"A beautiful South Pacific archip ..." a Vanuatu Travel Page by kooka3

This summer, I spent 5 weeks in Vanuatu. I spent about 6 days in Port Vila, the capital, and about 4 weeks in North Pentecost, one of the northern islands. I lived with a fantastic couple, one of whom was my translator for a project I was working on for the Vanuatu Cultural Center. I got to meet wonderful people, eat great new foods, and learn a lot.

On my Vanuatu page, I have listed general information -- things that apply to more than one area of the country, so you won't find any hotel tips or other things that are specific to an area - for those, please check out my Port Vila and Pentecost pages! Thanks.

Before gaining independence in 1980, Vanuatu was known as New Hebrides and was jointly run by the British and French. It is now a Republic with an elected Parliament, but the British and French left their marks on the education systems, the languages, the cultural systems, the economic system, etc.

The country is made up of about 80 islands, arranged in a Y-shaped configuration. The Torres islands are the northernmost point; Aneityum is about 900km south. Most of the islands are volcanic and therefore are rugged, high, and mountainous. There are 3 permanantly active volcanos on Tanna, Ambrym, and Lopevi. Two underwater volcanues were recently identified near Epi, and sometimes you can see the water bubbling up.

Their summer is their wet season, running from about November to April. Dry season/winter funs the rest of the year, but temperatures are moderate all year round.