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Malekula Madness

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It has been so fun staying at the beautiful Maskelyne Islands.  They are just on the southern tip of Malekula which is a short 18nm away.

Malekula is Vanuatu’s second largest island and is one of the most culturally diverse islands in Vanuatu.  It is riddled with secret cannibal sites, surrounded by glassy reefs, and home to the gentle giant of the sea: the dugong.

There are over 30 languages spoken on the small island of Malekula. With a population of only 25,000 and different cultural practices affiliated with each language and village, Malekula is sure to delight at every turn.

Banam Bay

Banam Bay is a large bay with many outreaching reefs.  We had the entire bay to ourselves and it was delightful.    We snorkeled the varied reefs inside the bay which are home to dozens of large and small fish.  While we snorkeled, we encountered a surprising number of soft coral patches with nemos which was a pleasant surprise.  Usually we see hard or branching coral.

We headed into shore to do some exploring and walking around.  It was Sunday so many villagers were at church (they attend outdoors under banyan trees). A cackle of children followed us down the road. There were many villages along the road that ran parallel to the beach. All villages were super clean and had well groomed yards with colorful flowers.Lots of the kids (big and small) had these great hand made cars.  Made with a stick and nuts.  So fun.  We also found an oven (left top) for bread and a chocolate oven (right top) where they make chocolate.

We were so lucky to find not one, but two large nautilus shells.  Matt found one floating in the sea on his paddle board trip and I found one on the beach.  These are only the 3rd such finds in 8 years (and 2 of them were found withing 2 days)!

Crab Bay

Our next stop is Crab bay which is on the east side of Malekula.  It is a terribly small bay full of reefs.  It is very daunting entering the bay, but we were determined to find a spot.

We went ashore (to the right of the boat) to walk the beach.  One of the guides stated that there is an educational center here that used to give tours of this beautiful marine sanctuary.  However, it was long defunct when we visited.

We also came across a ship wreck that has been here for a very long time.  This 18-20 meter, metal boat named “Tantrum” from Australia was complete torn apart.  Amazing to see the 3-4mm steel ripped at the seams.

Malekula Madness?

Why did I title this blog “Malekula Madness”?  Well, on the way to the Crab Bay anchorage we tried to fly our small parasail spinnaker.  Something got caught and Matt had me come to the foredeck to help.  He gave me one of the two sock lifting lines and said “hold on tight.”  Not sure what happened next as it was so fast, but the wind came up, caught the sail and ripped the 2nd lifting line out of Matt’s hands. He jumped backward and landed on his back on the trampoline.  I kept holding on until my hands caught fire. – literally burned every finger.

This will keep me out of the water for at least 3 weeks and prevents me from doing pretty much everything for at least a few days.  Serious bummer.

Sarmette Bay

We walked around the bay each day we were anchored in Crab Bay.  On our last day we took a long walk to a neighboring bay to visit the Sarmette village. 

The walk was mostly on the beach and a road that ran parallel to the beach.   Sarmette Bay is 9.8km (18,000 steps) walk round trip.   We saw a rather large herd of cows and 6 horses!  I had not seen horses here in Vanuatu yet so it was a special treat.  You can tell from the bottom left photo that we were walking near low tide.

We met some super nice people who showed us their coconut and chocolate harvesting farms and baking.  They showed us how they baked the coconut and cocoa bean (top right is the cocoa tree, middle are the beans and left bottom is the cocoa nut).

Norsup Island

We need to start making our way toward Santo (the next big island up the chain).  So we make a few short stops along the way.  The first being Norsup Island which is in the middle of Norsup Bay.  We enjoy a nice walk around the island with a few villagers and donate some reading glasses.  

The winds were blowing pretty strong from the southeasterly direction and bringing a big swell. Both made the anchorage uncomfortable so we left the next morning.  We anchored at the white spot toward the end of the island.

Atchin Island

Our next stop was Atchin Island which is at the North end of Malekula.  This island  is known for its master canoe carvers.  But, the funny thing was there were a ton of “tough boats” on moorings and very few canoes.  

We went ashore and found a beautiful trail that takes you through all of the villages and around the entire island.  Once onshore we found a few “racing” canoes that showed the craftmanship of the Atchin carvers. 

We were super surprised by the shear number of nasaras (sacred places where community events are held).  I think we came across 6 on this very small island. It took us a little over an hour to walk around the island and that is with many stops.  At each nasara has a banyan tree near by and there is a kava bar (which is where Matt is servin).

Most kava bars have a grinder that they use to grind the kava root. Matt is standing amongst the roots of the female banyan tree at one of the nasaras.

We could not believe we came across two tam tams that have two faces on each of them.  It is extremely rare to find multiple faced tam tams and we found two in an old nasara.

This beautiful nasara was so well kept and had a beautiful garden!

We found this lovely swing overlooking the bay that was so picturesque. 

My hands are still raw and blistered….5 days later.  So, not much we can do other than walk.  And even that is tricky as I can’t use my hands to get in and out of the dinghy.  I am a mess.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Malekula around 18-26 July 2024.  We visit Sughulamp Reef in our last blog post.

The Authentic Kastom Village of Fanla

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We came to Ambrym to see the legendary Fanla Rom Dance Festival.  This festival is held in the small, remote village of Fanla located up in the mountains.  Fanla is a true kastom village which is dedicated to preserving the Vanuatu traditional ways in culture, religion, economics, art, and magic.

We anchor at Ranon Bay which is the closest anchorage to Fanla.  This is a beautiful, large bay with a lovely village near the shore (see our blog post on Ranon).  

The Fanla Festival Program

This is a two day festival featuring ROM dances, black magic, sand drawing, and the rarely seen grade taking ritual.  Grade taking is specific to Ambrym and is where the men perform certain activities and pay significant amounts of money and pig tusks to increase their rank in the village.

There is so much to share about each event within the festival that I have broken them out into separate blog posts.  However, here are the highlights of what is to come:

Fanla Festival: ROM, a Mystical Cultural Event

The ROM dance is a sacred, magical event.  A few men are selected to perform the ROM dance as part of their grade taking ceremony.  The ROM dance includes very elaborate costumes and a hand made tribal mask.

This will be two parts:  One on the actual ROM dance and one on the beautiful, magical ROM masks and costumes.

Fanla Festival: Black Magic and Sand Drawing

An sorcerer performs several variations of sand drawing. Sand drawing is drawn from memory without lifting the finger and is a complete, complex pattern.

Drum and flute demonstrations will be played, several variations of dances will be performed and we will witness a small display of mysterious black magic performed by a special sorcerer, ‘the man blong blak majik’.

Fanla Festival: Grade Taking Ceremony

We witness two chiefs elevate from a level 11 grade to a level 12 grade which makes them the highest ranking men in all of Vanuatu.  The ceremony, steeped in tradition, includes several dances, songs, chants, and pig killing.  

But before we get to the festival, let’s talk about the very unique kastom village of Fanla.

The Kastom Village of Fanla

Fanla is located through the forest and up in the mountain. We hired a guide to show us the way to Fanla, since we were not 100% certain of its location. Freddy Roromal came down from Fanla to show us the “shortcut which would cut 20 minutes off our hike.  The route along the road takes 60-75 minutes and our short cut route took 45 minutes.

It is a relatively easy “walk” albeit mostly up hill.  When it rains it becomes very muddy but it is not a difficult climb. 

Fanla is one of the oldest villages in Ambrym and they have the two highest grade chiefs in all of Vanuatu.  This kastom village itself has a mix of concrete houses and traditional huts.  It appears many of the young people went to larger villages and returned with money to build strong, more secure homes for their families.

Fanla boasts of one of the most unique banyan trees in the country.  It is a female banyan tree that has a naturally grown “cave” on the back side of the tree.  The elders of the village used to hide skulls in the cave to prevent their enemies from stealing them.

From the front, the tree looks like a typical banyan tree.  But as you round the backside you see the very large opening.  They have strategically placed two stone carved tikis to protect the tree.  Once you walk in you turn to the left and there is a further path into the center of the tree.

Tour of Fanla

We continue our tour of the Fanla Village and come to the grave site of the eldest chief of the village.  This is chief who met Captain Cook when he arrived to Ambrym.  The chief gave Captain Cook a yam.  When the chief offered the yam to him he said “yam rim” which means my yam for you.  Captain Cook thought that he said the name of the island is  “yam rim.” This is how Ambrym got its name.

In exchange for the yam, Captain Cook presented the chief with a piece of metal. The chief created a special carving tool using the metal piece. This special tool is used in the highest levels of the grade taking ceremony carvings.  The chief showed us the 250 year old tool and allowed us to hold it.  It is amazing to me to be able to hold such an authentic piece of history in my hands!

The top photo is the burial site.  The villagers lay out the moss covered stones in the shape of pig tusks (which is the highest honor).  The chief earns hundreds of tusks over his lifetime and they are all buried with him.  This site is considered “tabu.” You can only visit with express permission from the current chief and with a guide.

The top right photo is the “secret” place of the high chief. The chief chooses to live alone and prepare his own meals.  He does not accept visitors (not even his wife). More on this in the grade-taking ceremony blog.

Me, the Leader?

As many of you know, I am extremely active in the cruising community.  I have produced 8 compendiums for various countries which are complete sailing guides (200+ pages each).  I am an administrator on several cruising forums, social media groups, and WhatsApp groups. Many cruisers turn to Sugar Shack for guidance and assistance and I consider it a huge honor.

I was able to gather 18 cruisers for the Fanla festival.  This is the largest group they’ve had attend and the villagers considered me the “leader.”  

I am so excited to share the many cultural events and stories we’ve learned about here in Fanla.  Follow along with us for the next couple of weeks to read all about it!

A new tribe of girls…they just to play with my hair.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Falna around Mid-July 2024.  Did you read about the beautiful bays of Ambrym in our last blog post?