Sure looked like rain when we looked out the dining room windows this morning. Actually, drizzles were occurring while we dined. Guess we have been lucky up to now, since rain has not happened on many port days so far. It's not a big deal to pack the umbrellas, and if we do, that will guarantee it will not rain.
The Amsterdam arrived to the harbor of Port Vila around 7am, and the ship was cleared by 8am. As the tours were going off, we watched the "sticky" people (tour groups with the stickers) run for the shuttle vans. It appeared all of the tours were using the mini vans, and not buses. This is something you don't always know when you book these tours.
While we were catching up on yesterday's report and photos, we had our 2 week delivery of sodas for our PC perk. Our wine steward in the dining room, Oliver, brought them to our room with a smile. Even though we never drink wine, he always stops by our table every evening and says hello and wishes us bon appetite. Nice fellow. Anyway, on with the report…….
Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu, and the seat of government. Located on the island of Efate, it is the largest city in the country. As far as the population is concerned, we could not locate that information. Compared to Luganville, this city was the opposite of yesterday's port. As well as sandy beaches, lagoons, rivers, waterfalls, and green rainforests, it has a more modern city. What we liked best was having the choice of over 40 restaurants and cafes in the downtown area. And despite the fact that we were told that not much would be opened today because it was a Sunday, we discovered most everything was opened. Perhaps instead of opening at noon, the cafes opened at 2pm.
Perhaps that is why the shore excursions had 29 tours here today. Nine of them were sightseeing and culture, while 20 of them were adventure and water tours. Many of these were the highest activity level and recommended for the younger and more agile of the guests onboard. Horseback riding, zip lines, ATV driving, or a jet boat ride were best left for the able-bodied. Four different scuba dives were also available.
So what did we do? In 2007, we had taken a tour of the surrounding countrysides with a dugout boat trip up a river. And we visited the set for the Survivor TV show. Our guide swore us to secrecy at the time, because we got to see their campsite across from the small island where the show was filmed. It was a real campsite with an outdoor kitchen and full restroom facilities. Hmmm….interesting. Also happening on that same visit was a boycott of the taxi and van drivers, who blocked the exit of the pier, and stopped the tours from leaving. Took an hour for the police to break it up, and allow us to proceed. Today we chose to walk to town, which was as least 3 miles from the ship to the furthest point in downtown. We don't have the fancy step counters, but we do have the knowledge of how many miles we walk in an hour. With the uphill climb from the port, we estimated it took us 1 ½ hours to make it slowly to the start of town. The weather was in our favor, because the sun had peeked out of the clouds, and there was a refreshing breeze.
One nice thing was that the information lady at the pier gladly gave us a map….no charge. Not like yesterday, where they wanted $5 for the same type of map. She also pointed out some restaurants that might be opened today. As it turned out, some of them were opened 2 hours later, and perhaps would close earlier. The museum and produce markets were closed, but all of their modern supermarkets and other shops were opened for business. By the way, had we taken a taxi, the charge would have been $5 per person. That also applied to a water taxi, which was picking folks up next to the ship.
Checking out every café along the way, we had decided if we could not locate one we liked, we would go to the Ramada Resort further up the hill. Many restaurants boasted the best pizza in town, but they appeared to be opened for dinner, not lunch. So we made our way all the way down to the busiest part of the harbor, finding everything marked on the map. Views across the harbor revealed a neat little island called Iririki Island. It is a small retreat with huts on the water, a casino, and probably a restaurant. You can purchase a day pass for 1500 vatu or about $13 USD, which would give you use of their water equipment, pool, and tennis courts. Then the value of the day pass would apply to food and beverages there. A water taxi would get you there and back.
The water in the bay was clear and looked extremely clean. So when we saw a sign posted saying to stay out of this water until further notice, we were surprised. Actually, there is no beach on this side, just a volcanic rock wall and deep water. And no one was swimming. The only ones in this water were the jet skiers. The recommended restaurant was a place called The Rossi, but when we looked inside, there were too many folks from the ship, most of whom were getting free wifi. So we decided against going there, and began our hike back. More than halfway back, we ran into Philip, our dining room head honcho, who was coming out of a nice small café on the water. It was called the Waterfront Bar and Grill, and he said they had great beer. Maybe the fish was not up to his standards, but we were in search of pizza, and they offered it. We ordered Tuskers draft beer, and one large Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple. Boy was it good. And the best thing was it was not crowded, we had a breeze, and the dessert of coconut pie with coconut ice cream was delightful. Can't get much better. But maybe it did…..
After enjoying this wonderful break from or hike, we walked past another place that looked promising, but was closed earlier. This was the War Horse Saloon. Now our friends, Denise and Howie, had opted to take the Vila Pub Crawl, where they visited four pubs and had four beverages as well as some snacks. Since this place was on our way back, and we had time, stopping for one more ice cold beer was a great idea. And it happened to be the final stop for the fun group of pub hoppers. We could hear our buddies laughing when they spotted us sitting on the balcony of this country western bar. Country music was blasting with tunes we love. Who knew….country western in Vanuatu? So we stayed for a while, munching popcorn that appeared, watching some of the brave ladies attempt karaoke with the guides. Some couples were even dancing. Someone has asked the average age of the passengers on this trip. A total guess, we would say perhaps mid 60's to low 70's. Yes, much younger than on the world cruise. Time to move on, since all aboard was 5:30pm, and we wanted to check out the treasures being sold on the pier.
That's another thing we were told….there may be no vendors on the pier today. Guess what? Most all of them were there, selling much of the same items as yesterday. A new t-shirt and another sarong were added to our collection. Back on the ship, we relaxed in our room and watched the sail out of the harbor from our veranda.
Frankly, we could have passed on dinner in the dining room…it had been a very vigorous day. But they were serving trout and an entrée salad that changed our minds. Room service just would not do. Actually, we have not tried room service yet on this trip.
The entertainer this evening was Jeff Peterson and his cute little dog. Since our dinner was served quickly, we could not stay up to watch the performance. He will be back on later in the week, and we will see it then. He is usually on every world cruise as well, and his comedy-magic show is a good one.
Tomorrow……Mystery Island, which is a mystery to us, since we have never been there. Also, thanks for the correct info on the delivery vessel in Fanning Island. We did not know that, but now we do.
Bill & Mary Ann
