Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Divine Melanesia


Plantation
Farmers on a roadside plot that connects the south to Champagne Beach.
Ni-Vanuatu Generations
Blonde grandmother and grandson in Luganville's Unity Park.
Jungle and South Pacific
Lush coastline front, walking distance from Champagne Beach.
a beach of champagne
Champagne Beach's seductive coastline, owned by an elder who refuses to sell to tourist investors and charges small entrance fees.
Matinee
An agglomeration of curious people follow a film playing in a street video club.
in team
Friends pose on a podium in honor of Football Independence, before starting a football match.
Divine Coast
Champagne Beach's seductive coastline, owned by an elder who refuses to sell to tourist investors and charges small entrance fees.
A long way
Father and son walk along the unpaved road that leads to Champagne Beach.
LSC
Residents of Luganville, the capital of Espiritu Santo in front of the LSC store.
Sell
A group of Nivanuatu women participate in a Unity Association of Santo sale.
Digicel
Young salespeople working for Digicel sell mobile phone credit.
Pedro Fernandes de Queirós thought he had discovered Terra Australis. The colony he proposed never materialized. Today, Espiritu Santo, the largest island in Vanuatu, is a kind of Eden.

We never quite understood whether it was a miracle or mere mercy with outsiders.

What is certain is that despite the Overbooking Early risers who had graduated, they put us on the plane full of native passengers and their crates, chickens and who knows what else.

The stewardess still uncoiled the safety instructions in the fun dialect bislama and we were already soaring into the skies of the South Pacific. A blanket of deep dark clouds obstructed our view over Efate and the surrounding archipelago, returned to spaces by sunny intervals.

Below, well-designed reefs are unveiled and a sea of ​​green that covered the mountains and coastlines, right down to the sands that were sometimes white and sometimes black.

We flew over Nguna, Emae and Epi. With Paama behind, we catch sight of Ambrym and the lush landscape gives way to the lava desolation generated by two active volcanoes, the Benbow and the Marum. Then the plane changes course and descends to Luganville, the second and last village in Vanuatu that anyone would dare to call a city.

As a team, Unity Park-Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Friends pose on a podium in honor of Football Independence, before starting a football match.

The Mistaken Discovery of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, the navigator from Évora who discovered those places to the West, had a lot more work traveling to the same destination. He landed there with ambitions to develop it in the name of God and for the enjoyment of the third Philippine king (second Philip of Portugal).

He thought it was the great elusive continent of the south and called the archipelago Austrialis del Espiritu Santo. Inspired by a strong religious fervor, he further proposed the founding of a colony in that land which he was certain “to be more delicious, healthier and more fertile than any that could be found”. He decided to name her Nova Jerusalem.

When Nostalgia Defeated Romanticism

But the natives disapproved of his intentions and frequently attacked the settlers. Also part of the crew disagreed with his romantic judgment. At a weaker moment in the captain's health, opponents forced a return to Mexico.

Queirós traveled from the Americas back to Spain where he lived for some time in poverty. For 7 years, he sent memorials to the king (at least 65 are believed to be) begging him to authorize a third expedition.

But, to their chagrin, the Royal Council replied that the works in the Pacific weakened the Motherland and that they could not pay for them. In addition, it banned the publication of the navigator's findings so that no other nation would benefit from them. Queirós died, frustrated off the coast of what is now Panama, on his way to the kingdom of New Spain.

The island that he discovered and on which we were about to land adopted the name of Espiritu Santo. It didn't take long to notice some of the attributes that enchanted the navigator, as well as other doubtful relationships with his colonial projects.

Landing in the Divine Land of Espiritu Santo

Pekoa airport is small, but a delay by the personnel in charge of unloading luggage forces us to wait in the arrivals hall. We took the opportunity to examine some images on the laptops and, when we noticed her, we had a group of curious people on our backs.

Grandmother and grandson ni vanuatu, Unity Park-Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Blonde grandmother and grandson in Luganville's Unity Park.

One is black (Melanesian) but surprisingly golden. It triggers in us a certain admiration and a lively conversation about the African origin or Lapita of the Ni-Vanuatu people and about why so many Ni-Vanuatu have golden hair.

One of the natives, who speaks English well, leaves us stunned with his explanation: “Well, you know the history of the lost tribes of Israel, do not know? Around here, many people believe that the Ni-Vanuatu are descendants of one of them. "

The theory does not seem to answer the capillary conundrum nor has it been supported by historical or scientific evidence, but it was very fashionable during the XNUMXth century and provides a cloth for sleeves. Only the arrival of the almost forgotten suitcases interrupts the debate.

We settled in Luganville, the unpretentious capital of the island and, as the day was still beginning, we went out to explore its few streets.

Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Residents of Luganville, the capital of Espiritu Santo, in front of the LSC Hardware store.

The Inevitable Chinese Presence and Prolific Sales ni-Vanuatu

A significant part of the ground floor buildings on Boulevard Higginson (the main avenue) were occupied by Chinese emigrants, owners and owners of shops that sell a bit of everything at prices inflated by insularity and the Sino-genetic of work and profit.

The establishments are dark, crowded and even dusty. They employ two or three native helpers who help owners solve unexpected problems and get away with both tribal dialects and the national language, a tight Creole that mixes French and Melanesian terms with basic English.

The local market is much more airy. It houses dozens of women in loose, colorful dresses who sell goods – vegetables, fruits and animal products – that the tribal lands produce and, in which the Chinese, do not compete.

Some leave their adjoining stalls and join a spontaneous crowd of spectators watching a movie on TV from a crowded DVD rental house.

Spontaneous street cinema, Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

An agglomeration of curious people follow a film playing in a street video club.

Next door, in Unity Park, the Unity Association of Santo promotes a street sale that reverts to the homonymous religious nucleus. Other women in dresses, aprons and caps sell slices of cake, pies, pastries, baked taro and fried fish in the shade of centuries-old trees with long multi-branched trunks.

"Taste my pie, madam and sir”, offers us one with extreme delicacy and sets the tone that the others had been waiting for to impose their specialties. We ended up tasting a little of everything and left some vatus in return they fully satisfy them.

Unity Association of Santo sale, Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

A group of Nivanuatu women participate in a Unity Association of Santo sale.

A short distance away, three or four kids try their luck at a different business, sheltered from the heat under a red parasol.

"Top Up Here"and "top up with me”, the messages on their mini-stand and on the t-shirts leave little doubt: they are representatives of the newcomer Digicel and recharge the credit of the few mobile phones already operational on the island.

From time to time, they also sell one or another phone but in a territory that lives happily in pure self-sufficiency kastom (traditional), only the wealthiest give in to whim.

Sellers Digicel-Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Young salespeople working for Digicel sell mobile phone credit.

Holy Spirit as God made her

Just a long walk beyond the Tabwemsana or Kotamtam Mountains – the highest on the island – and we may come across tribes that do not come to civilization and may never have seen a white, such as some more elusive Lysepsep who, favored by their pygmy stature (adults measure just three feet) are limited to watching outsiders from safe hiding places.

But it is not necessary to go that far to admire other unusual facets of Espiritu Santo.

Harry, a driver from the neighbor Pentecost island that we hired apologizes for the state of the red dirt road that runs along the east coast of the island, between large coconut groves, leafy gardens and dense jungle. There is nothing to apologize for.

North Road, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Father and son walk along the unpaved road that leads to Champagne Beach.

Three bumpy hours later with stops for bathing in several idyllic brackish lagoons, the path winds through strange forests of morning glory and descends into an azure blue sea.

Even before we reach it, we are stopped by a gate controlled by an elder.

Tropical setting, Champagne Beach, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Lush coastline front, walking distance from Champagne Beach.

Champagne Beach's Eden Tropic-Bathroom

Harry asks us for the toll: “Very good friends. We arrived at the famous Champagne Beach.

This is owner. We have to pay him 1000 vatus”. The beach is deserted and, we doubt the owner is aware of it, but it is one of the most beautiful we had seen so far.

Champagne Beach Cove, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Champagne Beach's seductive coastline, owned by an elder who refuses to sell to tourist investors and charges small entrance fees.

In Espiritu Santo, as in Vanuatu in general (the name of the nation means Our Land) what counts most is what is left to the tribe's descendants and they often meet to veto real estate deals that certain foreign investors try to do with the government.

Harry tells us that Australian and New Zealand cruise companies often offer thousands of dollars to get to the beach, build infrastructure there and disembark tourists. Until today, always in vain.

Champagne Beach and the natives' attachment to the soil in which they were born are just examples of all the reasons why we find ourselves venerating Espiritu Santo and praising the passion of its discoverer Pedro Fernandes de Queiros for your island.

Wala, Vanuatu

Cruise ship in Sight, the Fair Settles In

In much of Vanuatu, the days of the population's “good savages” are behind us. In times misunderstood and neglected, money gained value. And when the big ships with tourists arrive off Malekuka, the natives focus on Wala and billing.
Efate, Vanuatu

The Island That Survived "Survivor"

Much of Vanuatu lives in a blessed post-savage state. Maybe for this, reality shows in which aspirants compete Robinson Crusoes they settled one after the other on their most accessible and notorious island. Already somewhat stunned by the phenomenon of conventional tourism, Efate also had to resist them.
LifouLoyalty Islands

The Greatest of the Loyalties

Lifou is the island in the middle of the three that make up the semi-francophone archipelago off New Caledonia. In time, the Kanak natives will decide if they want their paradise independent of the distant metropolis.
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Naghol: Bungee Jumping without Modern Touches

At Pentecost, in their late teens, young people launch themselves from a tower with only lianas tied to their ankles. Bungee cords and harnesses are inappropriate fussiness from initiation to adulthood.
Honiara e Gizo, Solomon Islands

The Profaned Temple of the Solomon Islands

A Spanish navigator baptized them, eager for riches like those of the biblical king. Ravaged by World War II, conflicts and natural disasters, the Solomon Islands are far from prosperity.
Gizo, Solomon Islands

A Saeraghi Young Singers Gala

In Gizo, the damage caused by the tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands is still very visible. On the coast of Saeraghi, children's bathing happiness contrasts with their heritage of desolation.
Morro de São Paulo, Brazil

A Divine Seaside of Bahia

Three decades ago, it was just a remote and humble fishing village. Until some post-hippie communities revealed the Morro's retreat to the world and promoted it to a kind of bathing sanctuary.
Grande Terre, New Caledonia

South Pacific Great Boulder

James Cook thus named distant New Caledonia because it reminded him of his father's Scotland, whereas the French settlers were less romantic. Endowed with one of the largest nickel reserves in the world, they named Le Caillou the mother island of the archipelago. Not even its mining prevents it from being one of the most dazzling patches of Earth in Oceania.
Tanna, Vanuatu

From where Vanuatu Conquered the Western World

The TV show “Meet the Native” took Tanna's tribal representatives to visit Britain and the USA Visiting their island, we realized why nothing excited them more than returning home.
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Pentecost Naghol: Bungee Jumping for Real Men

In 1995, the people of Pentecostes threatened to sue extreme sports companies for stealing the Naghol ritual. In terms of audacity, the elastic imitation falls far short of the original.
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

Until the early XNUMXth century, man-eaters still feasted on the Vanuatu archipelago. In the village of Botko we find out why European settlers were so afraid of the island of Malekula.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Yaks
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 11th: yak karkha a Thorong Phedi, Nepal

Arrival to the Foot of the Canyon

In just over 6km, we climbed from 4018m to 4450m, at the base of Thorong La canyon. Along the way, we questioned if what we felt were the first problems of Altitude Evil. It was never more than a false alarm.
Itamaraty Palace Staircase, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil
Architecture & Design
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Adventure

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Bertie in jalopy, Napier, New Zealand
Ceremonies and Festivities
Napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s

Devastated by an earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in an almost ground-floor Art Deco and lives pretending to stop in the Thirties. Its visitors surrender to the Great Gatsby atmosphere that the city enacts.
Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, City Gates
Cities
Ponta Delgada, São Miguel (Azores), Azores

The Great Azorean City

During the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, Ponta Delgada became the most populous city and the economic and administrative capital of the Azores. There we find the history and modernism of the archipelago hand in hand.
Beverage Machines, Japan
Meal
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Tabato, Guinea Bissau, Balafons
Culture
Tabato, Guinea Bissau

Tabatô: to the Rhythm of Balafom

During our visit to the tabanca, at a glance, the djidius (poet musicians)  mandingas are organized. Two of the village's prodigious balaphonists take the lead, flanked by children who imitate them. Megaphone singers at the ready, sing, dance and play guitar. There is a chora player and several djambes and drums. Its exhibition generates successive shivers.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Bark Europa, Beagle Channel, Evolution, Darwin, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego
Traveling
Beagle Channel, Argentina

Darwin and the Beagle Channel: on the Theory of the Evolution Route

In 1833, Charles Darwin sailed aboard the "Beagle" through the channels of Tierra del Fuego. His passage through these southern confines shaped the revolutionary theory he formulated of the Earth and its species
Jingkieng Wahsurah, Nongblai Village Roots Bridge, Meghalaya, India
Ethnic
Meghalaya, India

The Bridges of the Peoples that Create Roots

The unpredictability of rivers in the wettest region on Earth never deterred the Khasi and the Jaintia. Faced with the abundance of trees elastic fig tree in their valleys, these ethnic groups got used to molding their branches and strains. From their time-lost tradition, they have bequeathed hundreds of dazzling root bridges to future generations.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

Asparagus, Sal Island, Cape Verde
History
island of salt, Cape Verde

The Salt of the Island of Sal

At the approach of the XNUMXth century, Sal remained lacking in drinking water and practically uninhabited. Until the extraction and export of the abundant salt there encouraged a progressive population. Today, salt and salt pans add another flavor to the most visited island in Cape Verde.
Vesikko submarine, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
Islands
Helsinki, Finland

Finland's once Swedish Fortress

Detached in a small archipelago at the entrance to Helsinki, Suomenlinna was built by the Swedish kingdom's political-military designs. For more than a century, the Russia stopped her. Since 1917, the Suomi people have venerated it as the historic bastion of their thorny independence.
Northern Lights, Laponia, Rovaniemi, Finland, Fire Fox
Winter White
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

Unique to the heights of the Earth are the northern or southern auroras, light phenomena generated by solar explosions. You Sami natives from Lapland they believed it to be a fiery fox that spread sparkles in the sky. Whatever they are, not even the nearly 30 degrees below zero that were felt in the far north of Finland could deter us from admiring them.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
Lake Sorvatsvagn, Vágar, Faroe Islands
Nature
Vágar, Faroe Islands

The Lake that hovers over the North Atlantic

By geological whim, Sorvagsvatn is much more than the largest lake in the Faroe Islands. Cliffs with between thirty to one hundred and forty meters limit the southern end of its bed. From certain perspectives, it gives the idea of ​​being suspended over the ocean.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Natural Parks
Volcanoes

Mountains of Fire

More or less prominent ruptures in the earth's crust, volcanoes can prove to be as exuberant as they are capricious. Some of its eruptions are gentle, others prove annihilating.
Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Christian churches, priest with insensate
UNESCO World Heritage
Holy Sepulcher Basilica, Jerusalem, Israel

The Supreme Temple of the Old Christian Churches

It was built by Emperor Constantine, on the site of Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection and an ancient temple of Venus. In its genesis, a Byzantine work, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is, today, shared and disputed by various Christian denominations as the great unifying building of Christianity.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, coral reef
Beaches
Viti levu, Fiji

Islands on the edge of Islands

A substantial part of Fiji preserves the agricultural expansions of the British colonial era. In the north and off the large island of Viti Levu, we also came across plantations that have only been named for a long time.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Religion
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
white pass yukon train, Skagway, Gold Route, Alaska, USA
On Rails
Skagway, Alaska

A Klondike's Gold Fever Variant

The last great American gold rush is long over. These days, hundreds of cruise ships each summer pour thousands of well-heeled visitors into the shop-lined streets of Skagway.
Parade and Pomp
Society
Saint Petersburg, Russia

When the Russian Navy Stations in Saint Petersburg

Russia dedicates the last Sunday of July to its naval forces. On that day, a crowd visits large boats moored on the Neva River as alcohol-drenched sailors seize the city.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Daily life
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Flock of flamingos, Laguna Oviedo, Dominican Republic
Wildlife
Oviedo Lagoon, Dominican Republic

The (very alive) Dominican Republic Dead Sea

The hypersalinity of the Laguna de Oviedo fluctuates depending on evaporation and water supplied by rain and the flow coming from the neighboring mountain range of Bahoruco. The natives of the region estimate that, as a rule, it has three times the level of sea salt. There, we discover prolific colonies of flamingos and iguanas, among many other species that make up one of the most exuberant ecosystems on the island of Hispaniola.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.