 | Vanuatu Local Customs | Tips 1 - 10 of 25 |  |
Popular Local Customs | Miscellaneous Local Customs Tips | All Tips (25) You can actually take a lot of things back home (at least to Australia) from Vanuatu. We had no trouble taking home kava, wood carvings (as long as they don't have holes in them), coconut shells (well cleaned), lava carvings, woven baskets etc. We weren't sure if we would have problems or not but luckily everything was okay. Just be careful not to have anything that looks like it might have 'baddies' in it... ;) Leave a Comment
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When purchasing something please don't haggle with these people. It simply is'nt in their makeup to do this. They are very quiet, friendly and honest people and would be embarrassed if you started bargaining. Most prices are reasonable anyway. Leave a Comment
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Although Vanuatu is considered a very diverse country (made up of French, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other Pacific Islanders), the indigenous ethnic group are the Melanesians. The three official languages spoken are English, French, and Baslama (a form of pidgin English). There are an additional 100+ local languages spoken throughout the islands! The Melanesians are a very friendly group. At first glance, they could flash an intimidating look......but once you make them crack a smile, their whole face lights up! This pic was just a lazy, hazy afternoon waiting at the airport gate. Leave a Comment
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 | |  |  | Kava drinking in Vanuatu | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
Kava drinking in Vanuatu commences each evening at sundown to the sounds of soft conversation, where people discus the days activities and contemplate the future in a calm and peaceful environment.This happens in many villages every evening, in the city of Port Vila and town of Luganville. Commercial kava bars abound (nakamals) Each person will have their favourite nakamal, which will feature kava from the owners area, and takeaways are no problem. Everybody is friendly and you can choose to be part of the conversation, or be alone to gather your own thoughts, but kava is always drank with company. Kava is of course an essential ceremonial ingredient, and no visiting dignitary or custom celebration would be complete without a kava ceremony. Kava is well known for its muscle relaxant properties without any effect on the Central Nervous System, therefore making it ideal for use for muscle aches and pains, for general relaxation, and for anti-anxiety without the worry of addiction. Kava also has sedative properties, but with no negative safety-related performance. Ni-Vanuatu pride themselves of having the best quality Kava throughout Melanesia. Leave a Comment
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The local currency of Vanuatu is the Vatu. There are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 vatu coins and notes come in 200, 500, 1000, 5000 (and maybe 10000) denominations. When we visited Vanuatu the exchange rate was around A$1.20 = 100 vatu. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Be on the lookout for carvings in unusual places | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Carvings are everywhere, so keep looking for them. Carvings are made out of hardwoods, tree ferns, and sometimes stones. Wood is used for more utilitarian types of things like bowls, platters, and decorative items like turtles and birds. More interesting, though, are the humanoid figures carved from tree ferns, a ver soft substance. (You can also find these figures from hardwoods, but they are less common than tree-ferns aroudn town). The stone carvings are much smaller, and are often made out of volcanic pumice stone or coral. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Bislama - the local English-based creole | Tip Rating: | | | | |
There are 113 distinct languages and many more dialects are found throughout Vanuatu - many of the Ni-Vanuatu speak more than one of these local languages becasue of inter- and intra-island trading. When Europeans arrived, a lingua franca evolved. It's name, Bislama, derived from the Bech-der-mer (sea cucumber) traders who developed a form of pidgin English throughout the Pacific. It began as a simplified form of phonetic English, with Spanish, French, and other languages thrown in for good measure.It soon took on a life of its own, incorporating new words and evolving. Bislama, though phonetically English with a broad acccent, is grammatically simpler. Everything, including women, are spoke of in the masculan (political correctness has not yet come into play!) Being a simpler language means that complex ideas or new concepts are described functionally. The results are descriptions and stories can be a great deal longer than if told in English. Blong: literally - belong. It is used in reference to any noun which has a possesive relationship with any other noun. Example: Long: literally meaning from, to, in, on; in association with something, but not in possesive sense.. Example: * Pikikini blong mi = literally: child belong to me (my child) * pikinini blong kanu = literally: the child (the outrigger) belonging to the canoe * Laet blong trak = literally: light belong to the truck, a light on a truck * Pikinini i go long skul = literally: the child goes to school Most object groupings are simplified: all motorised vehicles are truks, all birds are pidjins, all creatures in the sea are fis. To distinguish the differences in these groupings, their relationship to size or the enviroment is used, or a description is given, rather than a distinctive name: * trak blong doti = truck belong dirty (garbage truck) * pidgin blong solwota = bird belonging to the saltwater, eg tern, pelican, duck etc. * kaofis = cow fish (dugong) Leave a Comment
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