Mele Cascade Falls

Caught a taxi to the falls at Mele village 10 mins out of town and had a fun time clambering to the top, lost a shoe in the process. The water was Cristal clear and the pools blue, loved standing at the base of one of the falls for a water pummelling massage. Imagined ourselves to be Bear Gryll's 'surviving' Vanuatu. 



Its cold!







Mummy was visualising head injuries! and we hadn't reached the top yet



Swimming in one of the pools

Ekasup Cultural Village

Warrior protecting his village

The welcome

We visited Ekasup Cultural Village, which was great.  When you arrive you walk through the forest to the village but hidden in the trees were villagers baring weapons and trying to threaten us which gave the kids a thrill.

The village chief then welcomed us in, after which our guide talked us through the culture and customs of traditional Melanesian life. We were shown how they weave, hunt, fish, make medicine and then we sampled some fire cooked foods.

Making a chicken trap with coconut scraps

None of the spiders are poisonous, in fact they are very useful as the guide said 'a toy with no batteries' for the
kids and its webs are used to make garfish nets.

Weaving demonstration

Trying the cooked root veg and banana on banana leaf plates

The village band - water filled bottles, tea chest with string as a substitute for a double bass!

Market wonders

Port Villa markets are buzzing with activity every day, we went a few times to experience the local way of shopping and to see the interesting things available.  Crabs still alive tied up on string, chickens in baskets, lots of yams and sweat potato, plenty of coconuts, tropical flowers, nuts, fruits (loved the wild rasberries).  Even bumped into one of Oren's preschool teachers here on holiday.


Take away cooked fish



Crabs foaming at the mouth all tied up

Buying raw nuts



The wild rasberries are great



Coconuts everywhere



Fresh coconut milk



Sweat potato in traditional palm leaf bags





Hollander getting braids



The women in Vanuatu wear colourful 'mother hubbard' dresses

Tanna Island Volcano

Our plane to Tanna



Hollander excited about our adventure



Checking out the safety card prior to our mid flight drama

Tanna Island's volcano is the most accessible active volcano in the world. Given we love volcano's and it was Oren's 5th birthday we chartered a 1 hr flight to the Island to see it up close.  


Welcome drinks on Tanna



Kids at the back of the cafe


Getting there was an adventure, we traveled in an open air jeep which appeared to be a relic from WW2. The bone jarring journey took 2 hrs, we crossed the island on its volcanic ash roads which had been washed away in recent rains the whole time hanging on tight and trying not to feel sick.  The kids loved it though!  we even picked up hitch hikers from Czechoslovakia who had been sailing around the world for a number of years.


Our driver and the 'jeep'



Hanging on and having fun!



Ah the volcano but another 1hr of 'jeep'



The road!



On the volcanic ash plateau


The volcano was amazing, had to be there to experience the sounds, explosions, the fear, the falling lava and ash and the smell.  Our guide was a local teenager who didn't give us a safety briefing, again stupidly when you travel you do things you wouldn't normally!  When we climbed to the top of the crater and saw our first explosion that spewed forth molten lava which splattered around the rim my immediate reaction was to grab the kids and run. But another tourist there said they were told to stand still and watch where it lands so you can move accordingly! handy volcanic tip.


Looks like a sand dune but its a rumbling, exploding volcano!



The steaming road!



Alex and hitch hikers post pushing the jeep up the hill



Bizarrely the volcanic post! - arrived home 1.5wks later pretty good service


Our guide said that he wouldn't take us up if the wind was blowing towards us - so that was reassuring I think.  Also there is a meter on the island and if its rating over a 4 that day no one is allowed up, it was a 3 the day we were there which was scary enough.

It explodes every 5 mins

The crater edge

Blobs of lava in the foreground

volcanic ash

One of the vents

I freaked out so much that while I thought I was filming the amazing explosions I in fact forgot to press a vital button so no footage but I can direct you to a you tube clip which gives you an idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlffHM3wodM&feature=related

We brought home souvenir ash

The whale like blob of lava that landed a week earlier on the path to the crater!



Hollander befriended a dog at the guest house we had lunch at. 
The soil is black volcanic ash we were covered in it by the end of the day.



Tanna Is school kids checking us out after our trip to their volcano



Oren exhausted in the back of the jeep

At the end of the day we arrived back at the air strip nauseous from being put in our 'tumble drier' jeep and adrenalin fatigued. The relief of being back on the plane was short lived though as Oren accidentally pulled down an internal panel that went the full length of the plane (concealing the wiring) mid flight which hit the pilot in the head. The pilot had to let go of the controls to push it back in place with me holding up my end cursing the whole time thinking I can't believe this day - my body was sore, grey and gritty from the ash, I'd escaped volcanic lava, now I'm experiencing a mid flight drama!



Susan