VANUATU: Malekula and the Maskelynes

Kastom (custom) dancing brought us to Banam Bay. These men are part of the Smol Nambas on Malekula Island, meaning they traditionally wore small penis sheaths (as opposed to the Big Nambas, who wore larger leaf coverings). Though the dances were not quite what we expected—fewer men, and no women’s dances—it was still an interesting variation on others we had seen, and we were glad to see the traditions being continued with boys involved as well.

For us the main attraction to Banam Bay was the children. Throughout Vanuatu the children are independent, fearless—and happy. Laughter is everywhere! We played with the kids, traded with them, walked with them between villages while they showed off their tree climbing and nut gathering skills. When Katelinn passed through Vanuatu on her circumnavigation, she described “children dripping off of me”, and we had the same joyful experience. There is a lot right with a place where all the children are bright and curious, and such fun to be around!

Trading fishing line, hooks, and colored pencils
for pamplemousse and bananas

Playing pat-a-cake
Art started the game, joined by fellow cruisers
Dina from Canadian S/V Good as Gold and Murray from Kiwi S/V JAMS

Learning how to eat cacao beans from the shell

July 30 is Vanuatu’s Independence Day, and we wanted a taste of small town—rather, small village—celebrations rather than attend the city-style activities in the capital, so we chose to be in Banam Bay for that day.

They combined it with their annual Children’s Day, honoring the kids by giving them gifts of balls and sweets. All the children lined up and adults moved along the line shaking hands with everyone—and sprinkling talcum powder on them for good luck!

Picnics, Vanuatu-style: families with baskets of food, sitting on woven mats under the trees

Little did we know we would become part of the program!
Once the officials learned we knew their national anthem,
we were seated on stage and became part of their entertainment for the day.

Men and women generally don’t dance together, but one grandma scooped Art up and the “old folks” provided much hilarity!

Almost without exception people have Westernized first names, but I had never met another Nancie (or Nancy)--until this area, where there were four of them! This Nancie and I spent a fair amount of time together, so she was dubbed Young Nancie and for some reason I was dubbed Old Nancie.

Spontaneous moments like this one, hanging out with a family at their home before the festivities began, were often the best…

...and made parting a sweet sadness.

MASKELYNE ISLANDS

Evoy! (Hello!)

The Maskelyne group, a cluster of reefs and islands at the southeast corner of Malekula Island, has its own language and customs.

The islands are mostly small and flat, so families paddle their outrigger canoes to a separate island--"the garden island"--to raise their crops. That makes for a lot of paddling!

The Maskelynes were the only place we saw outriggers fitted with sails; this canoe was on Awai Island.

Uliveo, the largest island in the group, is home to three substantial villages, with about 1,000 people and the group’s only school. They also foster a giant clam sanctuary, creating a man-made island and oasis 25 years ago to protect the three remaining species (the largest ones have sadly become extinct, though we saw some of the enormous shells on display). We were heartened to see such active stewardship and supported their ecotourism efforts by paying to swim in the sanctuary one afternoon.

Because some places are tabu—and also to protect visitors from getting lost—all villages provide a guide for walking around their lands. We were accompanied by Philip a few times and he later invited us to his home for lunch—not a frequent occurrence with visitors, so we felt honored.

On the menu was laplap, a traditional dish made of grated roots—cassava or yam—mixed with bits of fish and some coconut milk, wrapped in leaves and baked in a stone oven. Philip was pleased to have caught a squid out on the reef the previous night, so fresh squid smoked on the fire was a real treat.

A lovely presentation in their eating area

Meriam and Sera in the cooking area

In return we invited his family to our boat, expecting his wife and two daughters—then nine people showed up at the dinghy landing. Ah, extended family; we should have known! Crowded but festive, it was their first time on a “yacht” and we all had a good time.

Binoculars provided much entertainment

The clan on deck
(without Philip, who was taking a picture of his own)

We play for schools almost everywhere, and often the men hanging around by the water end up with a spontaneous mini-performance when they see us off-loading our instruments from the dinghy. Women are working in their homes, yet enjoy the music as much as anyone—so we seek them out on their turf.

When we asked about trading for a lobster,
Andre brought us 4 of them!

Water world

We wanted to stay longer in these lovely anchorages, but as always, weather dictated our itinerary. Strong southeasterlies on the way meant it was time to sail back across open water towards Port Vila.

Pelan! Sippa! Sippa humbat!

(Goodbye! Thank you! Thank you very much!)