Getting around Vanuatu: Planes, Boats, and Pickup Trucks
In the Peace Corps Vanuatu welcome book I was sent before coming, I was told that "In Vanuatu, you will probably do more walking, riding in the back of pickup trucks, flying in small planes, and
bouncing around in small boats than you have ever done before." On my recent trip to Malekula, Vanuatu's second largest island, I got my first real taste of Vanuatu travel. I am someone who loves all of those modes of transport - pickup trucks, small planes, boats - so this is a great country for me.
I was spending a week in Malekula with a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader - a 3rd year volunteer who helps with developing sites for new volunteers, among other things. I spent the week living with her and visiting different villages around Malekula as part of her site development work. The idea of me being along was basically for me to get a sense of village life, and I also got the chance to chat with a couple volunteers who will be doing the same project as me.
To get to Malekula I caught a flight from Port Vila to Norsup, the airport near where the volunteer I was staying with lives. It was a 20-passenger plane - not quite as small as the Cape Air flights that fly from Boston to the Adirondacks, but still cozy! There were only 5 of us on the flight. It was neat seeing all the islands from the sky, and then flying over Malekula and seeing all the rivers and hills from the sky. It really looked like a tropical wilderness - but maybe that's the romanticism that the South Pacific inspires in me. We landed on a grass airstrip next to the ocean, and I was met by two Peace Corps volunteers with a lei and baby powder - it's a Vanuatu tradition to sprinkle baby powder on guests.
I'd taken a small boat in Vanuatu before, to and from Pele Island - and got to do so again when we had to visit a Peace Corps site on a small island near Malekula. To catch the boat, we walked down to the wharf and waited until we saw a man loading his motorboat with coconuts and other things to take to the island - apparently they didn't have enough coconuts. He agreed to take us. The ride over to the island was nice, but it was the ride back from the island that was adventurous - it poured the whole time, and the sky was so gray we couldn't see any land. The swells were pretty big too. But it was beautiful - all the gray colors, and the glittery look of raindrops on water.
Everywhere we went on the mainland was by pickup truck. Sometimes we had to charter one to go somewhere far or off the beaten track, but often we could just flag one down on the side of the road. My favorite truck ride was when I had spent the day visiting two volunteers - a married couple - who will be working on the same project as me. When it came time for me to go back to the village where I was staying, we flagged down a truck that was full of mamas (basically mother/grandmother aged women). I knew the ride would be great - all my friends in Benin were grandmothers for the most part. When I asked where they were going, they cheerfully said - "one of us is going to catch the boat to Port Vila, we're all going to the wharf to see her off!" We had a great ride together - we talked about which island I'll be working on when I start my project, I was gifted two mangoes from one of their baskets, and they included me in their laughing and joking the best they could. My language skills still need some work. But the whole ride reminded me how much I love public transportation, and the easy connections you can make with people.
I was spending a week in Malekula with a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader - a 3rd year volunteer who helps with developing sites for new volunteers, among other things. I spent the week living with her and visiting different villages around Malekula as part of her site development work. The idea of me being along was basically for me to get a sense of village life, and I also got the chance to chat with a couple volunteers who will be doing the same project as me.
To get to Malekula I caught a flight from Port Vila to Norsup, the airport near where the volunteer I was staying with lives. It was a 20-passenger plane - not quite as small as the Cape Air flights that fly from Boston to the Adirondacks, but still cozy! There were only 5 of us on the flight. It was neat seeing all the islands from the sky, and then flying over Malekula and seeing all the rivers and hills from the sky. It really looked like a tropical wilderness - but maybe that's the romanticism that the South Pacific inspires in me. We landed on a grass airstrip next to the ocean, and I was met by two Peace Corps volunteers with a lei and baby powder - it's a Vanuatu tradition to sprinkle baby powder on guests.
I'd taken a small boat in Vanuatu before, to and from Pele Island - and got to do so again when we had to visit a Peace Corps site on a small island near Malekula. To catch the boat, we walked down to the wharf and waited until we saw a man loading his motorboat with coconuts and other things to take to the island - apparently they didn't have enough coconuts. He agreed to take us. The ride over to the island was nice, but it was the ride back from the island that was adventurous - it poured the whole time, and the sky was so gray we couldn't see any land. The swells were pretty big too. But it was beautiful - all the gray colors, and the glittery look of raindrops on water.
Everywhere we went on the mainland was by pickup truck. Sometimes we had to charter one to go somewhere far or off the beaten track, but often we could just flag one down on the side of the road. My favorite truck ride was when I had spent the day visiting two volunteers - a married couple - who will be working on the same project as me. When it came time for me to go back to the village where I was staying, we flagged down a truck that was full of mamas (basically mother/grandmother aged women). I knew the ride would be great - all my friends in Benin were grandmothers for the most part. When I asked where they were going, they cheerfully said - "one of us is going to catch the boat to Port Vila, we're all going to the wharf to see her off!" We had a great ride together - we talked about which island I'll be working on when I start my project, I was gifted two mangoes from one of their baskets, and they included me in their laughing and joking the best they could. My language skills still need some work. But the whole ride reminded me how much I love public transportation, and the easy connections you can make with people.
And like everywhere in Vanuatu, Malekula was beautiful to explore by foot, too. My host lived in a village near the ocean, and I shot some nice photos there when I took afternoon walks. Here's a taste!
Everything I've posted has been pretty cheery so far. And Vanuatu really is a big adventure. But some things have been hard - like feeling in limbo, not really knowing what my schedule is going to be like and always moving and living out of a suitcase. This place is still pretty new. I'm very grateful to be here though, and am feeling more and more settled. I know this year has a lot of good in store.
Aw what lovely people you're meeting. What a wonderful community so far!
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