Experiencing Port Vila
By Lothar. Filed in Vanuatu |
We flew on Monday, July 23 from Brisbane, Australia to Port Vila, capital of the Republic of Vanuatu.
From the air, we see a very green island, with cattle on the pastures between coconut trees. ( We will find out that they have the best tasting beef in this world!)
Captain Cook had named these islands the ” New Hebrides”, and from the air, Efate island looks as green as Ireland or Scotland. A Melanesian ( we are in Melanesia now) band plays for us in the airport’s tiny arrival hall, while we line up to get our passports stamped.
The transfer to our hotel does not show up and we take a taxi to our new home: the “Fatumaru Lodge”.
The Ni-Vanuatu are getting ready to celebrate the 27th Anniversary (1980) of Independence Day on July 30th, and are building huts alongside the highway between the airport and town. It looks to me like the vendors are getting ready for a big bake- sale.
We move into a very nice upstairs room at the Fatumaru Lodge, overlooking the jetty and ocean, about 5 steps away. The whole resort was started by a French couple in 2004 and only has 8 apartments in 2 houses on the waterfront. Our security system is a very loud dog, as we will find out later during the night.
We walk into town and have a minor culture shock. Port Vila comes advertised as a very modern “European” town in the Pacific. The country was ruled jointly by England and France, prior to Independence. The town looks pretty ram-shackle, with Chinese shops selling fake designer clothing and a few cafes and restaurants that could use some new paint. There is a huge market hall, where farmers are selling their products and sleep at night. I tried 3 ANZ Bank ATM’s and still do not have any Vatus in my hands.
Finally a WestPac ATM works and we find ” Le Cafe Du Village”, a very nice restaurant in a French Colonial building right on the waterfront. It is only 4:30 in the afternoon, but we are starving. The dinner turns out to be superb, in presentation as well as what the quality of the food is concerned. Sunset is already at 5:15!
It was the best steak quality, ever! Gabi decides right then, that she will not be cooking in our apartment here.