At Sea/Luganville

April 7-8
At sea, Luganville


The sea day was nothing to write home about…so I won’t
Luganville, a major city in Vanuatu (though you wouldn’t guess it), turned out to be one of my favorite days on ships. After asking around I found that the place to go was the “Blue Hole”, a cove in a water system that comprised of amazingly blue water. And I don’t mean blue like the Caribbean, I mean as in the water looked to be dyed blue. I think if you drank enough of this water you’d likely urinate blue (if it didn’t kill you first). I have no idea why the water was as blue as it was, certainly some sort of mineral, but it made for a gorgeous area and a great place to swim!
But before I get there, let me start out with transportation. I ended up getting off the ship with a couple friends and we were greeted by some cab drivers at the gangway. We told them we wanted to see the Blue Hole, were directed to a guy and we worked out the price, $40 AU round trip and he’d wait for us (much better than their original offers). After we’d agreed on the price our driver showed us his car…or should I say pickup truck. There was one, maybe two seats in front and theoretically unlimited seating in the back (if you saw some of the local people in these trucks you’d know what I mean). But the point is, this wasn’t your usual taxi as they never are in ports like this. So me and the other guy jumped in the back while the girl of the group sat up front. We then made a 40 minute drive deep into the island though palm tree fields and down dirt roads, all in away that made you really feel like you weren’t apart of a cruise ship, you felt as if it was a safari, and mind you I was standing in the back grabbing on to some rail that ran up and behind the cab. An many pot holes and dirt roads later we arrived at tourist central in the middle of a forest.
It took some time to bypass the old white tourists that made this place feel like it was less special than it was, but as soon as we got around them and to the main swimming hole, you were suddenly in another world. The water was a bright blue, slightly chilly, and surrounded by huge, gorgeous trees. The best part however was just a short swim away to the other side of the swimming hole where about a dozen local teens were climbing in the trees and swinging off a huge rope swing. Here was the magic.
I swam over and was instantly greeted by all the locals and the few younger tourists brave enough to make the swim over. Looking up you saw a huge rope swing hanging off this large branch that stretched far over the water. This single branch was purpose built by the Vanuatu God(s) for a rope swing, that’s how perfect it was. The first half stretched out parallel to the water, about 20 feet up. That lower half came to a ledge where the upper portion continued out off, shooting at a 45 degree angle into the air, ending just far enough away and just high enough for a rope swing. A younger local sat at the top of this branch swinging the swing back after each attempt to swing out of this tree.
The locals would walk the branch with unbelievable ease, get to the swing with out hesitation, and beautifully execute every maneuver during their flight. Then there was me… The carefully approached the tree climbing along side this root system that lead up from the water, stepped onto the branch and found it amazingly slippery. I quickly abandoned any hopes of walking the branch and opted for the straddling technique, though not very flattering, much less likely to kill me. Slowly I made my way out and stood at the ledge of the branch where the local guy swung the rope to me. There was another kid one step further towards the ledge watching and helping and a third one relaxing hanging onto the ascending limb telling me not to jump and to simply relax. Well, I tried the relaxing thing as best I could, stepped off the branch, swung 20 feet down and pretended my body was a skipping stone as my grip failed me directly at the bottom of my decent. Fail… I tried again, climbed the tree, straddled the branch, was told to relax, and again, Fail. Third time, was the same outcome. My friend at this point had already managed a successful swing, and me not willing to leave the Blue Hole until I succeeded took his advice for my next swing. Apparently my problem was that I was holding onto the swing in a half pull-up position, where as he figured if I swung down with my arms fully extended I’d have better luck. And believe it or not, the next four swings were all blazingly successful, each consisting of at least one full swing, and even with some culminating with my attempt at back flip dismount, which can only lead to me falling head first into the center of the lake with the most awful form imaginable. And that, my friends, was the rope swing.
This was followed by the next extreme event, high diving. We achieved the “high” half of high diving by climbing the most amazing tree I’ve ever seen. This tree seemed to be a collage of roots making a mock-ladder all the way up the trunk. The elegance of the vines winding everywhere around this tree seemed nothing short of mystical. Anyway, my friend and I climbed the tree, caught our breath, and then stared down at what must have been a 40 foot jump. Directly below us sat our spectators, maybe not the most intelligent positioning, but I guess it only added to the event. As a side note, the “Blue Hole” is called a hole because it gets considerably deep immediately after entering the water, so there was no fear of hitting the bottom with even a jump of this height. My friend jumped with not problems and signaled for me to come down. I took a deep breath, pushed off the slippery limb I was standing on, and again with everything but grace, made my way into the water and landed slightly sideways. I came up from under the water to cheers from the locals and the other cruise ship people, yet another part of the camaraderie this location created within each of us.
We were starting to run out of time and I realized that I hadn’t yet taken pictures so I swam back to where I’d left my backpack, grabbed my waterproof camera and jumped back in the water to take some pics of the blue water and trees. But as soon as I jumped in the water and turned my camera on I discovered a problem…the display screen wasn’t displaying anything! I couldn’t figure out why, and instead of fighting with it while I treaded water, I swam back to the trees for a closer look. I found that the camera did appear to be turning on and even seemed to take pictures and video, but still wasn’t showing anything in the display. Eventually, and unfortunately right when I wanted video of myself, it stopped taking pictures all together and even fell asleep to never be awaken again. More on that later.
Disappointed by the water damage to my waterproof camera, I finished up with the locals and we all returned to the taxi who was waiting to take us back to the ship. We all hopped into the back of the truck this time and had a nice ride home reflecting on what we’d just done and how great the day turned out. Oh, and all the while waving at every one we passed, who always initiated the waving because three white tourists standing in a truck bed isn’t a daily site for them. But you couldn’t ask for a friendlier people, despite the fact the area is so third world-ish.
We returned to the ship and with some time to spare picked up a local drink at a pub, enjoyed our last few minutes of Luganville. Back on the ship I did a diagnoses of the camera of which I’m giving a DOA (Dead on arrival). Opening the battery case I found water, opening the USB port I found water, and just looking at the display screen showed water had gotten under the screen. I’ve been letting it dry out but it still doesn’t want to turn on and may never be revived again. Good news however is that I have the warranty, meaning I get a new camera from best buy when I get home…bad news is that home is a month away. Well, at least I still have my iPhone for some pics. But that’s the day – certainly in my top 5 of all my days on ships. The experience was just so perfect and to be able to hang with the locals and feel so welcomed made today what I always imagine traveling should be – about the people and what they do. Thanks for reading and thanks to all my new friends in Vanuatu!