We were supposed to visit three ports in Vanuatu but as we docked in Luganville this morning the captain announced we would skip the other two ports due to an emerging storm. Bummer. And yes, spoiler alert, caches were found in Vanuatu.
We got off the ship to attend a geocaching event. It was very warm but didn’t feel particularly humid (at least not by South Pacific standards), at least not at first. After the event several of us decided to hire a taxi to take us the 3km to the nearest cache; much haggling ensued and eventually three of us took the taxi. It was a pickup truck with wood benches in the back so two of us were back there for the short drive. On the return drive the driver pulled over and bought himself water.
The humidity was noticeable so I decided to return to the ship to cool down and hydrate before the big afternoon adventure.
Six of us — the five Oregonians and June — booked the same “Canoeing the Ri Ri River” excursion. A 20-30 minute drive (drive on the right, mostly on paved roads) to the Ri Ri river which was a beautiful shade of light green in the middle of what appeared to be a jungle. Five people to a canoe and June offered to go on her own.
Getting in (and out) was a bit of an adventure. Get into the water, swing one leg into the boat then the other leg.The “seats” were a piece of wood that sat between the sides. Surprisingly not uncomfortable, even without a backrest, though I wouldn’t want to be in them for too long.
A guide paddled the outrigger canoe. It was serene. Flat, clear, green water next to beautiful dense green trees. Heard lots of birds, saw (but did not photograph) a bright blue kingfisher. Saw a couple of fish (again, no pictures). The water started to become bluer and eventually was a deep azure. The canoe in the picture below was one that others on the tour had been in, ours looked just like it.
Then we reached the “Blue Hole.” The water was almost a neon blue. We left the canoes and grabbed our snorkel gear to get into the water for “20 minutes.” But Vanuatu is an island, and we were on island time, so what they called 20 minutes was likely double that. The water was surprisingly buoyant and it was easy to tread water to stay afloat. I took the picture with three friends in the water, I know there are some of me in the water, too.
Entering the water was positively refreshing. It was cool as we got in but soon quite comfortable. It was my first time snorkeling in a river, and there wasn’t much to see so I mostly carried my mask and snorkel (I wore reef shoes rather than fins).
Robbie, the cruise director, was there and somewhere there’s a picture of a couple of us with him.
After we got out of the water we walked a bit to the bus for the return trip. Isabel was a great tour guide who introduced us to some of Vanuatu’s history and culture. Independence came from Great Britain AND France in 1980, there are 83 inhabited islands and 6 states/provinces in Vanuatu as well as about 140 different languages (she speaks 7 or 8 languages). We also got to taste some local nuts … remove the brown outer husk to reveal a white nut that tasted almost like buttery soft almonds.
No comments:
Post a Comment