| hemis10:05 UTC02 Nov 2013 | LP Update Vanuatu Santo, Ambym, Tanna and Efate - October 2013
Vanuatu is not a backpacker country. Visas are free for most nationalities but a proof of a return/onward ticket was asked both in Brisbane, Australia as in Santo, Vanuatu from the immigration officer.
The 2 most expensive things are accommodation and tours. The good news, local food is cheap, good and plentiful.
I visited 4 of the 80 plus Islands - Santo, Ambrym, Tanna and Efate.
Santo:
Money exchange: If you want to exchange money there are banks and Chinese traders more than willing to do business with you. If you want to exchange Euros, go to BRED Banque Populaire, probably French owned. Their rate is considerably better.
SIM- Cards: Buy a Digicel Tourist SIM Card for VA 1’000, all phone calls within the country are VA 27, SMS are 10. No registration needed and it works within 5 minutes. Same rate as for the local people. To activate your SIM dial 122 – call.
Accommodation: I stayed with an expat, therefore no recommendations here. A restaurant Clubeez (big sized meals go for VA 350, open daily until 9pm) was just next door of the Club De Sama / Sports Bar (same building) in the center of town. The Sports Bar is great place for a cold beer 22/7.
If you want to do tours, there are different tour operators in town which speak both English and French.
Wrecks to Rainforest is my top choice which is owned by Mayumi Green, a knowledgeable and friendly Japanese Lady with very good contacts . She is in business for 4 years now and got me in contact with some great people. Contact: www.wreckstorainforest.com / Email: mayumi@wreckstorainforest.com / cell 678 554 70 01 landline: 678 37 365. She is also on Facebook. Visit her and her friendly staff in the town center. For the adventurous she’ll gladly organizes 4-6 days tours, trekking in the rainforest, visiting local villages which will show you their custom-dances. Unfortunately my time was too short to check out this great option.
Leweton Culural Village: Show VA 2’500 per person visits by group only. Phone 567 11 14. The people from the Bank Islands will greet you fiercely with their warrior dance, show you the traditional way of Kava and Fire making, you can smol taste ;-) both – their staple breakfast and half a bowl of Kava. More songs are followed in which you have the chance to take part in and you might be picked and popped into a local dance costume. Next the women show you various melodies beating the water in a small nearby pool and everybody right down to the 3 year old will wish you a smiling fare-well, shaking your hand. Professional Dance Group with a personal touch.
Watching Dugons and Seaturtles plus Snorkling with Fabrice, a sympathetic French-Nivatu man. Cell + 678 77 40 536. Email: fabricemoderan@hotmail.com / Facebook: Island Fishing Santo
Went snorkeling at a great site with Fabrice on his little and soon on a much bigger boat. Tours last about 3-4 hours and cost VA 4’500 per Person, kids are half price. The were fantastic corals and a visibility of around 25 – 30m plus some coral fish of various colors. Later we went Dugon (sea-cow) and Turte watching and found 3 of the mammals and 3 or 4 sea-turtles racing just blow the water level. This will cost you VA 1’500 extra for adults and half-price for kids til 13 years of age. Time past quickly and the foreign visitors were very happy with big smiles. Both options are run exclusively by Farbrice.
Fabrice also does Fishing Charters with his new, bigger boat. 4h for up to 6 persons will cost you VA 35’000 and for 7h the price is 50’000 – lunch included in the 2nd option. You go and fish the big ones like Marlin, Mahi Mahi, Bonito (Tuna), sailfish etc. The big difference to other tour operators are – you can have the fish and
15% of all revenue (snorkeling, dugon watching and fishing) is going to the village chief (his step-father) and will be reinvested in building both a church and a local school which are nearly finished plus the salary of a teacher to run the school. Highly recommended.
Going up the East Coast and stopping at various points of interest like shimmering Blue Holes and beautiful Beaches. Start in Luganville – end in Port Orly.
Riri Riri River and Blue Hole: VA 1’000 per Person, Entry mainly by tour. Individual entry possible if you can trek down a guide which are not always present at the sign but they are often there, especially on the weekends. The canoe ride is for all nature-lovers and kids a favorite. I was on bord on a local dug-out canoe with a youth from the village and an ever-smiling, sling-shot hunting boy. After about 15-20 minutes’ you reach a hidden place along the river, get out of the canoe and go for a fantastic swim, bring your snorkeling stuff if you have. No food or drinks available.
Matevulu Blue Hole: Access is VA 1’500 per normal car / minivan, taxis are 1’000. Walkers who visit via a roughly 30 minutes’ walk from the main road pay 500 per person. The blue whole is the biggest in the area and the Tarzan swing is an attraction for itself – if you dare to use it. In case you walk, take the Matevulu College road and if you are at the Matevulu Blue Hole sign, take the right road of the two and follow the curvy road (not the old airstrip) into the bush. No food or drinks available, bring your snorkeling equipment if you have.
Nanda (Jacky) Blue Hole: Access is VA 500 per person. The very friendly owner of the Blue Hole is Chief Jacky. Cell number is 771 27 52. This blue hole is lovely – in fact the most beautiful one if you add the well done garden and the nice sitting places. There are smaller Tarzan swings here than the one in Matevulu but still high enough for a scream and quite a few fish call the blue hole their home. In case you are walking, it’s about 300m from the main road – on your right. Before reaching the Nanda Blue hole, you will pass a smaller one on your left hand side in a deep hole. Keep on walking. No food, but possibly soft drinks or a coconut to drink in future.
Champagne Beach: Access is VA 2’000 per small car, 4’000 for a bus or a minivan full with people, 500 per visitors who stay at Lonnoc Beach or walk down from the main road. The chief’s name is Opet Toto. The small beach is beautiful with crystal clear blue water and the finest of white sand you can imagine. There are just a few makeshift souvenir stalls, most of them are empty apart from the time a cruise-ship arrives. You might very well have this little beauty just for yourself – bring your own food and drinks and leave with your litter.
If you stay at nearby Towok Bungalows – the entry to Champagne Beach is free of charge. The boss is Jeanneth and Peter Toto. Cell 56 36 173. 6 Bungalows are finished, they cost en-suite VA 3’000 per person and 2’500 with shared bathroom and shower. The restaurant seems to be clearly overpriced.
Lonnoc Beach (and Lonnoc Beach Bungalows) . The owner is Kalmer Vocor, cell 561 456. Free access to a small but nice-enough beach as long as you order food or drinks at their restaurant or stay overnight. Acc. is VA 2’600 per person in a big dormitory, 5’500 for a single and 7’000 – 12’000 for a couple. All rooms apart of the dorm are en-suite and all include breakfast.
Golden Beach: Visits are not recommended due to ongoing land disputes.
Port Olry – a friendly French speaking fishing village with a Catholic Mission founded in 1887. Stay at “The Little Paradise of Port Olry” – in my opinion clearly the best place up north.
Manager is Tarcisius Alguet, he speaks both French and English. Cell + 678 542 48 93. Website: www.positiveearth.org / email: tarcisiusalguet@yahoo.com . Email or call him to make bookings but it’s also easy if you just turn up and tell him that you want to spend the night. One person is VA 1’500, 4 pers in 1 bungalow (double bed and two single beds), bathroom and toilette shared are 4’000 and a new bungalow (en-suite) for couples goes for 5’000 (well done) and you get it for a fraction of the price compared to a resort like Lope Lope. Food: Breakfast is included in all prices, lunch and dinner is VA 500 per plate, both good and plentiful. In the local village store you can buy soft drinks and beer, at the local market fruit and vegetables. Activities: Go snorkeling during High-Tide in the house reef just in front of your bungalow. The corals are less beautiful compared with my snorkeling trip with Fabrice but there are plenty of fish, both colorful reef fish and others. Walk over to Malet Island, easiest at low tide and snorkel along it’s shore. Take a sea kayak ride for VA 500 per person and paddle over to Malmas Island to enjoy half a day out at the small beach, snorkeling and walking on the island, e.g. for spotting fruit bats etc. For snorkeling bring your own gear or be lucky and find something useful of his Chinese quality gear. You can also stroll through the friendly fishing village, visit the catholic church and talk to Father Morlini, an Italian Priest who is in the country since 1962. Tharcisius (what a name I know) also can take you to a nearby hill for a 2.5h tour and survival lesson, telling you which fruits and nut are edible and about the local medicine plants plus there is a great view down to the village and the beach.
Further he runs The Little Paradise Tours which can take you to all of the mentioned sights above ( the 3 blue holes and to Lonnoc and Champage Beach for VA 6’500 each, kids are half-price, all entries are included. You can do this as a day tour from Luganville or from Port Olry or in two days, sleeping over at his place. Call or email him for further infos.
If you just want to go to his place without a tour, the cheapest way is by public transport. Pick-Ups VA 500 or shared taxis go for 1’000 per pers. They live from the Petrol Station in the afternoons around 2.00 – 3.30 pm and in early mornings around 06.30 am back from Port Olry. Hitch-Hiking is also fun for part of the way, say from a Blue Hole to Luganville if you dare to. New is also a bus service for VA 1’000 per head, leaving a bit later in the afternoon from Luganville and returning a bit earlier from Port Olry in the mornings.
Millenium Cave and River floating day trip. VA 7’000. Overnight stay in a nearby village - recommended.
Manging Director is Samuel Andikar, cell +678 547 09 57. www.millenniumcavetour.weebly.com / milleniumcavetrek@gmail.com. Book directly with him or via Mayumi Green or her staff at Wrecks to Rainforests in the town center (see above), it’s the same price. One thing up-front: The cave is just one aspect of this varid tour, there are jungle hikes involved, climbing over huge boulders and swimming through a narrow gorge. Bring good shoes and expect them to be soaked in water.
Tours start daily with a pick-up before 8 am at your accommodation. You will be back at your hotel in the afternoon. You begin the tour with a 45 Minutes’ drive to the 1st village, followed by a walk of 15-20 min to the 2nd village. Here you leave your dry cloth and continue with your lunch and a water bottle for approx. 1h 20 min to the beginning of the cave with a stop for your face to be painted beforehand. The walk through the 300-400m long cave takes about 30 Min. You will be given a quality life jacket and a torch (flash light). Through the cave runs a small river in which you walk. On the walls you’ll see countless tiny nests of many swallows (fortunately their nests are not yet collected) and above bats are flying. The cave smells strongly after guano. Once outside you cross the main river and eat your lunch which a porter brought to the other end of the cave. Now the roughly 30 minutes long Canyoning section starts where you will go up and down wooden ladders and hold on to ropes or metal chains to climb over house high rocks and boulders and down into the river again. Next is about 45 Minutes of floating and walking in the river with 5 long pools which lead you through a narrow gorge until you reach the point from where you walk steeply back up to the village, 20-30 Min. Jean-Baptiste, the Chief of the village is a friendly elderly man who speaks French. Change in your dry cloth, grab a coffee and some fruit pieces and ride back into town and on to your hotel. All people of reasonable fitness will highly enjoy the trip and adventurous kids will love it. Our guide Henry was well trained and took good care of the three of us. Will you like it? – I bet you will.
Ambrym: Craig Cove – visit of the active Volcanos of Benbow, 1159m and Marum, 1270m
The best thing for you to know – since about 2 weeks there are the names of all the major guides, including cell phone numbers and trek prices written inside the small building at Craig Cove Airport.
If you just need a place to crash for the night because you can’t make it down to Lalinda or Port Vatu, go to Sam, he works at the airport and owns a small guesthouse in the village of Craig Cove. He will be there when you arrive.
Transport to Port Vatu or Lalinda is Va 5’000 per car. You share the amount between the people who are with you in the same group. Some locals will be picked up at the side of the road and ride in “your car” for just a fraction of the price but this is ok as transport is scarce.
Here I would like to recommend my/our Guide Josses Wilfred, cell +678 54 87 405. He is from Lalinda, speaks French well and quite a bit of English too. Josses is 40 years old, married, has 3 children and is a guide on the volcano for 22 years. To put it simple - you will hardly find a more experienced guide. Plus he’s a very friendly person and knows his way up and down the volcanos at night, even in dense fog. Don’t be surprised if he starts singing loud and cheerful while hiking up or down the volcanos steep slopes. He is also the trusted guide of a French volcanologist Thomas who comes regularly over to the island of Ambrym with new groups of French tourists. The prices he has given me to mention here are higher than the ones published at the airport in Craig Cove. Negotiations might be possible. Guide Fee: Va 4’000 per day/group up to 4 pers. Personal porter is around Va 2’500 per way but you don’t pay the porter when you stay in the base camp for some days as the porter return straight away back to their villages. Food is around Va 2’500 per day but honestly I would strongly suggest you to bring as much food as possible from Port Vila or Luganville, especially small treats like nuts, chocolate and biscuits. (When I saw what the French group ate and what was prepared for me – I had tears in my eyes ;-). Also don’t forget to bring at least four 1.5l water bottles, plus water purifier. If it rained a lot during the last days, there will be plenty of water in the base camp, if it didn’t, there might be none. Buy the water in the shops of Craig Cove before you start your one-hour truck-trip down to Lalinda. Rent of material: (tent, sleeping bag and GAS-MASK) is Va 2’500 for the whole trip. The gasmask is a must-have and a helmet is recommended but Josses doesn’t have any at the moment. If you have the possilbility - bring a gas mask (around USD 50) and possibly a helmet from back home. Finally entry fee to the volcano is Va 2’000, the permit is valid for your entire stay.
Personally, due to the possibility of bad weather, I would rather count 2-3 nights on the plateau than just one night. We stayed 3 nights on top in the base camp and it was raining during 2 nights and 1 day. Important is also from where you want to leave. There are options to continue north to Ranon but this involves a Va 12’000 boat ride to get back to Craig Cove and if you continue to Endu, you will have to book your onward flight from Ueli Airport. Guides are available from the other side of the island and Josses has their contact numbers but this will add up in expenses and organization talent. If you are alone or in a small group, the safest option is to fly in and out of Craig Cove, with affordable transport available right from the airport. Sure you will have to walk down the same way but most people come because of the 2 volcanos and the experience stays the same.
A short Trekking description:
From Lalinda you walk about 9km and 730m up in altitude to the base camp. This will take anything between 4 – 6h, depending on your level of fitness. From the base camp to Benbow, ca. 950m.a.s.l. it will take around 2h, from Benbow to Marum, approx. 1’000m.a.s.l. around 2h as well – as long as you can go the direct way and don’t have to outrun the 2 small active volcanos, just before Marum. If your guide decides this out of security concern, count on 5.5h plus each way. Finally from Marum back to the base camp at night will take another 2h. Due to the bad weather in the days before we had to do both volcanos in one day.
To go down the Benbow crater to see one or both of the lava lakes is generally only possible if you bring a 200m static rope with you as the inside of the crater has a decline of about 40°. Josses on the other hand and even a dog from the base camp just walk down there as if on a Sunday morning stroll but this is not recommended for visitors. Once you see it – you’ll know why. As I joined a group of French tourists by chance due to a misunderstanding of my arriving date I had the chance to go down to see the first lava lake. Count on 4h with a small group of about 4-5 people. A helmet is strongly recommended and you definitely have to be fit to do that.
Of the first lava lake of Benbow you will be able to see about half of its actual size, the 2nd lava lake has nearly disappeared, has sunken down at the moment.
Marum’s lava lake is bigger and viewable from 3 different viewpoints. From number 2 and 3 you have a 100% of this awesome sight, a true entry point to hell if you are religious and believe in the painting of the religious artists. The lava lake is constantly boiling, jutting up lava in a fury and when the level of the magma sinks a bit – it takes the shape of a heart. Simply amazing! Wait until the night to see the walls of the volcano glow red and see the red gas-cloud coming out of the volcano. Finally while walking back to the base camp, hope for another amazing sight. The stars with the Southern Cross amongst above you head and when you look back you see the red gas clouds of the lava lakes of Benbow and Marum next to each other. The distance to from the crater down to the lava lake is about 250 - 300m.
Tanna: Visit of Yasur, an super active Strato-Volcano, 361m
Yasur Volcano:
From the junction road to the Volcano it takes you around 45 Min to access the crater rim if you are reasonable fit. Personally I find it a sad thing, that most people just drive up to see the great one, walking up allows you to get to know your volcano much better and the overall experience is deeper, especially if you walk down again at night with your head-torch. Entry fees for adults: VA 3’350, first entry, 2nd entry Va 1’675 (half price), 3rd entry Va 1’000.
A volcanologist mentioned his concern to me about tourists just driving up to the volcano and approach the crater within minutes. There have been people killed by this volcano even down at the car park. For your own safety, especially if you came without a guide and walked up by yourself it would be best to observe the volcano’s activities from the car parking, around 150m from the crater rim itself for at least 30 min to 45 min to check on the wind and gas direction and to which side the lava rocks fall after being spitted out of Yasur’s 4 vents, especially after bigger eruptions happened.
Best is to be there around 3-4pm and wait until the night has fallen as the show is most impressive when it’s dark and you see the red lava spraying all around in front of you. I would plan surely 2 afternoons/evenings at the volcano which is hissing, farting, rambling and exploding 24/7. It’s an amazing spectacle.
Guide and Accommodation-Options.
A free-lance guide who knows the area like his pocket is 22 year old Mike Sam. Cell 564 01 97 and 773 03 97. He charges Va 500 – 1’000 per adult for a half / full day trip to the volcano via a different route or to visit a waterfall, custom villages, hot springs, down to Port Resolution and even to Yakel, the most famous of all Custom villages, roughly half way across the island. Mike is soft-spoken and possibly the friendliest person I met in all of Vanuatu. In short he’s your best bet. Mike also has 1 beautiful small bungalow for 1-2 persons (and soon 1 more) to stay at his place, half an hour’s walk from the junction to the volcano. It’s called Tanna Yasur View Bungalow, Prices are Va 2’500 per person, including all meals. Call him up to see if the bungalow is available. If you are into a black magic tour, he can arrange an Enkiry Cannibalism Tour for you. Prices are Va 1’000 per adult, Kids half price.
There are now many more options to stay the night close to the volcano than mentioned in the last edition of LP South Pacific. All are roughly the same, say Va 2’500 including breakfast, plus optional lunches and dinners for Va 500 – 1’000. Here I would like to mention 3 places.
Tanna Treetrop Lodge and Bungalows: Owner Fred, cell 841 77 37 and 779 14 64. Acc. is Va 2’500 per adult including breakfast with overpriced meals for lunch and dinner. He can arrange a pick-up transport for you from the airport, expect to pay Va 2’500 – Va 5’000 max. per person. The view from the tree house terrace directly over to Yasur at night is pretty cool and your accommodation shakes with every major eruption, plus you see the lava flying out of the crater and all of this 10m over the ground. Awesome! Fred can also drive you to the volcano and back, down to Port Resolution and just about anywhere you desire to go. But all this adds up quickly in cost as you can also walk easily to all of the above mentioned places. From his place to the volcano it’s a 1 hour’s walk, down to Port Resolution, count on 2h and about 1.5h to the John Frum Village.
Unfortunately I need to write this here. There have been complaints about him or his driver from other guesthouse owners, that he “steals” their customers away as he owns 2 cars and receive quite a lot of people. If you do find him at the airport, it’s nothing wrong with fixing a price for your drive to the other side of the island but insist that he drops you at the place you want to go and don’t listen if someone mentions – the place is no longer working and the like. Check your bill carefully too, when leaving as guests have had complaints.
Near Lenakel, there is White Beach Bungalows, ca. 7km south from the airport and a Va 200 ride on a local minibus. Prices are from Va 1’500 – Va 4’000 per adult, breakfast included. Cell 594 92 20 Apen Nako – owner) and Cell 535 88 21, Kalial Sam, his manager. There are 8 bungalows to choose from, some have toilette and shower en-suite. The place is clean and nice, bungalows range from simple to comfortable, food is good and you are right at the beach, a 5 minutes’ walk from the main road.
Kalial would also be your best bet to visit the custom village of Yakel, where time hardly changed during the last 100 years as he is originally from this tribe and speaks there local language fluently. There is a informative DVD film about the village of Yakel, available in the shops in Port Vila for around Va 3’200. Entry to Yakel is Va 1’500 per person and this will get you the opportunity to see some unique dances with men and boys wearing just a big namba (penis shed) and women and girls in grass skirts followed by a walk through the village. You can hire a car to the village, 13km away from White Beach Bungalows / 10km from Lenakel or walk. Car hire is around Va 1’500 – 2’000 per way. Plan around an hour for your visit and come in the morning as in the afternoon women and girls are no longer allowed to stay in front of the Nakamal (Men’s club house) where the dances are held. Yakel has an elderly men designated for tourists. His name is Charlie but he speaks hardly any English. Cell 566 39 89. Generally it’s best to call ahead and come with a guide for some explanations but you could also just turn up in the morning and ask them to dance for you. The entry fees are being used only for traditional festivals such as circumcision ceremonies and Toka dances or if a villager gets sick and has to go to the hospital as the people from Yakel hardly use any cash in their daily life.
I was very lucky and got invited by chief Albi Nangia to stay the whole day. After some traditional lunch, the rain set in and we fled to a high tree house and talked the hours away until the sun came back. At around 4pm each day, the men and boys start to gather in front of the Nakamal, Kava roots arrive, get cleaned, chewed and later the Kava drink is being served in coconut shells. As there was a recent dispute in one of the villages, a tied up pig was brought, slaughtered on the place and cut into small pieces for different family members. Then the men drank kava an started roasting the pieces of the pig on 2 small open fires while in the Nakamal a giant pot with Taro, sweet potatoes, leaves and meat was cooking. More food arrived like roasted mais and we all sat, drank and ate the pig in harmony. As night fell, we wished our friends good-bye and walked back to Lenakel.
Tanna Coffee Factory: In 2011 they produced 26 tons of Arabica coffee, in 2012, 50 tons and in 2013 already 83 tons! This is easy to understand as the factory pays a fair price of Va 270 per kilo of coffee beans to the farmers and therefore more and more farmers decide to grow coffee in their fertile sands. The coffee get’s collected in huge bags and sent by ship to Port Vila where it is roasted. Tanna’s Arabica Coffee can be bought in Port Vila’s supermarkets and shops, as well as in the airports of Tanna and Efate. Prices are from Va 800 per 250g (beans or grounded). Manager Daniel is happy to show you around the small factory on Tanna, outside of Lenakel, just before you reach the White Beach Bungalows – look out for the sign.
Efate: Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital and around
The Vanuatu Cultural Centre (read museum) has risen the prices to Va 1’000 – 1’500.—per adult, depending whether or not you take a tour with the resident guide, dressed in traditional garb, who plays the flute and other instruments for you and shows you his skills as a sand-drawer. The items range from interesting artifacts, masks and tam-tams to a dusty collection of shells and stuffed birds.
Lelepa Island and the Feles Cave (where King Roimata actually died). This is easiest undertaken with Lelepa Island & Fishing Charters, the owner is Albert Solomon and his cell number is 774 27 14. www.lelepaislandtours.com. Prices per adult are Va 8’900.--. Tours start just after 8am with a pick-up at your hotel. Next is a short boat ride to the island, a lesson in medicine plants while walking to a little beach, time for a 1st snorkeling with plenty of colorful fish, a nice lunch on the beach, another boat trip to see an old cave with red hands printed on the naked walls, a snorkeling session from the boat in a beautiful reef with some big fat fish and a visit in the main village. From here you have the chance to see the Feles Cave where the old king Roimata actually died, just a 10 min. walk from the village. The one room cave chamber is impressive – a nice place to die indeed. Return to the mainland and on to your accommodation in Port Vila at around 5pm.
Paonangisu, near Takara: Go snorkeling to see the only intact WWll American fighter-airplane! Call Erik: 542 70 57 or 777 72 05. Email: corsairvanuatu@gmail.com. The plane lies in about 2m of depth and you can sit in the cockpit and have your photo your photo taken (bring your own under-water camera). Prices are Va 2’500 adults and Va 500 for kids, a visit to the small museum from where you get in the small boat that brings you through the mangrove forest to the site of the plane is included in the price. Cool stuff. To get to Erik, hire a taxi or take a local bus, Va 500, ca. 45
Minutes from Port Vila.
Enjoy Vanuatu,
Roger
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