Arriving into Port Vila on Effate island reminded me of being in Africa. When we arrived we saw lots of people mainly men trying to vie for my attention to take a taxi or bus or whatever. Then there was the humidity and the smell. We finally found a taxi driver who was reasonable and belonged to a local company not just some random man on the street. The local currency is the Fatu and the local dialect is Bislama. There are 82 islands in Vanuatu and each island have their own dialect. I wish I had the time to visit them all. The first stop was the beautiful blue lagoon east of the island. The lagoon was turqoise in colour and beautiful and warm. If you swam further up to the lagoon and turned right you reached the ocean and you can feel the riptide then it could just take you into the ocean. After the morning swimming in the lagoon it was time to visit a Pepeyo village for some cultural experience. The Tana people scream and frighten their guests as part of their welcome. It did scare the shit out of me for the first 2 seconds. Then we met the chief of the village and got the usual dancing, walking on hot coals, explanations about their past traditions and finally photos with the villagers. I didn't care about all that because they had a puppy and that was all I cared about. I even missed the villagers walking over hot coals as I was playing with the puppy. When the taxi driver finally prized me away from the puppy, we went into Port Vila town. First stop was market house for the local morning market. Vanuatu also have humungous avocados the size of your head. Then I walked by the waterfront and then hopped on the free ferry to Iriki island. I didn't realise that a day pass at this resort cost $35 as I got off the ferry and walked to the beach while smiling at the lady in reception. It was only after another couple told me that they were asked to pay for a day pass. I spent some time on their beach. I didn't swim because of the many notices of stone fishes in the area as I didn't have my swim shoes. So I'm glad I didn't pay the $35. it was an interesting day. I missed the chance to visit Mystery island as someone nearly died on the ship and had to evacuated to the nearest big island. So we had to sail back to Noumea and missed Mystery island. I guess this part of the island will always be a mystery to me.
