Aradonna - 2903 May 2015
After seeing the devastation of the island of Emae, it was a stark contrast to see the lush rainforests of Malekula island yesterday, seemingly untouched. Today, we landed on Pentecost, again, there is little evidence of wind damage to trees here. What we did find, was flood damage from the sea surge during cyclone Pam, which damaged houses and wiped out their gardens! They have had no vegetables since the cyclone and were grateful to get seeds for cabbage, watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin and carrot. The chief of the village, Don, explained there are about 40 people living here, in two communities. He will make sure the seeds are distributed fairly to the people. One enterprising young lad, Tolly, who is 15 years old, tried his best to do trade with us. He came out to our boat in his dug out canoe and asked for clothing, food, money and dvd's! We declined, but suggested instead that we would come ashore later and see him. When we went ashore, he was ready with coconuts for us to drink and we asked him to be our guide, to show us the land diving tower. He took us for a walk and showed us the tower, but we were not allowed to get too close. The village here sells entry fees to see the land diving for 12,000 vatu per person - equivalent to NZ$180 each!!! We again declined, happy enough just to take photos of the tower itself. We have seen bungee jumping, for free in NZ! Our guide suggested we might buy him a mobile phone, or some kava or give him 5000 vatu for being our guide. A bit cheeky this lad! In the end he was satisfied with 300 vatu we gave him in return for his guidance and coconuts. A dozen or so children helped us bring our dinghy ashore and relaunch it again both time we went ashore. The boys were carrying long bush knives. We learned that boys as young as 4 will have their own bush knife, and at the age of 6 they learn to climb coconut trees to cut coconuts from the top!
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