Day 6: Access Denied

The ni-Vanuatu still adhere to some older customs and rules.  I told Enet that I was interested in hiking up the mountain to the extinct volcano.  The next morning she apologized and said it was not possible.  She had apparently sent a message up to the village who controlled access and they weren’t going to decide until their weekly meeting on Monday which would have been too late for me since I was going back to Vila.  In typical American fashion, I thought there had to be another way. So I took off up the hill.  After about 30 minutes, I was stopped by Kirk.  Apparently he had an arrangement with the other bungalow for organizing tours.  He seemed to think that it was possible for me to go up there because the land wasn’t atually owned by any village in particular.  Kirk showed me the bungalow he had built and the spot where he wanted to build another. Apparently bungalows was the business to be in.  Kirk was  little busy, so he volunteered his kids to show me the way.  All for only 1000 vatu ($10).  A rip off, but he said the $ would go toward their education costs. I chose to believe him and hoped he wasn’t really going to spend the money to re-charge his French satellite television account.

 

The kids took me on people’s garden paths and through cane grass to the top.  The kids were 9, 7, and 7 years old.  One of the little girls wasn’t wearing shoes because her flip-flops had apparently broken. The walk was quite, peaceful, and beautiful- as were the views.  On my way back down, Kirk told me that his dream was to be in Lonely Planet.  I wished him the best of luck. Getting his bungalows listed in LP would surely make him financially set for the rest of his life.

 

I spent the afternoon exploring another coastal village.  I observed their fishing techniques: this involves a large net and a few guys with snorkels and masks.  As I strolled through Unakap, a woman in her Mother Hubbard dress started walking with me and pointing out different things.  She volunteered her daughters to walk me back to the village where I was staying.  The women really enjoyed inquiring where I came from (most visitors are Australian), if I had a husband, and if I had kids.