"Port Vila, December 2004 - January 2005 " a Port-Vila Travel Page by aami80

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Ni-Vanuatu Children

People

I would have thought that for a travel summary the ‘Places’ part of the summary would have been most important. What I realised is that it isn’t true. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a tropical ‘paradise’ if the people there are rude, or mistreated.

Port Vila has some of the friendliest people on the planet. When we were walking down the street, people would say hello to us. The outer islands of Vanuatu have even friendlier people, although you’ll have to read my other pages to find out more about them. The only problem with the people in Vanuatu is the obvious divide between ‘them’ and ‘us’ at the upmarket resorts. For instance, only ‘bone fide international guests’ are allowed to use the free ferry to Iririki Island. You don’t have to be an international guest staying on the island, you just have to be from somewhere else and carrying lots of cash that you’ll be happy to give to them. For me, this spoils things. When the people who live in a place aren’t treated like they belong there, I wonder whether I do.

There were other places where the divide wasn’t so obvious. For instance, the Port Vila pub where the hostess still remembered our names on our second visit, even though it was a week after our first visit. Or mangoes, where our waiter talked to us about his travels from Vanuatu, and helped us choose the best items from the menu.

To sum up, if you go to Port Vila don’t spend all your time hanging out in the expensive resorts. You may as well be anywhere in the world if you do, because they’re all the same. Spend some time visiting the locals. Go on a locally run tour of a village and shake hands with the children. Go to the locally run Melanesian feast instead of to the resort one. These things might not be quite so pretty or quite so elegant, but they make up for it in warmth, hospitality, and effort.

The best places to visit around Port Vila are the restaurants, the small islands off the main island (Erakor, Hideaway, Iririki – all can be reached by hailing a bus and then taking a free ferry across the water), Mele Cascades, and the local villages. See my reviews for more information!

Also, something to be prepared for, the main area of town is a bit of a concrete jungle and is quite dirty. Don't be disheartened when you arrive, the place is surrounded by gems.

This place is HOT HOT HOT! Don't even think about staying somewhere without air-conditioning in the summer months, it's not worth it. On the outer islands the accomodation has to run on generator power, which means no air-con. We were having to wet our t-shirts before going to bed just to keep ourselves cool and try to get a little sleep in those places, so get the air-con when you can. During the days we would wet our tops and our hats before going out, and usually tried to go somewhere with swimming or air-conditioning during the day. Don't be fooled by the words 'wet season', the rain doesn't cool things down any! It's lovely at night, to be able to go out in our shorts and T-shirts, but be prepared for a bit of a sauna in general.