The Happiest Country in the World: Part IV: Atmosphere Tours

On our last full day in Vanuatu Rich and I decided we wanted to do a full island tour around Efate, however, there was a wee bit of a problem in that we had been in Vanuatu almost a week and we seemed have been to at least one of the attractions on nearly all of the round Island tours. Finally we found a company called "Atmosphere Tours" that had a tour that was a bit more unique, so we decided to book with them.

Our first stop was a traditional Vanuatu Village - which is apparently less common on Efate than the other islands. This man took us around the village and taught us some of the tribes culture and tradition.

 This lady (and the little girl that you can't really see) were preparing bananas to be preserved.

 The tribe did some of their traditional dances for the visitors to the village.

The visit to the village was finished off with the display of fire walking/dancing over some hot rocks. These pictures don't really show how impressive it really was.

Next up, we stopped off to "Eton Beach" that was more a fresh water swimming hole than a beach, for a swim. We also had a delicious morning tea of fresh fruit whilst at Eton Beach.

We drove around and saw some more sites around Efate - but our next stop was for lunch at a very cute restaurant near a beach where we saw another Vanuatu string band.

The lunch was amazing - I wish I had taken more photo's of it, because it was such a good meal. It was like something delicious you'd eat that someone's grandma had made for you! Next it was back into the van for more island adventures, including the old US army base from World War II. It is mostly grown over now though. We also drove past the largest coconut plantation on Efate - where they graze cows under the coconut trees so they can sell both coconut and meat.

Our next stop was my favourite on the tour - I love museums, especially low-fi museums run by a local with a passion. This one was a "coca-cola" museum run by a chap in his 70's. He has been collecting coca-cola bottles from the ocean for YEARS. The American troops left a lot of things behind when the left Vanuatu - including coca-cola bottles, this chap had been collecting them for years and he new all about the different factories in the States each bottle had been produced. He was incredible!

 These final photo's were taken at our final stop on the tour - I don't watch much TV, but the guide told us this was the spot where "Survivor Vanuatu" was filmed. To me it was just a stunning beach - where Rich made a new friend!

Well - that's our holiday to Vanuatu holiday - it was an amazing time. I really hope we can go back and visit sometime soon and see more of the country. It's a beautiful and fantastic place!