Vanuatu: Banan Bay, Malekula

We arrived at Luganville on Espiritu Santo, one of the larger islands in

Vanuatu

(formerly known as the

New Hebrides

), on Tuesday, Oct. 18^th. On Monday night we had made a brief stop at

Pentecost

Island

where the Captain went ashore to speak with his friend, Chief Alan Bule, who wanted advance notice of our arrival so he can plan a program with music and traditional dance for us. We will return there after we have visited several other islands.

After docking and clearing in with Customs at Luganville, we stayed only about 5 to 6 hours before setting sail again. This gave everyone some time to go ashore to exchange money, explore the

Main Street

shops (there’s not much beyond that), check email messages, and get a refreshing, cold drink. We cast off the dock lines about 1700 and set sail for

Banan

Bay

, on Malekula, another island in

Vanuatu

, approximately 60 miles away from

Espiritu Santo

.

Sailing through the night, we arrived at

Banan

Bay

early Wednesday morning, Oct. 19th. In fact, we had a rather abrupt arrival. I was awakened out of a deep sleep at 0620 hearing an urgent call, “All hands on deck, NOW!,” quickly followed by “All hands AFT.” The bow of the ship had run aground on a coral head. Hoping that the shift of weight would be sufficient to let the bow float free, we were told to move as far aft as possible. Twenty or more of us climbed up to stand on the newly varnished seats at the aftmost end of the Aloha Deck with the rest of the crew crowded in front of us. That was not sufficient to set the bow free, so both anchors were dropped, taking 2 to 3 tons of weight out of the bow.

Our third anchor was tied to a 600 foot line and taken aft in the skiff to set it as a kedge. With much maneuvering of the helm, engine (forward and reverse), heaving on one, two or all three anchors and using the skiff to push against the ship’s stern, eventually the Captain got the bow free from the coral. In the meantime, an islander, Alex, paddled out to the ship in his dugout outrigger canoe. He tied the canoe alongside our ship, got into the skiff and showed us a safe passage around the coral to an anchorage near shore. While Alex piloted from the skiff, the Captain went aloft and called commands from the shrouds above the Fore Upper Topsail yard.

After our eventful arrival, we had a late breakfast at 0845, stowed the sails and secured the anchors. The off watches were then allowed to go ashore. Since our shore visits are shorter as we hop among the islands, we are staying on our sea watches and each watch does a full 24 hour rotation of duty while we are at anchor. The 8-12 watch had the first day’s duty and the rest of us were off (I’m on 12-4, so I was on duty the second day at anchor).

Chief Saitol welcomed us into his village and introduced us to several of his family including his grandson,

Dixon

, who will be the next Chief. There are many different languages throughout the islands; even from one village to the next they may not speak the same language. The language they do speak in common is Bislama, also known as “Pidgin English”, which is more or less understandable when it is spoken, but the signs I saw written looked like a word puzzle. I listenend to Chief Saitol for quite a long time and understood maybe half of what he was saying. One phrase I picked up rather quickly is “nummawan” (translates as “number one” meaning “the best” or “very good”).

Chief Saitol is the Cultural Chief in charge of preserving the native traditions, which they call “Kastom”. This includes not only dance and music, but also teaching young people how to behave, be courteous and to respect others. Chief Saitol’s village has about 50 to 60 people; the next village down the road is slightly bigger with 100 to 150 people.

Banan

Bay

is the most rustic, primitive place we have visited. The huts are all thatch roofed, with walls woven of Pandanus Palm and dirt floors. There is no plumbing or electricity; at night campfires and kerosene lanterns are the only source of light. Cooking is all done on open fires or on hot stones in pits dug into the ground. Woven mats cover the dirt floor, not only inside the hut, but also in the outdoor gathering places which may have a roof with no walls. The one sign of modern “technology” that I saw was about a dozen plastic lawn chairs that were carried from place to place wherever a large group convened.

The second night that we were at

Banan

Bay

, Chief Saitol’s village performed Kastom Dances for us. First the men danced four or five traditional dances, including one for when a pig is killed, another intended to intimidate unwanted visitors, and one for when a man marries a woman. The men wore only a waistband with a sheath made of a leaf wrapped around their penis; and some body and face paint. The women danced, in a different location, wearing only grass skirts. One of their traditions is that after the dancing is finished all the dancers line up and shake hands with the guests.

After the Kastom Dance performance we all stood in a circle and Chief Saitol asked us to introduce ourselves one by one: name, where we are from, what we do at home, whether we are married and how many children we have. Then each of us was given a coconut to drink and we were served “lap-lap” a traditionally cooked meal served on the ground on very large leaves set on top of woven mats. There was a sticky, starchy food made of one of the roots that is a staple of the island cuisine (taro or manioc), which we tore into pieces and dipped in a tasty sauce in which a very tough old hen was cooked.

Later in the evening there was a Kava Ceremony and dancing to the local String Band. Kava is a beverage made from the yaqona root. The root is pulverized, mixed with water and then strained. The root is often presented as a gift when visiting a village and the Chiefs drink it together ceremonially. When a group of people are drinking kava together, a number of people get a coconut bowl full of kava to drink while the others all clap hands until everyone drinking has finished. Once you raise the coconut bowl to your mouth, you have to drink the entire cupfull straight down until it’s empty. The taste is not terrific; initially it can make the mouth and lips feel tingly or numb and, in larger quantities, it can make a person quite inebriated. Some of our crew who had too much became nauseated. 

The String Band has a one string bass which is a large box with a string attached to a stick that attaches to the top of the box; several ukuleles and guitars. We decided that they always play the same song and sing different words each time, including a rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. Certainly the rhythm is the same, even if there is a slight variation in melody. People of all ages love to dance and we were never at a loss for dance partners, sometimes dancing with three or four kids at once. Even after the Chief announced that it was time for Primary School students to go to bed there were a lot of youngsters that continued to dance.

On Friday morning, our third day in

Banan

Bay

, we went ashore to trade with the islanders. We took used clothes, tools, flashlights, soap, paper and pens, kitchen appliances…anything that might be of value to them. And we traded for woven mats, baskets, shells, carvings, bow and arrows…whatever the islanders had that appealed to us. One of the more highly prized items was boars teeth, particularly any that make a full circle from base to tip.

After trading we had a couple of hours before the picnic lunch for crew and villagers on the beach. I went snorkeling with Susannah and Mike. Snorkeling is new for me and I am so amazed every time at the variety and intricacy of the coral, the beautiful reef fish. It’s a whole different world underwater, and totally intriguing.