Omne ignotum pro magnifico. "Anything little known is assumed to be wonderful." I guess this is how we looked at Vanuatu. Even with Google our knowledge of this island nation certainly qualified as "ignotum." And we all know about "assume!"
As previously noted we booked this trip more as a scheme to get a new visa for Australia than as a getaway but we anticipated a modest island resort along sandy beaches, not a place just outside of Port Vila on the island of Efate, the largest town in the country. Our third floor room provides a bird's-eye view the backyard squalor you can't see from the street. We must go down the hall to the toilet and shower but as far as we know we aren't sharing it with anyone. The Vanuatuans all seem happy and friendly, although the Dutch couple who were murdered here last week might take exception. Walking down the stairway to the main street past the restless looking young men isn't something I would do after dark.
Tourism is the only real industry on the island, which has 70% unemployment. Most tours are of the staged "cultural" variety or "adventure" trips with a group in kayaks or mountain bikes. There aren't many things you can do on your own so we booked a morning trip to the largest village, the Secret Garden, and Mele Cascade, hoping to see some birds along the way. The weather cooperated and it didn't rain and it gave us something to do. I always feel funny taking a tour through a village where people are living their lives though we view them like animals in a zoo, thinking how fortunate we are not to be them. The Secret Garden is a reconstruction of a tribal village, complete with cannibal hut, but it lacked the actors that we have seen in New Zealand and Swaziland. Mele Cascades was beautiful, much like some of the places in Litchfield National Park, but on this cloudy day splashing in the pools just wouldn't cut it.
We're jaded, you say. Most certainly. But now if Vanuatu is mentioned on the news we will at least know what they are talking about.
