YOLO at Tanna Sept 2012

There were other things besides the volcano at Tanna. The hot springs and boiling steam vents that erupted at the cliffside where we were anchored were pretty cool, too. The sand on the beach was black and the water was especially warm here due to the volcanic heating.

Steam vent cliffside

kids at hot springs

cooking roots in hot springs

hot springs at end of beach

 

child/pickinini with yam in hand on black sand beach

tree near yacht club

inside the Pt Resolution Yacht Club

 

The locals maintain the Port Resolution Yacht Club where you can arrange to have drinks and dinner on the point overlooking the anchorage.  The village was up on the plateau and the locals were fairly reserved. They were friendly and polite when we spoke to them, but they weren't outgoing to meet us, other than the men who paddled out in outrigger canoes.  They would bring fruit and veges and then ask for something.  They needed someone to charge their cell phones, laptops, DVD players and such but we don't have the plugs to match theirs as the electricity is different. 

a bean snake.  You just peel it and cut it up and cook it--very good in soups.

Fern tree carving

another fern tree carving

fern tree carvings in Pt Resolution

Karen on windward side beach

We walked across the island to the oceanside beach with nice sand.  The beach was littered with small pumice stones that had been flung there or floated there over the years from the volcano.  All those grey dots on the sand are small pieces of pumice.

Lea sewing a skirt on her hand-cranked sewing machine.

Joe with his newly carved paddle for his outrigger.  Notice the wood shavings on the ground.  He is busy talking on his cell phone.

Bungalow and palms at the yacht club

a piglet at one of the village water taps

Rose in her home making 'lap lap manioc' for the village.  She grated the manioc (tapioca root) and squeezed fresh coconut over it to get the cream on it.

Rose then wrapped the lap lap manioc in the banana leaves and tied it with strips from  a pandanus tree leaf.  She'll put the whole package on a rack over an open wood or charcoal fire for about an hour to cook it.  Villagers take turns making and cooking the lap lap dinners for all.  This is the lady who sold a fellow yachtie some flour from the bag on the floor of her hut above.

This smiling villager ran me down to give me a papaya and a bean snake.  We'd just stopped to say hello as she was sewing with her hand-cranked machine on a mat on the grass.  Notice the huge open area in the middle of this village.  Larger than in most villages we saw, it seemed to be a playing field for the kids and the villagers lived all around it in their thatched huts.

Sheila helping me clean a big pen shell with hot water and sand from the hot springs area.

The shell after cleaning.  It's about a foot long.

 

After our volcano viewing, we headed up to Pt. Vila on Efate, but we came back to Tanna after clearing out and spent another 10 days here with no money, waiting for a good weather window to head to New Caledonia.  We were plied with papaya, bananas, bean snake and coconut for free or for trade.  We were even given a nice lobster!

The fruit bat that a villager was caring for outside his home.  We fed it some banana and he's got it all over his mouth.

Karen petting the baby fruit bat.  He didn't bite and the kids didn't want to leave him alone.

another shot of the fruit bat with banana on his face.  Note the thatched home in the background.

Stanley in his dugout canoe/outrigger.  He arranged the rides up to the volcano for us.

 

Karen's basket of shells

These are bamboo poles set up as bleacher seats around a cleared area where the traditional ceremonies are performed.  Talk about bleacher butt.....

A huge banyan tree on Tanna

Jason sitting on the beach on the windward side.  The locals run a coffee shop behind

him when tourists come to the village, but don't seem to consider us yachties as tourists as we didn't see it open much.

Our dinghy with YOLO in the background at Port Resolution on Tanna in Vanuatu.