to turn the water on. We always made sure that we filled up our water bottle the night before so that we could at least have some water in the morning to drink.

Finally our trip to the volcano comes. In the back of the truck we get. It is a bumpy (and sliding if it had been raining) trip to the volcano which took about 1hr 15 mins......its only 6 klms! First we get to the ash plains which are kind of like an open sand beach without any water except it was all ash. We then make our way to the volcano and park at the base. There is a toilet at the base of the volcano which all the women had to use after being on the bumpy road. There was toilet paper but the toilet was like the old "outhouse" days and did not flush. We started up the volcano and it was booming and letting off a lot of steam. I made it up a step at a time. The first part is steep but the second part is like a long pathway the slowly inclines. From where the cars park we guessed it was about 300m up. Our driver didnt take us up but we did notice that the drivers from the other resorts all went up with their people. The volcano is so impressive and is like nothing that you have ever seen before. You stand there and the ground shakes and rumbles and then the steam comes out of the hole and all of a sudden the volcano erupts and hot rocks fly up into the sky. We were lucky that it was quite active. You get this scared feeling that at any time the whole place could explode. There were a couple of landslides while we were standing there. It was just so amazing. The volcano was definately worth the trip to tanna.

After our 3 nights we get into the truck to leave. Mary who is the manager there says she is coming with us so that she can get her grand daughter a christening dress. We are allready in the ute with our suitcase and in piles all these other people. In the end there were 3 in the front of the ute and 9 in the back. It was quite uncomfortable with the 9 of us, our large suitcase, a tyre that had to be dropped off to be fixed, a petrol can and some other things they had bought with them. Off we set bumping and sliding all over the road back to the airport. We dropped off most of them at black mans town where there was a friday market happening. We get to the airport at 10am (our flight was 3.30 pm but for their convenience we were dropped off early). We checked our bags in (We had to be weighed this time) and were taken around to evergreen bungalows which is 5 mins from the airport. Whilst we didnt get to look in the bungalows here, the place did look lovely and we had a nice lunch there. They took us back to the airport at 2.15 for our 3.30 flight. Our plane didnt leave there until 5pm. We stood around waiting and the water wasnt on at the airport so if you had to use the toilet you were not able to flush it. We were talking to some people who had stayed at evergreen and at white grass resort and they all said that it was lovely. At this stage we knew we would probably miss our connection to santo.

Later on in our trip we ran into the people that were staying at friendly bungalows at the same time that we were. They said that on the day that they took us to the airport that they had booked a trip in the afternoon to port resolution and were told that the ute would be back in time for them to go. The kitchen was all locked up and were not able to get a drink and missed out on lunch because no one came back until the late afternoon. They missed out on their port resolution trip as well which they had really wanted to do and they were not happy about it. We were briefly shown tours that we could do but they really were not interested in taking us on them. In all, friendly bungalows is listed as "true melanesian" but we didnt expect it to be how it is. We put it down to an experience and the volcano was definately worth the experience. One night there would have been enough for us just to get to experience the volcano at night.

On arriving back in vila we went around to the check in counter only to be told that we couldnt get to santo that night. Bewildered and not sure what to we stood out front of the airport. At this stage the airport was almost empty. A ute pulls up in front of us and 3 guys grab our bag and put it in the back of the ute. We realised that these guys were the airport workers. They took us to the melanesian hotel and the airport paid for our accommodation and our dinner. The melanesian is ok to stay at. The rooms are nice and its quite close to town. There was no hot water though, they told us that there was something wrong with it. The airport guys were back at 6am to get us so that we could be on the 7am flight. We got to the airport and it was packed! We stood in line for about 15 mins until the airport manager saw us and told us to come around the back of the counter. He checked us in and saved us from waiting in the queue. Flight time comes and we are standing at the door waiting. We get told we are not on this flight. HMMM!!! The second plane is also leaving and we are just standing there. 5 Minutes later they tell us our plane is ready. I nearly dropped dead when I saw it. It was a 5 seater (6 including the pilot). The flight wasnt too bad but I was panacking being in such a small plane. No problems and we arrived in Santo but we did miss out on a night accommodation due to the stuff ups of the planes.

We get to Coral Quays and it is lovely. The gardens are well maintained and we were grateful for nice acommodation after being at friendly bungalows. It is so much hotter on santo. We have lunch and go back to our bungalow to get ready to go into town to have a look around. Instantly I get heart palpations, a tight chest and the sweats. Ive had bad heart palpations before but nothing like this. I rode it out for a couple of hours with my heart feeling like it was going to crash through my chest. In the end brian insisted I go to the hospital. They find us a bus to take us to the hospital. We get there and there is no signage telling you where you should go. In the end I sat down on seats outside while brian went looking for a doctor. He came back about 10 minutes later. He had been pressing a big red button that he later found out didnt work and ended up asking people where he could find a doctor. I was taken into the room and asked to sit on the blood stained bed. eeewwwww. I looked around and couldnt believe this was a hospital. When I explained what was happening to the nurse (you knew she was a nurse because she had on a dirty white dress, some of them had thongs on some of them were bare footed) she looked at me with a blank face and asked how bad the pains were. I explained that I didnt have pains, that it was palpatations and tight chest. She wanted to give me asprin which I wouldnt take because I dont know If I am allergic to it or not. She gave me two panadol. She said she would look for the doctor who was at home. Half an hour later she came back and said the doctor wasnt at home and would send someone to see if he was at church. In the mean time she walked the rusted oxygen bottle over to the bed and put the mask on me. I personally dont think it worked. They kept asking me how bad the pain was. There was no pain. It was so hot in there and two of the nurses stood over me with pieces of paper fanning me. They decide to turn on the fan and put me under it. They had to walk the oxygen bottle with the bed. Finally the doctor arrives and I go through it all again with him. He decides to do an ECG. He takes me to the intensive care room. This room was like all the theres. One door that opened onto the open corridor and another door that opened to the outside. There was nothing intensive care about it. People kept walking past and watching what was happening to me. After they work out how to work the ecg machine they attach all the bits to me. He has to do three to get it right. In the end he tells me that my heart rate is very fast. I thought I had been telling them that all along. He gives me an angina tablet (because they still dont believe that I havent got any pain and think that I am having a heart attack). He also gives me a ventolin puffer because he says I have asthma (this was after I explained that I am allergic to ventolin puffers). I think I willed my palations to stop just so that I could escape the hospital. While I was there I had to use the toilet. They were absolutely disgusting. For a hospital you would expect that they would be clean. I put my palpations down to an allergic reaction to something I had eaten. On our way out we passed the operation theatre. It was padlocked and the windows were boarded up. God help any westerner who got seriously ill over there, you would be just best to fly home.

We felt safe again back at coral quays. It was so hot and so asked if there was an airconditioned room available. There was and it was an extra 2000 vatu a night (approx $22 aud). It was well worth it to pay the extra to be able to sleep and the air conditioned rooms have a fridge in them so we were able to buy drinks and cheese etc at the supermarket. We ate dinner every night at coral quays. They are classed as a 3 star resort but I would class their meals as 4-5 star. The beef absolutely melts in your mouth and their desserts are wonderful (especially the profiteroles which have ice cream in them instead of custard). The rooms are well catered for and are serviced every day. There is tea and coffee making facilites in your room as well. The pool is nice to swim in and the water is straight across the road. They have a jetty which they will set up to have dinner on but the last night we were going to do that, it was too windy and wet. The snorkelling is good just off the jetty. Its nice just to sit on the jetty in the afternoon with a drink and watch all the fish and crabs underneath the water.

We headed into town on the first morning and just as we got there the heavens opened up and it poured like you wouldnt believe. We bought umbrellas to go from shelter to shelter. Since it was sunday and not much happens on a sunday in vanuatu we went to the supermarket to stock up on drinks and snacks and headed back to coral quays. We had a swim in the pool which we enjoyed. We also went to the only gambling place on santo and won a little bit of money.

Brian wanted to go fishing and it was organised for him. George came to pick him up and off they went. They drove for almost an hour and a half to georges village where his boat was kept. George was quite a character and kept brian entertained all day. He caught two poulet fish on the one line and enjoyed his day fishing. During this time I indulged in a massage and wrote postcards. We did the WW2 tour with luke which was very intersting. Its amazing what you see lying around on santo that the americans left. We snorkelled million dollar point and you see planes, boats, jeeps and all kinds of machinery just off the shore. Coral has grown and the fish life is fantastic. There were divers staying at coral quays and they were diving the president coolidge and after every dive they were excited at what they saw and said it was some of the best diving they had ever done.

We went for a day out to Lonnoc beach which was about an hour and a half bus ride. The tour operators have got together and decided to give champagne beach a miss because one day they charge 500 vatu to go on the beach and the next day they charge 1000 vatu. Champagne and Lonnoc beaches are basically one in the same. The only thing that seperates them is some star pickets and some barb wire which goes out into the water. It was such a lovely day and we had taken a picnic lunch but the restaurant was open as well. We were able to purchase drinks. Lonnoc beach is just spectacular. White powder sand beach and crystal clear water. They took us out in a dug out to look for turtles. If you saw a turtle you were charged 500 vatu for the privelage. If you didnt see one you were not charged. I didnt see one! We snorkelled and swam for the day. There are bungalows with concrete floors at lonnoc beach which you can stay at. I would definately stay there for a night or two if we go back to santo. On the way back we were going to a blue hole. All blue holes charge entry except for the one that we were going to. On the way thru the gate the driver heard a whistle and so stopped. A local came running up and said that of that second they were now going to charge 1000 vatu entry into the blue hole. We also heard the words "white man". Our driver who was george that brian had gone out fishing with got upset and started argueing the point. In the end we said no and george was happy we said no just to make a point that they cant just start to charge because they feel like it. Some sort of notice should be given. In vanuatu you pay to enter any locally owned land. The land owners even own the beach and the water that is in front of the beach. Even when we did the WW2 we were charged to look at some of the places even though we had paid a tour fee.

We went to Deco stop lodge for lunch one day and it was very nice. We also went over to Aore island for lunch on our last day and it is also lovely over there. We had a look at one of there fares and decided we would also stay there on our next trip to santo. In all, santo is lovely and definately worth a visit. There is so much WW2 history there. I would also recommend staying at coral quays. Charmaine who is one of the owners at coral quays also sells her family made jewellry. The jewelly is all hand made in israel and her family travel the world looking for precious stones. We each bought a ring. I got a chunky silver ring which has two bands of rose gold and 3 garnets. Brian got a silver ring which is annandised and has two solid gold bands and a pattern made of gold. Both rings cost us $500 aud and they are definately worth it. Its nice to have something that will never be replicated. She also has earings, pendants & braceletes. All pieces are very unique.

We arrived back in vila on friday night. We had dinner at mangoes which was lovely and then collapsed into bed. Sat we went into town and had a look around and then we went to look for the new buggy hire place we had heard about. The company has been operating for 3 weeks. We hired a two seater buggy for 4 hours which cost us 7500 vatu (about $85 AUD). We had such a good time zooming around. The buggies are road registered and you can take them anywhere, including off road. They have a couple of different types of buggies so check them out if you are there. Dinner that night was with Frank and Doreen from canada. I had been chatting to doreen from a travel forum and we discovered that we were in vila at the same time and decided to meet up for dinner. We went to L'Houselet for dinner which was lovely.

At the back of Mangoes is a track that leads down to Le Meridian resort. Its steep and slippery after the rain. We walked down there and stayed a couple of hours and had a few drinks and lost some money at the casino. Brian likes his VB and was paying approx $8.40 AUD per can there. Quite expensive. From there we went to Iririki for lunch which was very nice and then headed back to Mangoes for a swim in the rain.

On monday we decided to go to the air vanuatu to ask for specific seats for our flight home on wednesday. Brian being an amputee needs the extra leg room. When we sat down the guy discovered that somewhere along the line at one of the outer island airports that they had taken the wrong coupon out of our flight book. This meant that we couldnt fly home!!! He said that they hadnt got the coupons back from tanna and santo yet and would email them for them to see if they have them. We went back at 11.30 am and nothing. We went back at 1.30 and still nothing. We were told that if they have to reprint the tickets that we would be charged 5000 vatu each (approx $60AUD). We refuse to pay this because its not our fault. We again went back at 4pm and the guy said he had handed everything over to his boss and that she wanted to see us. We get taken into her office and another guy comes in. They say that they will reprint the tickets for us but they would like us to do them a favour. We are thinking what it is that they want. They tell us that they have overbooked the plane and asked us if we could stay an extra two nights. They would pay for the accommodation, all meals and fly us home business class. Lets see, such a hard decision! So we stayed making our trip 18 nights.

We snorkelled at the back of Iririki which was pretty good. We had lunch at club vanuatu one day which was average. We went to LeMeridian for a buffet Italian night which was pretty good. We did an around the island tour which was pretty good and we got to see a few nice beaches and had a nice buffet lunch. We stopped at a little road side market on the way and bought a couple of WW2 coke bottles. They have the date on them and where they were made on the bottom of the bottle. We also ate at the coconut palms resort (formely wild pig hotel). The meals are nice there if you have the time to wait for them. They are a bit unorganised and we heard the kitchen argueing. We had a lunch at erakor resort which was nice and also had a dinner at shooters in town. Shooters was average. We had a day snorkelling at hideaway which was good and the lunch there was nice. We also went to the markets and I had a dress made. Just a plain tunic type house dress which cost 1800 vatu. Bargain.

Vanuatu is a lovely place to holiday and I cant wait to go back again.

Jody and Brian

It seems you were inconvenienced by a lot of your trip - the ute ride was bumpy, they didn't toast your bread and the toilet paper ran out... I guess a little adventure wasn't a prerequisite? And as for spending $8 on the old green can....

Thank you for a great detailed and descriptive report. I like hearing not only the good but also the bad or inconvenient. It's helpful to be reminded to pack the TP, it's useful to know that Friendly Bungalows are very basic so one can either go more upscale or choose another place that's cheaper.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Our transport was a ute. Brian, myself and our bag got in the back. There are wooden planks in the back of the ute for you to sit on. Not the most comfortable seats. We got started on our 1.5 hour trip over dirt roads which are filled with pot holes. Its hard to stay on your seat and hang on at the same time. We were glad when the journey was finally over and we had arrived at friendly bungalows. <hr></blockquote>

To me this is descriptive writing. C_L are you saying that someone with a sense of adventure would just write "We drove to the bungalows"? That's boring, why would I read it?

Please trip reporters do write honestly about your trips. The tourist offices and tour operators can do the glowing stuff.

"Thank you for a great detailed and descriptive report. I like hearing not only the good but also the bad or inconvenient"
Word!

Hi
Thank you for an excellent detailed report , I am going to Vanuatu in February and i will spend four days on Tanna , so I found your report helpful , not sure at this stage where we will stay on Tanna , I was thinking of the Friendly Bungalows , as I want to stay near the volcano to get the experience of hearing it at night, but might look at other options now
Did you get to go to Port Resolution ?

Hello chris lem
we had set out expecting it to be an adventure but didnt realise how "rough" it would be. It was an incredible experience though and we didnt feel inconvenienced by it at all.
I wrote the report on how we saw and experienced it all.

Jody

Hi Jillymac

We didnt go to port resolution, infact we didnt go anywhere except the volcano from friendly bungalows.
Any other questions please let me know

Jody

How much did your husband pay for a day's fishing from a small boat?

No, you get me wrong. Writing can be descriptive without seeming like a complaint about conditions. I mean fair enough if it was truly unpleasant, but to me running out of toilet paper or not having my toast cooked is not something I'd report.

BUT, I'm not going to criticize someone else's writing, because I hope to get to Vanuatu soon and am reading every possible piece of related information!

Glad to hear you're keen to go back.

Chris

Hi copperspoon

Coral Quays on santo organised the fishing trip with one of the locals that they use. George the boat owner wanted to charge brian 12,000 vatu to begin with and brian just said no. The costs are reduced for each person depending on how many are going. Since it was only brian and I wasnt interested in going and they couldnt get any one else, george wasnt keen but must have had a change of mind and rang back and I think it cost about 6500 vatu which is around $80AUD. Brian thoroughly enjoyed it and george is a real character. It wasnt game fishing but it was in deep water.

Jody

Hi Jody,
Glad you had a good trip. I think your descriptions of your experience will be useful to others, especially those who have not realised that tourism infrastructure in Vanuatu is 'minimal'. Great place for an adventure, but less so if luxury is your thing.

regards
Cuppa

Hi Jody
Seems like you had an adventurous time. Now fully prepared for Friendly Bungalows, only staying 4 nights there LOL. Is there anything to do around Luganville? because I'm there for 5 nights too!! I need peace and quiet. Glad you survived the Santos MASH Experience.
Anyway thanks for the in depth and honest report. It's good to see the good and the bad and I don't get a negative feel from it. I'm off on Sunday from Lanzarote and get to Vila on Wednesday night (puff puff) and if anyone has anything they'd like me to look out for let me know. Email bandit678@wanadoo.es