Trip Report: Santo/Efate/Tanna

I just got back from a wonderful 2 weeks in Vanuatu and would briefly like to share my experience:

EFATE: I spent two days in Port Vila. It was MORE than enough. It seems to be general travel advice to get off the beaten path and wander out of the big cities. This is especially true for Vila in my opinion. It would be a regrettable waste to fly all the way to Vanuatu and see only Vila (unless you were on a honeymoon and just wanted to laze around at a resort). There are some interesting points (the market for instance) but its mainly just one long street of predominantly Aussie-run shops. I did, however, find the locals to be quite friendly. Anyway I stayed at Room with a View, which I highly recommend. Its cheap, clean and pretty close to downtown.

However, a short bus ride out of Vila exposes you to some worthwhile sites. I did a boat cruise on Sailaway Cruises...which was just excellent! You tour some great snorkelling sites and walk around on the beach where they filmed Survivor. The skipper, Peter Whitelaw, is a friendly and charismatic host.

Just a few minutes out of Vila are the Mele-Maat cascades. If you go, don't go with an organized tour (usually 5000V)...just take a local bus out there and pay the admission (in total around 2200V if memory serves).

I wanted to stay in Nguna but I didn't have the time.

TANNA: WOW!! Without a doubt the highlight of the trip! In my opinion 3 days is NOT enough...I tried to extend my stay there but Air Vanuatu was booked solid. I can't overstate just how wonderful the people are here. Seeing hundreds and hundreds of genuine smiles as you drive by on the back of a truck is something I'll never forget.

In my short stay there I saw the Volcano (a tad disappointing because it wasn't very active and it started raining...cest la vie!), Port Resolution (stunning...on a nearby beach was the best snorkeling of the trip), Kelson's Cannibal Village and my favorite "Black Magic and Kava Tasting Tour". Now these tours are not exactly cheap, but they were WELL worth their cost! Transportation on Tanna is expensive and you can appreciate this when you go...the roads are deplorable and the vehicles take a nasty beating. Fuel is also difficult to come by.

Going to Tanna is something I'll never forget. There's much more to it than just Yasur.

I stayed at Leneai Palms Resort, which was excellent. Amongst the ruggedness of Tanna is was nice to retire here at the end of each day. The hosts, Ron and Anne, are both very passionate about Tanna and its people. Ron accompanied me on some of my tours and you could tell he had a deep connection to the island. The rooms were HUGE...my "single room" had three beds (!), and the restaurant was good and decently priced.

SANTO: I have mixed feelings about Santo. On one hand, there is some incredible natural scenery and (from what I've been told, as I cant dive) some world class diving. On the other hand, I found the people in Luganville the least friendly of anywhere I visited in Vanuatu. The hellos and smiles I got in Tanna and Efate were nowhere to be found, and actually I detected some mild hostility from some people. I can also say that, despite what the Lonely Planet said, I was definitely not welcomed in every Nakamal in the city, although some were quite hospitable.

Actually, being one to call a spade a spade, I'll just say it. Luganville sucked.

HOWEVER, it did serve as a good jumping point to some amazing sites on Santo. I saw the Matevulu blue hole, which looked like something out of a movie. If you go, you must bring snorkel gear...seeing the vast blue abyss under you is simply incredible.

Millenium cave....AWESOME! Definitely a "cant miss" activity. You can't appreciate the grandeur and extent of the cave system until you're in the middle of it. After a very sweaty trek to the cavern, going down the river on that floating toy, dodging cascades was very welcomed. If you go, you should be advised that fitness is required. You do a lot of steep descents and ascents, and you're going across some very slippery boulders. There are also times where you must creep between some tight rocks, so if you're quite overweight it might be a no-go. I'm in pretty good shape...about 6 foot 4 and 225 pounds (mostly muscle), and squeezing through some of the areas posed a bit of a challenge. Also, wear proper footwear...I made the mistake of slogging around in old running shoes with inadequate traction.

I stayed in Lonnoc for two incredible nights...one of which I had the entire beach to myself! The people of Lonnoc and neighbouring Hog Harbour were incredibly friendly and welcoming. The facilities of Lonnoc are basic, but adequate. You do have power from about 6pm to 8pm, and there are shower facilities. The beach itself is breathtaking, and there is some good snorkeling to be had. Thanks to Wendy, Alick and Alice for being so friendly and helpful.

Champagne beach...hmm...to be honest I wish I saved my 500 Vatu. The photos you see of it are always beautiful. Indeed, if you look only at the narrow strip where the water touches the white sand, it is stunning. However, just to the left of the photos you always see in brochures are many unsightly red and orange buoys, put in place for when the cruise ships come. To the right, some haphazardly constructed shacks which serve as makeshift souvenir stands for cruise ship days. There were aluminum cans strewn everywhere, and there was a friendly but imposing ni-Van sitting there holding a shotgun (which he told me was for killing cows), that kind of detracted from the overall experience. Lonnoc beach has none of this...just sugary white sand, blue water, and some very comfortable hammocks.

Anyway, as a whole, Vanuatu was simply incredible. By in large the people were the friendliest (and clearly happiest) I've met anywhere in my semi-extensive travels.

Just a few random points before I go:

-In september, mosquitos werent a problem anywhere I went. I maybe got 3 bites the whole time I was there. However, the flies are absolutely relentless.
-Goodies does have generous exchange rates, however there are many other shops that offer the exact same ones.
-Vanuatu is expensive. In my opinion it would be a tad difficult to go there as a backpacker, unless you had an ample amount of time.
-If you go to Tanna, it would be much appreciated by the locals if you brought pencils and writing paper for the kids. I was told they were in very short supply there.
-Don't make any plans to eat at the Rossi in Vila. It burned down last year.
-Tusker is a pretty good beer.
-Laplap and Tuluk...glad I tried them once. Once was enough :)
-The Nakamals can be an excellent experience and a great way to meet locals, but...
-The nakamals are usually noisy with the sounds of people spitting and "horking". I didn't expect this.
-When ni-vans make a clicking sound with their mouth, it means something along the lines of "I see" or "Indeed"...it means they are interested or you've taught them something new.
-GO TO TANNA!

Mike

Thanks for taking the time to post your report. I've saved it for future reference.

You did mean that the guy with the shotgun was using it to kill crows, right?, not cows?!

Thats what I thought too. However, I asked him to repeat and he made a "MOOO!" noise.

Just two brief comments:

Vanuatu is famous for its beef, so they oculd well have been cows that weren't fenced.

Don't be too complacent about not noticing mosquitos - you don't notice, or feel, the bites of the ones that give malaria - I know, I had it about 11 times while living in Solomon Islands between 1991 and 1994.

Very good point Ozziegiraffe. I opted out of taking the malaria pills as they made me sick, but I used a lot of really strong mosquito spray (incidentally some of the drug stores in Vila sell an Aussie-made spray which is really high in DEET). You were infected 11 times?! That must have been awful. Were they separate infections or reactivation of existing parasites? Can you describe the first symptoms you had? For the last 2 days I've had a mild fever and felt a bit weak...and I'm a bit worried about it possibly being the start of malaria.

If you have been in a malaria-prone country, I would get checked if you have any flu-like symptoms, which you do. The characteristic alternating chills and fever of malaria don't really start for a few days after you start to get sick.
Incidentally, since 1994, I lived in SI for 12 months in 2004, and had a test when I had similar symptoms, but was negative. I did have the flu. On shorter visits, I always use doxycycline.

As for the same infection recurring - it depends on which strain of malaria you have. I mostly had PF (Plasmodium falciparum) which causes the deadly cerebral malaria. It can kill you, but doesn't get stored in the liver and recurr.
I did have PV (Plasmodium Vivax) a couple of times, and this one doesn't kill you, but does get stored in the liver, and come back to haunt you. However, if you do contract Vivax, a 2 week course of Primaquin after you leave the country will kill it in the liver (Unless you are of African or Mediterranean descent - it couses anaemia in people from those areas). There are two other strains, but these are rare in Solomon Islands.

For those who are worried, the early 90s were the high period of malaria incidence in Solomon Islands, coinciding with an increase in DDT and chloroquin-resistant strains. There is less occurring there now than there was then, and at least one new medication (Artimeter) available.

Hi Mike,
Good advice about you feeling sick - get yourself checked out asap. Fwiw we were there in May/June & although we did take anti-malarials, we only saw about half a dozen mossies in a month! They'd have been everywhere if we hadn't taken the medication! ;-)
Thanks for your report - interesting reading. I agtree with you wholeheartedly about Tanna, what a fantastic place & people. We stayed at Port Resolution for 5 nights last year. The place you stayed at, Leneai Palms Resort... was that the place off to right when travelling toward Port Resolution, after you've passed 'Jungle Oasis'? If not, where in Tanna is it?
Agree too about Port Vila - little reason to stay there. We managed to have a couple of nights on Nguna which was great for just chilling out.
Also agree with you about Luganville - it basically sucked (although the cafe in the main street did do great coffee & ommelettes, (a tasty treat after 10 days in Malekula's jungles!). Lonnoc & Hog harbour were Ok, but when Wendy wasn't around others tried to rip us off. Food was very ordinary & expensive. We bought food at Hog Harbour co-op & made our own meals. Beach was great. Did you have the 'blurred vision' experience there whilst snorkelling? We both thought our vision had gone blurry, until we realised it was an effect of swimming through salt and fresh water. At Lonnoc fresh water from the land percolates up through the sand underwater, along all of the beach. Champagne beach was great too. It was clean (no cans) & we had it pretty much to ourselves. (plus a couple of wild pigs that came out of the jungle to share our lunch & a chap spear fishing for a short time off the jetty). No buoys in the water. P'raps you were there not long after a cruise ship? Possible that the shotgun (very rare in Vanuatu, I only saw 2 guns, both small calibre rifles - .22's) was a some kind of 'reverse PR exercise' in the context of a long running dispute between the owners of Lonnoc & Champagne Beaches, & the owner of Champagne not needing the income from the odd visitor who doesn't arrive on a cruise liner! Sounds like you had a better visit to Matevulu Blue hole than us, there was a big old noisy diesel generator alongside the blue hole, running & belching out black smoke the whole time we were there, pumping water up to the agricultural college. We visited Efate, Nguna, Tanna, Malekula, Santo & Pentecost. Santo was our least favourite. Tanna, followed very closely by Malekula were our highlights.

Regards
Cuppa

Pics & video from our Vanuatu trip 2006

Luckily, my "malaria" has turned out to be a stomach bug I picked up. Nothing serious.

About the "blurry" effect at Lonnoc...YES!!! I thought I was crazy at first. Then I assumed it was my bug spray and/or sunscreen sloughing off. I found that if you kept moving forward at a steady pace that the blurring was minimal. You mentioned that others tried you rip off you in Wendy's absence...who were they and what did they try to do? I have to say that on Tanna and even Efate I didn't experience ANYTHING close to being ripped off...however on Santo I found that I couldn't trust people and was very careful what I spent my money on. I don't know what it is about Santo...the people don't seem like other Ni-Vans in any way. Maybe it was being denied service at a couple nakamals...maybe it was the lady at the Market Booths refusing to give me my 150 Vatu change until I insisted...maybe it was the "friends" giving me their addresses and telling me to send them hip-hop clothes, or every tour operator badmouthing every other tour operator...but the locals really let me down. There seemed to be a kind of seedy underbelly to the island(at least where I went)...its difficult to put into words but I do know that I'd never go back there.

Oh...forgot to mention...the buoys are permanent. Apparantly its causing quite a stir with the locals at the moment.

Leneai Palms is just outside Lenekal...not far from Whitegrass et al. Port Resolution YC looked really cool...I kind of wish I stayed there just for the experience. Incidentally, did you learn who the on-site graves belonged to and what was inscribed on them?

Mike

Sounds like your experience of Santo was a bit worse than ours. The other place we found similar was Peskarus on the Maskelyne islands south of Malekula. It seems that the spots that the cruise ships stop at are the worst affected. Still, only a small hiccup in the overall wonderful experience.

Regarding the gravestones have a look here

regards
Cuppa

Good to read such a detailed report. I am tossing up about going to Vanuatu as opposed to back to Fiji. You said it was expensive- how is it compared to other places? I am from NZ and Tahiti was really expensive, while Fiji was a bit cheaper than here and Bali we could live like kings. I am also interested in the quality of the coral- do you get the vibrant coloured soft corals there? Or is it mainly bleached? Glad to hear you don't have malaria, that would not be a nice souvenier to bring home!

"You mentioned that others tried you rip off you in Wendy's absence...who were they and what did they try to do? "

I can't be certain of the name now, but I'm pretty sure it was Alick. See here We wanted to go to Big Bay & Matantas. He insisted he come with us from Lonnoc,, including on the guided bush walk to the giant trees. Once well out in the jungle, he tried to suggest we should pay him more money, inferring/threatening that he could leave us there if we didn't pay up. I got a little peeved with him, refused to pay extra. The rest of the tour, walking back to the vehicle was in strained silence. We complained to Wendy, who was most apologetic. This was definately not how we encountered 99% of Ni-vans.

regards
Cuppa

I don't think the man in that picture is Alick. Alick was relatively short and quite stocky. However he does look familiar...I want to say that I saw him working on the construction of some of the new bungalows there but I'm not 100% sure.

Now that I think of it further, you are correct, it's not Alick in the pic. Alick cooked for us one evening. Only one other bungalow had guests whilst we were there. Quiet time.

Each of the islands we visited were different. I guess what undoubtedly makes Santo different to all the other islands is the legacy of the Americans 'occupation'.

I think on Santo especially, the greater exposure to all things western, & it's crumbled & crumbling infrastructure has understandably created unfulfillable aspirations/resentment in the population.

Cuppa

Javadog: I might not be the best person to ask regarding price, as I havent traveled anywhere else in the South Pacific. I tried to keep things relatively cheap...average hotel was about 45 Canadian dollars per night...decent meal about 10 dollars...but the real cost lies in transportation. If you venture out of the cities you're looking at some big bucks. For instance, although I really lucked out and got a cheap ride to Lonnoc Beach from Luganville (about 40-50km I think), I've heard that most rides cost upwards of 70-80 dollars (one way!). I do think you could do Vanuatu for cheaper than I did, however you'd need time...public transportation can be really infrequent.

About the coral...it was really colorful for me (a Canadian), but to an Australian it might be nothing special. I thought that Tanna had the best coral (by far), followed by Northern Efate.

Mike

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>I do think you could do Vanuatu for cheaper than I did, however you'd need time<hr></blockquote>

Mike, I think generally speaking we 'roughed it' a bit more than you. ;-) Lonnoc was one of our more upmarket places to stay! There is a daily bus between Luganville & Lonnoc for a tenth of the price it's possible to pay for an individual ride. We stay in mainly in village bungalows , that exist on most islands & are way cheaper, but basic. For info on bungalows etc see here We had 10 days, with nothing booked ahead on Malekula (15 minute flight from Santo). What really chews up the money in Vanuatu is the costs of flying between islands.

For anyone thinking of heading to Vanuatu for lets say, a couple of weeks, & assuming you don't want to simply lay by a pool/beach at a Port Vila resort, the best value you could get for your dollar would be to restrict your flying, concentrating on one island. Minimal time in Vila. Fly to Tanna & spend 10 days or so staying in two or three different places would be my recommendation. Mike stayed on the opposite side of the island to me, & mentioned a couple of things I knew nothing of. Not only would this be cheaper than trying to fit in several islands, it would give you time to really experience the magic of Vanuatu, Mike's absolutlely spot on about....... time..... if you want or need to rush around, then travelling in Vanuatu probably isn't for you. Rushing is often expensive, often frustrating & often impossible. However if you're prepared to go with the flow of 'aelan time' you'll have a ball. Many times we wondered if it would ever happen. We were never let down, left stranded, or missed a connection, although it was a close thing sometimes! Keep a couple of days 'in hand' as a 'buffer' so you can relax & settle into 'aelan time', that way if a connection gets missed, it's not disastrous, just part of the experience. If you arrive back in Vila with a couple of nights up you're sleeve, take a bus up to North Efate & a boat across to Nguna, & spend some quality chill out time at the Nakie Women's guest house in Taloa. From there an early morning departure will give you time to get back to Vila for some last minute shopping, before heading for the airport. You will be able to arrange transport/boat etc from in Vila.
Regards
Cuppa

How much did you pay for the flight from Port Villa to Tanna? How far in advance did you book it? Thanks.

HI guys,

I've just read all the posts and there is some GREAT info there. Tried to find the answer to my question,...but didn't quite get there, so here's my question to all of you who have already been to Vanuatu:

I'll be in Port Vila for 4 days at the end of Nov (staying in Le Meridien Resort) for a work conference. When the conference ends on Tuesday night, I have Wed-Saturday free time to go and do as I please.
After reading from above how wonderful Tanna is,....would you recommend me to visit Tanna for 3 days? I fly back to NZ on Saturday and I really can't miss that flight.
I'll be going solo, so hoping to get some recommendations on, if Tanna is not possible in 3.5 days, what I can do in Vanuatu (I'm interested in mainly getting some R&R after a full-on conference and sitting by the beach and swimming is probably the best way forward for me)!

Any suggestions? Where should I stay as a solo traveller with only 3.5 days to move from Port Vila?
Cheers!
KJ

you can do vanuatu on the cheap-the biggest cost i found was traveling, plane tickets were far too expensive. if you have the time then cargo boats are a much cheaper way of getting around but they do run on very random timetables and you can spend days waiting for them to turn up. it does take a lot of patience! the most reliable ship is the M.V Brisk (if its still running, its a few years since my trip) which is fairly comfortable compared to others a travelled on. i guess you take more of a risk, saftey wise, traveling that way but it was the only way i could afford to get around the country. buses in efate, santo and malakula were a lot cheaper than hiring a driver, although sometimes you have to. there are plenty of affordable places to stay so long as you dont mind roughing it. the key is to have a lot of spare time and to not be bothered about sticking to a plan!
i didnt think luganville sucked. it was a great place to stay after months of having no electricity of running water! by that point in my trip i'd done enough of seeing the 'authentic' or 'traditional' vanuatu and it was great to have a few western comforts. at first i didnt find people any less unfriendly that anywhere else in vanuatu but the mood suddenly changed when a cruise ship came in. all the prices trippled and people became a lot more abrassive when it came to selling you things. it seems to be a product of fly-by tourism. these cruise ships come through, filled with people who aren't really bothered with the place so long as its sunny, and they get ripped off then leave. i found i felt the same sense of unfriendlyness in port vila but i only really felt it after spending a lot of time in more remote places. both vila and luganville have there attractions and there downsides but the country as a whole is fantasticaly beautifull and friendly and ive never been anywhere else quite like it!