Out of this World... Vanuatu

Vanuatu is the next in our 'Out of this World' series which covers alternative places for people to visit.

Not many people even know where Vanuatu is! Well, it is an island in the Melanesia part of the South Pacific. Its closest neighbours being The Solomons, Fiji and New Caledonia.

The Melanesians are so-called for their dark skin, when the first western explorers came across these islands, they named them Melanesia (Greek for Black Islands), as the inhabitants had very similar complexions to Africans.

Vanuatu is a very traditional place and many villages still practice the old religions.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the culture of Vanuatu is the odd religion of the Jon Frum movement. This movement started when the islanders of Tanna became frustrated with the preaching of Prebysterian Ministers. Around the same time 1936, a man named Jon Frum was sighted by Kava (a strong intoxicating drink) drinkers, he announced that the islanders will have plenty of luxuries and no disease in the future.

Soon after this, came the 2nd World War and US servicemen came to the island to build an airstrip. The islanders saw the amount of equipment and supplies the Americans had and noticed how generous the foreigners were. The Afro-Americans amongst the US troops were especially generous and the people of Tanna saw them as Tannese in disguise. This made them think that Jon Frum must be from America.

The island soon had hundreds of red crosses planted all over, a sign that the Tannese affiliated with the bounty of supplies on the island and good medical care. When the Americans finally departed they left much supplies and equipment and this just confirmed to the Tannese that Jon Frum must have ordered it.

Ever since the people of Tanna have been waiting for Jon Frum to come back with his 'cargo'. They have even built an airstrip to try and entice him.

Jon Frum has not arrived yet and so many of the inhabitants believe that they should go back to their traditional ways and then he will come. This means many villages in the interior have gone back to the old ways and shun outsiders who are not the mysterious Jon Frum.

Port Vila, the capital of the islands is one of the most pleasant towns in the Pacific region. It is a lovely and relaxed place to start your travels and become used to the Vanuatu climate and culture.

The culture of Vanuatu is what draws most people to the islands and it is extremely interesting as you can tell from the Jon Frum movement above. The other ace in Vanuatu's pack is its diving. There are plenty of good divespots, though little infrastructure. A popular dive is the SS President Coolidge-which is the Worlds largest accessible shipwreck.

The best way to discover the true life of Vanuatu is to get out to the outer islands. Here, life is very different to Port Vila.

Pentecost Island is known for its land-diving ceremony, Tanna has its traditional Kastom villages and the Jon Frum movement, Malekula has some of the most diverse cultures in the region and the capital island of Efate is the best place to try the intoxicating and sometimes extremely deadly Kava drink.

Welcome to Vanuatu, the islands of yester year!