In-Port Vila, Vanuatu

Spent the evening at Mali Beach with Scott and Tamara. Perfect night.

I'm responsible for 3 houses while Sal and John travel. This is the main one, where I've lived since arriving about a month ago and where I'll be until March, 2020. The properties on either side of me are not developed yet (Sal's brother owns one; some Australians bought the other) so it's pretty quiet.

Christmas Eve morning. The travel in Port Vila is mostly done by bus, which is essentially a bunch of independently owned and operated minivans or VW MicroBuses that have been retrofitted with bus seats. They're every where and you just flag them down. Due to the holiday, this was the busiest one I've been on.

This kid seemed fascinated with me so I asked his mother if I could take his picture.

Kava is a local drink made from the ground root of the kava plant, and it causes a calming feeling. It's on my list of things to try while I'm on Efate island.

Hermit crabs are everywhere. I'm calling this black one Darh Vader. For scale, those are grains of sand on its belly.

Two sweet Australian guests are here, Tamara and Scott, but I'm overwhelmed by melancholy today. This would normally be the time that my winter blues come in when I'm Toronto (or anywhere grey and cold for overlong).

I'm hoping the sunshine kicks its ass.

A local told me this boat had been deposited inland by the last cyclone. Since it avoided the road and is expensive to move, it's been left there. You can click the map pin in the sidebar to see how inland it is.

Signs in bislama. Any guesses?

Bislama is one of the official languages of Vanuatu. French and English are others. With 110 local languages and a population of around 300,000, Vanuatu has the highest language density in the world. Most locals speak at least three languages: Bislama, their local language, and either French, English, or both.

You can listen to Bislama here:

Sunday Best.

Honeymoon Beach was just a few minutes walk from Sal's, though it faces SE whereas Sal's faces SW.

John and Sal left for Australia to meet their grandchild and stay with their kids over Christmas.

Here's the view looking out my front door towards the beach. Just me, Coco the Dog, and Thing One and Thing Two (chickens) until March.

Homes of some ni-Vanuatu (locals).

Met some of Sal and John's friends over dinner. Our hosts were a couple from Amsterdam: Deb, an artist, and her partner, G. Two Kiwi brothers, Kieran and Brendan, were there as well. Terrific people all around. The food was extraordinary, as was the view across Deb's pool to Paradise Cove.

So you remember Flowers, the very good dog mom? She found me again and asked me to follow. Sal happened to be around and was up for an adventure, so she came too.

Flowers led us to the neighboring property, the abandoned Orem University, where she'd hidden her five pups under an old chapel. We gathered up all six of them and took them to the vet.

The vet was not so happy to see us. She sensed (correctly) that we were going to leave mom and pups for her to treat and find homes for. It was a weird situation: the dogs weren't ours, and vets and food ain't free. I was a fish out of water, culture-wise, but I slipped the vet some vatu on our way out.

So this very good girl wandered up while I was having lunch with John, Sal, and Geoff and Lorraine, two friends from down the beach. We had an instant connection. I have a natural instinct for naming dogs on first contact and as I lowered to her, I said, "Hey, Flowers, how you doing?", and gave her some good rubs. She flipped onto her back, and I could see she'd recently given birth.

John chided me a little for being friendly to an island dog. You don't want them coming around; it's not fair to the dog who actually lives on the property. I knew that, and made a mental note to keep my nature in check.

If you look closely, you'll see a lizard on the roof. This is why locals in countries with roof-dwelling critters put their coaster on top of their drink.

One of the residences of Orem University. The property is apparently abandoned and for sale. I hope to explore it at some point during my trip.

Sal and John's dog, Coco. A very island dog.