Saturday 1 May 2010

Vanuatu: paradise cove, cascades, a giant pig called Mama, the end

To give our wonderful hosts a break, Em and I spent a couple of fantastic nights at Paradise Cove.  We loved the bungalows (fair way up on the fancy scale cf. Friendly Bungalows), and the snorkelling off the jetty was awesome.  Their bar and restaurant was fantastic, food was great etc.  Highly recommend.

We spent an afternoon exploring the Mele Cascades outside of Port Vila.  The waterfalls were spectacular, and great for swimming, although a little chilly compared to the bath-temperature sea water (BTW Vanuatu doesn't have leeches or pretty much anything else nasty/dangerous).  There is a grassy lookout at the cascades that would be great for a picnic.  There was hardly anyone else around, which was great.  Apparently it is best to avoid the cascades on 'cruise ship days' unless you want to hang out with drunk Aussie bogans.

From the cascades we had a very entertaining bus trip back through one of the large village areas of Vila called 'freshwota', where we helped load and unload massive bunches of bananas and coconuts destined for the market.  A little girl came up to the bus window for a chat, gave Em a flower, and told us about the giant pig called 'Mama' that was wandering around behind her.  Good times.

We finished off our trip with a great dinner with our hosts at L'Houstalet, which is something of a Port Vila institution (the Constitution was signed there).  Thanks to our hosts we had the benefit of local knowledge and saw some amazing stuff in just 10 days.  Thanks guys!

1 comment:

Lydia said...

Volcanoes, sunshine, warmth, giant pigs, snorkelling... Sounds like a most excellent vacation.