Self-determination can be dangerous.Īccommodations on Tanna were basic. I later learned that in recent years three people were killed by flying lava after climbing too low into the crater. We had expected to spend two hours there and we spent five, trying, in vain, to capture the exhilaration on film. A part of happiness, I figured, must be managing one's own fate.Īs darkness fell, we could see the gray, ashy plumes turning brilliant scarlet, red and purple, shooting fireball rocks wildly into the night sky. It struck me as odd that there were no railings, no warning signs, no ropes and no rangers keeping visitors away from the edge. We climbed its flank and approached the rim. We pulled up before sunset, watching as gray clouds, as tall as multistoried buildings, mushroomed from the crater. The bone-rattling two-hour road trip to get there is less spectacular. If you've ever fancied getting close to a volcano, here's your chance. Yasur, one of the most spectacularly active volcanoes in the world.
#Vanuatu pidgin english driver#
We visited three: Éfaté, home of Port-Vila, the capital Tanna, home to the volcano and the nearly naked men and Espiritu Santo, where a billionaire's private island resort recently opened.Īfter several hours with the Yakel, we said " tata" (goodbye) to the tribesmen, and our driver (driving yourself is not recommended because of bad roads) moved on to Mt. The islands have a total population of 240,000. Vanuatu is a string of 83 Melanesian islands surrounded on three sides by the Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia. I decided this concept would be good for my family, and so my husband, Greg daughters, Indigo and Sofia and I spent 10 days here last July. They share almost everything and, most important, there's no cultural yearning to keep up with the Joneses. The people don't big-foot on their environment, there's no litter, not much waste, little obesity. (Subsistence agriculture does not count as wealth on the economic index.) But Vanuatu has idyllic white-sand islands, clear waters, waterfalls, great diving, the world's most accessible live volcano and food that grows faster than it can be picked. The reason they're happy is not that the Ni-Vanuatu have the most stuff by U.S. In 2006 it was voted the happiest place on Earth by the think tank Happy Planet Index. Within the last five years, however, it has become a hot spot for adventure travelers and now boasts several swanky resorts. Back then, Vanuatu was called the New Hebrides and was one of the poorest nations in the region, with little to recommend it to tourists. They speak only their tribal language and Bislama, the pidgin English that unifies the Ni-Vanuatu (Vanuatu people). To be specific, we are on the southern island of Tanna, and the Yakel, who live as they have for 4,000 years, have eschewed Western clothing and most white-man trappings. We are in the Yakel Village on the South Pacific island chain of Vanuatu.
" Yu gat hamas yia? Yu slip wea? (You've got how many years? Where are you staying?)"
" Yu, pikinini blong Amerika (You, child belonging to America)," the chief says, introducing Indigo to his grandson, who looks to be a much happier teenager. As I lift my camera, she says, "I look hideous," unaware of the irony of being surrounded by tribesmen wearing next to nothing. Reporting from Yakel Village, Vanuatu - My teenage daughter is standing in a lineup of tribesmen and she is angry with me.
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