Vanuatu doesn’t show up in many top 10 lists, so of course we had to go.
If you look at a map of the South Pacific, you’ll find it just west of Fiji. Since we’ve been based in Sydney for the last few months, it was only a 3.5-hour flight.
Efate, Vanuatu’s main island, is a relatively flat jungle once you get outside of Port Vila. The soil is rich, dark volcanic, the palm trees are an impossible shade of green, and the roads are very rough. If you love being on a 4x4 off-roading jungle adventure, this is your place.
We should be clear: our complaints about the roads are no dig on the people of Vanuatu. Some of the roads were built by Americans during World War II, and some by the Chinese.
Question of the week: What’s the weirdest drink you’ve ever had in your travels?
We ask because Iden had a kava experience. More on that in just a minute. What’s the strangest thing you’ve drunk in your travels? And (bonus point) how did it affect your trip?
A word of caution about kava
In an earlier podcast, we talked about kava, the native drink of the South Pacific. It’s made from a pepper root, and it functions as the region’s social lubricant. On Vanuatu, it’s extra strong.
As Iden came to find out, you aren’t supposed to drink two liters of kava in one night. He did. He lived to regret it. He didn’t eat anything for two days, and when he tried, he said it felt like liquid lava going down.
Pro Tip: Treat Vanuatu kava with respect. One serving is plenty for first-timers. Two liters is a mistake that will make you miss two days of your trip!.
Standing on an active volcano
We were lucky enough to visit the island of Tanna, home to Mount Yasur, an active volcano To reach it, you cross the long flat ash plains in Tafea Province. One side of the volcano looks like chocolate, dark earth with small trees and bushes pushing through.
Once on the top, you’re standing on the caldera and watching the eruptions. You feel the ground shake, and then you see lava spewing into the sky. It is one of the few places on Earth where you can safely stand that close to the spectacle. (We’ll show you video of the eruption in the podcast.)
The hotel that nursed Iden back to health
We stayed at the Rockwater Hotel, which gets credit for getting Iden back to health. The garden alone was worth the trip. You walk through little passageways, and each one reveals a new section, with its own unique plant. Iden counted something like 50 sections. Banana, coconut, coffee. You name it, they’re growing it at Rockwater.
Tanna has terrific volcanic soil, so everything grows there. Bananas, coffee, you name it. Iden made a speedy recovery, which was a big relief.
A culture that preserves its traditions
One of the most fascinating parts of Vanuatu is its culture. We toured one of the villages and saw how people live now, still embracing many of their traditions.
Among the practices are their marriage rituals. Giving a pig to the father of the bride seals the marriage, according to our guide. (That’s one way to do it.)
Some traditions are not for the faint of heart. Male circumcision happens later in life, often around age 10, and our guide told us the boys aren’t warned beforehand. They cut using bamboo and the ceremony takes about one hour. There’s an option to go to a hospital instead, but if you take it, the village never lets you forget it. You become, in the guide’s words, the “village coward.”
Who should go to Vanuatu
If you love off-roading, if you want to feel genuinely lost in the rainforest, and if you want to get close to communities still living their traditions, this is the place for you.
Don’t forget our question of the week: What’s the wildest road trip you’ve ever taken? Our top commenter gets a free one-year subscription to Elliott Confidential, our sister newsletter.
