Vanuatu travel guide

The John Frum cargo cult is a very strange religious movement. It all started in the 1930s when Vanuatu was still a colony and heavily influenced by Christian missionaries. A (fictional) character named John Frum appeared to some elders on Tanna island and encouraged them to reject the white man's oppression (Christianity, plantations, monogamy, etc.) and go back to their traditional customs that else had been banned by the missionaries. If they did, John Frum would return with an abundance of goodies. Luckily for the cult, they did not have to wait long for the islands of Vanuatu were used as military base by the Americans during the WWII. With them came a lot of nice cargo, just as John Frum had promised, and the US soldiers didn't mind sharing with the locals. Since then, the John Frum believers practice weird rituals like parading with bamboo "rifles", raising the flag of USA, worshiping the Red Cross - and less weird rituals like the weekly Friday night dancing - in the hope that John Frum will send a new wave of heavenly cargo.

At first you might wonder why anyone would want to drink Kava. A murky liquid with a strong bitter taste that leaves your lips and tongue numb. But then you feel it, a lightness that flushes to your head. You get mildly stoned, but without losing your mental clarity. And the best bit is you do not get any hangover the next day. Kava is legal throughout the South Pacific and is normally made by grinding the Kava root and adding a bit of water (though old tribe recipes demand it to be chewed by virgin boys). In Vanuatu, you can find Kava everywhere. Bigger villages have Kava bars that are signposted by a single colorful light bulb outside. When the light is turned off, there is no more Kava.

The strange town of Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu. It is spread out over hills surrounding the beautiful bay of Vila. It is a place where local shops, with crappy Chinese imports, lie side by side with duty-free mini-malls, selling a random selection ranging from sunglasses to rifle scopes, intended for the yacht and cruise tourists that pass by. For a bit a local flavour, visit the central market that is open 24/7 (except Sunday), giving you the rare opportunity to buy coconuts in the middle of the night. It is also here you find cheap meals like "lap-lap" (cassava cake with some meat inside) or more exotic deals like coconut crabs and fruit bats.

From the top of the sheer cliff that shelters the bay, you can look straight through the clear water and see mingling sharks (yellow reef sharks) at the bottom. Sea turtles do also occasional cruise by and can be seen in the surf. You cannot access the black sand beach at Sharks Bay, but you can go around the northern tip, climb down a ladder, and walk along the rather deserted beach on the other side. A beautiful and tranquil walk that can be extended all the way to Port Resolution (needs a bit of inland walking) where the gorgeous White Sand Beach lies.

The people of Vanuatu are not shy to show you their way of life. A visit to a Kastom village will no-doubt involve some traditional dance, like the Namba dance on Tanna island. The chief will call the men together by banging the tam-tam, and soon after they will all appear buck-naked with only a bundle of leaves, a so-called Namba, covering their private parts. They will clap, sing, jump, and stamp their way through the tribal dances right on the dirt under the canopy of a giant banyan tree. It is an amazing performance to watch and has a refreshingly authentic feel to it, far from those tacky tourist shows you can see elsewhere in the South Pacific.

Wow! Standing on the rim of an active volcano when it suddenly erupts aggressively is a not-to-be-missed experience in life - that is, if you survive the flying lava. Mt. Yasur on Tanna island is the perfect volcano for that. It is active big time and the crater can easily be reached by foot or even 4WD. At daytime, it is a rather impressive sight with smoke, bangs and flying rocks heading for the sky, but it is nothing compared to the real show at night time. Red hot lava is thrown into the air, changing shape, and landing (hopefully) on the inner side of the crater. If the activity is not too intense, you can even climb the higher rim on both sides of the greater crater and look straight down into the flaming center (there are four crates within the one volcano). Tourists have been killed by venturing too close, so listen to any advice from the locals.