To All, first to let you know that we suffered no ill effects from the earthquake here in Vanuatu. We were awakened by a vibration at 0415 hrs and figured it was a quake. It was not till later that we found out about the tsunami warning and then that it had been canceled. That's our 4th tsunami warning in the past year.
Now on to more Vanuatu adventures. We had a nice sail to Epi Is. further north in the Vanuatu chain. Our destination, Luman Bay is noted to have several "dugongs" that you can possibly swim with. A "dugong" is a mammal that is similar to a Manatee though having a tail like a whale. Unfortunately we only sighted turtles. We did visit the village but it was very quiet. I managed to put another patch on a leaky dinghy. The anchorage was exposed to the swell and very rolly and after a short stay we were off to visit the island of Ambryn.
Ambrym has another active volcano and is also know for the fine wood carvings the villagers do and the "Rom Dance". We had a flat calm anchorage off the village of Rannon , though it did suffer from volcano smog. After the hook was down we were visited by a local inquiring if we would like to see the "Rom Dance". He worked at the visitor center which was nothing more than a hut on the beach. The price to view the dance was 4000 vatu or $40 US per person. He would arrange to have the dance performed and guide us to the village which was about an hour's hike away for 2500 vatu. We were to meet the next morning at 8am. The hike to the Vanla, village for the dance was mostly uphill along a twisting path through the forest. Connie and Kathy found it quite strenuous but managed. Once in Vanla we were greeted with a great hubbub of activity. We were to see the dance but the village was also preparing for a wedding the next day and all of the women were preparing the feast. There was a butchered cow hanging and the meat was added into the "packages" that were being made. Each package was several layers of banana leaves followed by taro root, yams with the meat and salt on top. These were then bound up to be cooked in the ground on hot lava rocks. Next was the dance. The village women are not permitted to watch the dance but tourists may. The Rom dance is about grade taking as a man moves up in the village structure. The dancers wear either the "namba" costume, penis sheath tucked up into a belt so it sticks straight out with testicles hanging. This includes the young boys who are also dancing some about 8 years old to the old chief who told us he was 68. Then other dancers wear brightly painted masks made of banana fiber and a thick cloak of banana leaves. The dance is a lot of foot stomping keeping a beat to the chant that the dancers are doing. After the dance we were shown some of the traditional sand painting. One of the men using his fingers to draw a picture in the sand. This features delicate loops and circles done without raising the hand but lifting different fingers. They illustrate local legends or messages. Next we were able to look at a number of carvings in both wood and stone that were for sale. Of course several souvenirs were bought. On getting ready to depart we were given about 2 kilos of the fresh beef that was being prepared for the wedding feast. We later had it for several meals. The next several days were spent relaxing, visiting Rannon village, and looking about the general area in the dinghy.
On Friday it was again time to move. We were headed to Pentecost Is. where we could witness "land diving". The original form of bungee jumping. The dives were originally done to insure a successful yam harvest, now a tourist attraction. We arrived at the jump site Saturday morning with our guide "Shame". The fee to watch was 7500 vatu or $75US. The dive is made from a tower built of sticks and perhaps 50 feet tall on the edge of steep sloping ground and is done in a "namba". The divers are aged from about 9 years to their late 20's. The younger boys dive from lower levels moving higher as they age. With a vine secured to their legs they literally dive from a platform extending out from the tower and do a face plant in the dirt. The vine and collapsing of the platform slows the decent but they hit with quite a force. We watched 7 dives and saw no injuries. An interesting observation was the first thing each diver checked on landing was that his "namba" was still in place. The diver's are accompanied by another group of chanting and foot stomping "namba" clad men.
As Connie' time with us was getting short the next day we were on the move again to Luganville, the second largest city, and where Connie would be able to start her journey home. More upcoming in part3
As always we love to hear from you, just remember to always start a new message not use the reply key as our system is through the high frequency radio. We hope you are enjoying life too. J&K
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