Day 5: International Tour

A bit about simplicity: It seems sort of backwards that I would go to a developing country and seek out a place without tv, power, phones, etc. as a means of relaxation.  At the guesthouse, the water pump wasn’t working so I had one bucket for flushing the toilet and one bucket for showering.  One thing that I though was great is that the lights were powered by solar panels.

 

I met the other tourists for a guided hike to an old banyan tree.  I always love meeting interesting people when traveling.  The people I went on the tour with were a French woman, her English husband, and their kid.  I thought it was really great that their son was bilingual- he spoke only French with the mom and only English with the dad. The ability to speak 2 languages fluently is a wonderful gift to give your kids.  I’m also intrigued by French women b/c they really do seem to have that “joie de vivre.” I aspire to be more whimsical and light hearted like they are. 

The “hike” was great.  We had fresh coconut and mango’s along the way.  Apparently you can eat coconut in all stages of it’s growth. I’d never had soft coconut before, but it was really good.  The great thing about the climate of Vanuatu is that locals can grow their own food.  This means that food shortages are rarely an issue.  I found out quickly that yams, taro, bananas, rice, and manioc make up most of what the ni-vanuatu eat.  My enterprising hostess cooked huge meals for me 3 times a day and then sold plates of what I didn’t eat for 100 vatu to other villagers.  That made me feel better about ‘wasting’ food.  I sat in the kitchen and talked to E-net (the girl in charge of the guesthouse the week I was there) as she cooked.  I was sincerely disappointed when she declined to eat dinner with me.  I felt really awkward as she put the huge plates of food on the table and left while I ate by myself.  Each meal was arranged neatly on the plates- rice in formations accentuated by flowers. 

 

The rest of the walk was really beautiful- we passed banana trees, pineapple, manioc and yam plants on our way to the treehouse in the 300 year old banyan tree.  A lot of the plants and flowers were familiar to me and some of my favorites- Hibiscus, bromeliads, birds of paradise, plumeria, etc. I also enjoyed talking to the French/brit couple and learning about their adventures.  They had pretty much traveled the world backpacker style starting in their late teens and didn’t slow down one bit with the births of their 3 kids.