EARTHQUAKES

Vanuatu has active volcanoes and lots of activity down below. In fact, tremors happen daily but are so small they go unnoticed. Every couple of weeks you get a little one that some people notice. In Bislama it’s called a ‘kraon i shekshek (ground he shake-shake). In January 2002 there was a beauty - 7.5 on the Richter - which resulted in a couple of buildings being condemned and a lot of insurance claims. We lost plates, glasses and a television and the lagoon in front of our house totally drained and filled again in minutes. This is not a reason not to come to Vanuatu. Even the big one had no loss of life or major injury and remember, New Zealand has even more shakes and even Australia can be hit (Newcastle 1991).

EATING OUT

While the restaurants within the larger resorts cater for all tastes and have both French and Melanesian influences, no visit to Port Vila is complete without sampling some of the restaurant food on offer around town. The resort restaurants include the Lagoon Terrace at Le Lagon, Le Verandah at Le Meridien Resort and Michener’s at Iririki Island Resort. (Also see listings for individual restaurants).

• Vila Chaumieres: Superb location for fine French food. The ambience at night goes well with a honeymoon (ask for Table 4). (Licensed)
• Le Café du Village: Seafood, riverfood - friendly and relaxing, looking out over the water to Iririki Island. (BYO/licensed)
• The Waterfront Bar & Grill: Up and running again - a delightful setting for a snack or a well-priced meal. Steaks are big and tasty.
• Tropik Bistro: No water views, but top food and attentive service. A favourite with the locals. Near the Melanesian. (BYO/licensed)
• L’Houstalet: Local cuisine a specialty (freshwater prawns, coconut crab, wild pigeon, flying fox etc). Also top pizzas. Host, Clement Martinez, has been there for 30 years with the same menu. If it ain’t broke… (BYO/licensed)
• El Gecko: Also an institution and a favourite with the locals. Not a spectacular setting (courtyard and in-room dining behind the Olympic takeaway - but excellent food) it opens for breakfast and lunch with dinner on Fridays - (BYO/Licensed)
• Erakor Island: Roxy's on the Lagoon has a beach hut atmosphere overlooking the lagoon. Occasional themed nights including Monday Pizza/Pasta Nights where wine is free for the ladies. Every visitor should drop over for a drink at least.
• Tamanu Beach Club: 25 minutes out of town, towards White Sands and a great spot for lunch in a beach setting with excellent food (if the lobster tail salad is on the blackboard menu, it would have come straight from your water view that morning).
• Tillys: Part of Chantillys on the Bay, this doesn’t feel like a resort restaurant. Original chef Fiona's vision remains and this restaurant arguably serves up the best meals in town. Go for a table on the balcony overlooking the harbour.
• Benjor (The Officer’s Club): Some 20 minutes out of town, this is a delightful setting with good food, service and value. The kids can have a swim or muck about on the petanque court while adults dine. Good for weekend lunches.
• The Flaming Bull: A relaxed meeting place with a beer garden bistro and a favourite with locals when they have special steak nights.
• Hideaway Island Resort: Well-priced for lunch/snacks when taking a snorkel. At the time of writing they didn’t do chips (fries). Excellent curries!
• Jill's Café: The only American-style coffee shop in town that specialises in real American breakfasts (with hash browns), pancakes, hotdogs, burgers and fries.
• Café Deli: Air conditioned, swish, innovative for lunch, snacks and good coffee.
• Harbourview Restaurant: Good Chinese food with a view of the, um, harbour. The banquets are excellent value.
• Shooters: A converted coffee warehouse opposite Iririki wharf, it’s a bar with atmosphere and value food.
• Breaka’s: Take a towel for a swim and a meal at Breaka’s Beach Resort. The restaurant has a great view and is getting excellent reviews. There’s now a bit of Italian influence in the cooking.
• Paradise Cove: More than a bit of Italian influence here with a hint of Asian in a great setting – you can also take your towel and snorkel for lunch (or hop the Vanuatu Jet for a thrills and spills lunch package - email here for more details.
• Sunset Bungalows: (Restaurant now called ‘Bungalow:Ate’). Aims to please with French/Asian flair and a great lagoon setting. Chef Sean has made this an exciting place to dine. With any restaurants - ask a local for the latest opinions because word travels fast in these parts.
• Nambawan Café: Along the harbour front from the old Rossi and Ivan has done a terrific job setting up this spot to sit and chat over coffee and a snack, check your emails and enjoy the harbour view. The souvenir part of the women’s markets is adjacent as are the helicopter and Big Blue dive operators. Free ‘Moonlight Cinema’ on Wednesdays and Sundays.
• Chez Willies: Where the old Ban Thai was above Le Lagon. Temporarily closed at time of update but scheduled to re-open November 15 2007 with Lesley back as Vila’s best maitre ‘d.
• Moo’s Bar & Grill: Was Trader Vics, now Moorings Hotel on the harbour just past Chantilly’s on the way to the airport. Getting excellent reviews from the locals and adjacent is Rumours Nightclub.
• Le Rendezous: Opposite the Melanesian with a great view looking down on the harbour, food is very good (owners are Hungarian so the goulash is hearty).
• Kan Pai: Terrific Japanese fare just along Wharf Road on the right.
• The Rossi: Rumour has it that the famous Rossi will re-emerge at the old location soon (there may even be two!)
• Chill Restaurant & Bar: Upstairs along from Au Bon Marche downtown (near the markets) right on the harbour. Great view and some excellent value at lunchtime – just 990 vatu for a filling, tasty meal (steak, fish, pasta etc) including a glass of beer, wine or soft drink.
• Les Alizes: Very French and very, very good! A little out of town at Bellevue looking down on the lagoon above Sunset Bungalows, chef Paul Alexandre really knows his stuff!
• Tsang: A well-priced Chinese option that is a favourite with the locals.
• Eratap Beach Resort: To open late 2007 and the locals can’t wait – chef Fiona (who set up Tilly’s menu some years ago) is back in town!

For take-away options - the Olympic Café (Vila’s McDonalds) and Island Chicken (the local KFC) or pizza from La Pizzeria or l’Houstalet.

ECONOMY

After tourism, the economy is mainly based around agriculture - copra, cattle, cocoa and coffee. The ni-Vanuatu people in outlying areas rely on traditional subsistence farming, clearing patches of bush or jungle to meet basic daily requirements. Vanuatu is a tax haven. There is no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, withholding taxes or death duties. There is a 12.5% government tax on all goods, which is included in the price. Because it is a tax haven, there are a number of accountants in Port Vila to assist those wishing to invest or base an international company in Vanuatu. The facilities and the expertise available through the members of the Vanuatu Finance Centre Association are world standard.

In 2000 Vanuatu's GDP was US$257 million, with 26% from agriculture and 62% from service industries, and growing at 2.7% pa. Agriculture employs 65% of the workforce and 30% in services. Principal commodity exports are copra, kava, beef, cocoa, timber, coffee with main export partners being Japan, Belgium, US and Germany. Apart from agriculture and tourism, other important industries are food and fish freezing, wood processing, and meat canning.

ECOTOURS

Ecotours began in November 2004 when Pascal Guillet left the French Embassy to follow his dream. A keen walker, mountain biker, tennis player and horse rider, he wanted to share his country of 12 years with people who have similar interests - so now, with a bus, a business licence, some bikes and a lot of enthusiasm (and insurance!) Vanuatu now has ecotours with a difference. More info…

EFATE

Efate is the main island of Vanuatu in that it’s home to the capital Port Vila (see separate listing). The drive around the island is around 140km (but because of the condition of the road is a 4 hour journey). The island is dotted with beaches, resorts and places of cultural and historical interest.

EKASUP VILLAGE CULTURAL TOUR

Ekasup offers a village cultural experience near Port Vila (just before Erakor village). There’s a 5 minute walk through rainforest to get to the village to gain an insight into traditional village life. Watch and marvel at the ceremonies, taste traditionally cooked food and find out how they caught it. Discover what the values were and what was important - for example, to a young man, the best wives were the one’s who were the best cooks, not the best lookers. Discover what breast-feeding mothers did when their nipples clogged up and all in the comfort of a traditional village. Learn how to fish with a spider’s web. The Ekasup tour is available through all tourist operators or can be pre-booked. Yes, it is a tourist attraction, but a damn good one and it is a way of passing traditional kastom down the generations. For more info on this and other cruises and activities - www.GoVanuatu.com.

ELECTRICITY

220-280 volts AC, mainly three-point plugs in hotels (same as Australia & New Zealand). Some places, built by the French, take European two point plugs. If resorts have these, they will have adaptors at reception. Adaptors can also be bought at Fung Kwei (airport end of town).

EMAIL

The tyranny of distance and cost of international phone calls has made email a necessity for expatriates in Vanuatu. All resorts and tourist attractions also have email, most have web sites. You can check/send email at the Naviti Cybercafe opposite the markets and at the post office. There’s another Internet cafe in the arcade opposite Ma Barkers and Snoopy's next to the Coongoola Cruise office.

EMBASSIES

See 'Consulates'.

EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Fire telephone 22 333, Police telephone 22 222, Ambulance telephone 22 100. However, the above may be operating on 'island time'. In the event of a medical emergency and the need for non-island time assistance ring ProMedical on 25566.

ENTERTAINMENT

‘Entertainment’ means different things to different people. For a thumbnail guide to dining, see Eating Out and/or Restaurants. For pre-after dinner drinks there’s the Port Vila Pub ((see Office Pub)), the Anchor Inn, Club Vanuatu, the Waterfront Bar & Grill, l’Houstalet, the bar at Café du Village, Chantilly’s, Shooters or Voodoo Bar. The resorts all have bars and there are occasional themed nights (Melanesian feasts, trivia nights around the pool etc). Rumours Nightclub (and Moo’s Bar & Grill) at Moorings Hotel can be a good place for a meal and drink till late.

ENVIRONMENT

On the whole, the environment in Vanuatu is in pretty good shape. However, ‘clean’ rubbish like cans and polystyrene food containers can be seen on the side of the roads and in parks etc. It’s a bit like Australia a few decades ago when people just threw their rubbish out without thinking. There are campaigns to stop this and it seems to be working. On your visit you may see two signs/bumper stickers ‘Rispektum Vanuatu’ (Respect Vanuatu) and ‘No sakem toti albaot’ (Don’t chuck ‘dirty’ all about).

EPI

Epi is a delightful island, north of the main island of Efate. It has black sand and white sand beaches, excellent snorkelling and a resident, friendly dugong (sea cow). The local people are very friendly and welcoming as is Epi Guest House owned by Rob and Alix Crapper (Ph 24844). There are regular flights to Lamen Bay and Valesdir.

ERAKOR ISLAND

Erakor Island is a small island in Erakor lagoon (opposite Le Lagon Resort) and home to Erakor Island Resort. The resort welcomes non-staying visitors to swim off the sandy beach, use the watersports facilities, bar and restaurant. The open-air chapel is a romantic spot for a wedding. There are also the graves of a missionary family and it’s a lovely island to just walk around (non resident guests should ask for permission first). It’s five minutes from Vila to the free 24 hour ferry (five minute ride) that operates on the half hour by day and on demand at night.

ERAKOR ISLAND RESORT

There are 22 bungalows on the resort, which has undergone a full renovation (including 4 Deluxe Spa Bungalows and the delightful overwater restaurant and bar called Roxy’s). The island itself is 16 acres of tropical rainforest. There are 4 family loft bungalows but they only recommend those for families who want to have a ‘family’ holiday - as in, there’s no pool, child minding or Kids Club on the resort (and the stairs aren’t recommended for toddlers). The resort does provide an ‘activities organiser’ for children. They offer non-motorised water sports as part of the tariff. There’s a restaurant, bar and a pool table. The resort also has a Day Spa for massage and pampering and the historic open=air chapel for weddings. (for more info...)

ERAKOR LAGOON

Erakor Lagoon is a pretty, tropical lagoon (picture postcard in parts) but it’s been pretty much fished out. It can be explored in a canoe or on a catamaran or windsurfer. Le Lagon, Erakor Island Resort and Pacific Lagoon Apartments are near the mouth of the lagoon.

ERROMANGO

Erromango Island was also known as Martyr’s Isle because of the number of missionaries who died there. One of the larger islands, it once had a population of more than 10,000 people but it is now sparsely populated (see Blackbirding, Sandalwood Traders and Missionaries). Erromango and Aneityum were the islands with the longest exposure to missionaries and white man’s disease resulted in a 95% decrease in population. It’s a rugged, mountainous and heavily forested island with some kauri trees a thousand years old. There are also several species of mango, hence the name.

ESPIRITU SANTO

Espiritu Santo Island (known mostly as ‘Santo’) is the largest island in Vanuatu. Luganville is the country’s second largest urban centre and was an operations base for the US army in WWII. The army left behind airfields and bomber wrecks as well as the famous dive sites, Million Dollar Point and the President Coolidge. There are around 20 excellent dive sites off Santo. It’s also a scenic island and home to Blue Hole, Champagne Beach and Vanuatu’s first National Park, the recently opened Vatthe Conservation Area. It’s set on 2300ha of protected jungle with 15km of sandy beaches (Big Bay and the Jordan River). It’s home to coconut crabs, flying foxes, boa-snakes, and turtles (October to December). Santo produces much of Vanuatu’s exports - cocoa, coffee, coconuts and quality beef.

ETON BEACH

Eton Beach (pronounced Etton) is one of my favourite spots on Efate. It’s about a forty-minute drive on the new road that bypasses White Sands. There is an entry fee (550vt for a car or the listed price for individuals), which the local people use to maintain the area. There’s a barbecue hut and toilets but the attraction is the beach itself. It’s only small, but it’s sheltered and you can snorkel, swim, play volleyball or fish off the breakwater. A freshwater spring empties into the cove so you can get rid of any sand and salt by jumping into the cool, clear fresh water. Hire a car, or your own bus with a driver, or contact Glenda and Ray at Melanesian Tours to get there.

EVENTS AND FESTIVALS

Festivals of culture and big parties to celebrate past historical events are on most of the time in Vanuatu. Whether it's the Tusker Vanuatu Golf Open, the Independence Day celebrations, or Kiwanis Race Day, Vanuatu has a lot of special events.

EVERGREEN TOURS

Evergreen Tours has an office at the Chantillys end of town and it’s run by Mele people. You can buy your ticket to Cascades Waterfall and other tours there and jump on a bus rather than pay for an organised tour. Your entry fee also gives you a guide at the Falls. For a Cascade visit combined with adrenalin you can now abseil down the falls with The Edge (book at Evergreen).

EXCHANGE RATE

See Currency.

EXPATS

Expatriates (expats) have settled in Vanuatu from all over the world and ‘expat’ is simply the term used to describe any white person. They say that expats fall into one of three categories - missionaries, mercenaries or misfits - which, we guess, is pretty much the case.

EYEBROWS

This may seem a silly heading, but careful observation will see locals communicating with their eyebrows. The raising of eyebrows can mean ‘hello’ or ‘yes’ and you can even flag down a bus with a facial expression. Likewise, you may here people ‘hissing’ at each other. This is a way of grabbing another person’s attention and it is so refined a person may single one person out in a group across a street. The hiss is personal and it’s a bit like a mother being able to pick her own baby’s cry at playgroup.