Bali, Island Of Enchantment

With a population recorded as 3,891,428 in the 2010 census, Bali  island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. In the 2000 census about 92.29% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism,  while most of the remainder follow Islam. There are Temples everywhere. It is also the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music.. The creativity is endless and if you had a house here you could fill it with one unusual item after another. I wanted everything! This place is magical and the people are beautiful and friendly. I met a lovely Danish couple traveling with their two children on their yacht in the slip next to Slow Dance at the Bali Marina. They invited Isi and I to join them for an adventurous day out. It was our second day in Bali just off the sea, so we were happy to go along. They had a driver named Mr. Suedarma, and we went to his home before getting started, to met his wife and two children. Mrs. Suedarma has been an accountant at the same resort for 20 years. She fed us orange juice and strange little bamboo packets filled with rice cooked in coconut milk. You had to use a scissor to cut away the bamboo wrapping and each rice ball included a surprise inside such as peanuts or banana. Very delicious.

Yummy little bamboo rice treats!

Mr Suedarma's temple outside. Five temples inside and outside of the home.

Mr. Suedarma's son took the photo. Thats me and Isi with the danish family and the Suedarm's

The Suedarma's wedding photo.

The island of Bali lies 3.2 km (2 mi) east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. .Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. The market is beyond amazing. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung river, flows approximately 75 km. The island is surrounded by coral reefs, much like Fiji. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tana Lot they are not yet used for significant tourism. You could circumvent the island in a day but that's without stopping and believe me you want to stop, as there is so much to see!

Tana lot Temple. You walk through the ocean at low tide to get to this temple.

The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast and this is where Slow Dance is located at the Bali Marina. The old market is here and the largest most amazing market I have ever seen. The crazy thing about this market is that cars and motor bikes drive through the narrow thoroughfare when it's packed with people. You have to be careful not to get your foot run over. There are thousands of motorbikes in Bali because there is no public transportation so the people must have a means for getting around. It is not uncommon to see an entire family on one bike. Dad, Mom, and up to 3 kids. Adults are required to wear helmets but not the kids (go figure) and the police do not really enforce the rule for the grownups. I would NEVER want to try and drive in Bali, as the cars cross the lines in the road and the motorbikes drive wherever they want including on your side of the road! Everyone constantly honks their horn; and I thought New York was bad.
Here are some images from the market, but they do not do it justice.

Although fresh kills, after all day in the sun I opted NOT to buy these chickens!

Kuta is the most touristy beach lined with hotels, shops, and backpackers. Kuta is practically part of Denpasar's urban area. Ubud, is situated at the north of Denpasar, and is the island's cultural center. I love Ubud, as it is a hip place with a beautiful river running through the town and a monkey forest you can hike in. This is where they shot the Bali part in the film Eat Love Pray. Julia Roberts stayed in Ubud and the wise old toothless fortune teller is a real guy who lives here. In fact, you can make an appointment to have him read your fortune and apparently the film has made him quite famous.

View of the rice field from our table at the restaurant in Ubud

Main street in Ubud. The river runs under the bridge here.

Monkey Business

 Bali was once connected to Java, Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated. Bali, however, has its own techniques and styles, including kekack, a form of singing that imitates the sound of monkey's. In addition, the island is home to several unique kinds of music. Modern popular styles include gamelan gong kebyar, dance music which developed during the Dutch occupation and 1950s era jogged bum-bong, a popular dance style. In Balinese music you can also hear metallophones, gongs and xylophones. Balinese dances are a very ancient dance tradition that is a part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people. Mr. Suedarma took Isi and I to an early morning performance that was the best representation of Balinese music and dance that we had seen thus far. It was beautiful, funny, and extremely entertaining. The story included the eternal struggle between good and evil, witches, trickery, death, immortality, and of course, a happy ending. The dance featured all the Hindu Balinese deities, from Rama to Honuman the monkey god. There were also a couple of dwarfs thrown in for comic relief.  

Bali dancers learn the craft as children from their mothers as soon as they are born, in the womb they are played the Balinese music and are taught to dance with their hands before they can walk. Official training as a Bali dancer starts as young as 7 . In Balinese dance the movement is closely associated with the rhythms produced by the gamelan a musical ensemble specific to Java and Bali.

So beautiful.

 Multiple levels of articulations in the face, eyes, hands, arms, hips, and feet are coordinated to reflect layers of percussive sounds.

These guys were hilarious and flirtatious!

The monsoon is about to begin and the days are hot and humid. We have had a few mornings of intense rain. Most things are very inexpensive, like food and taxi's. I have a driver that will drive me from 8AM until 8PM sightseeing, to the spa, get my hair cut, etc, and the fee is $40.00! I went to a very exclusive hair spa to get a hair cut yesterday and ended up getting a pedicure, manicure, eyebrow and lip wax, haircut and 1/2 hour hair treatment all for less then $100.00. I was there for 3 hours and was served endless cups of this fabulous ginger tea with cookies. The chairs with hair dryer and chairs for pedicure are outside overlooking rice fields! It was beautiful and right in the middle of town! The salon is owned and operated by a famous Dutch hairdresser to the rich and famous. My stylist Vincent, was from Amsterdam.  I went to another spa in Ubud yesterday and had a 1 1/2 hour message that included a steam, papaya body scrub, Balinese message that ended with a mineral bath of floating fragrant multi colored flowers and a cup of that wonderful ginger tea. All for $38.00.
There are some five star resorts that make the Four Seasons look like motel 6. I plan on visiting a few and will report in, complete with photos.

We visited an amazing silver jewelry palace where they create original designs with precious stones. There were two floors of the most exquisite bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and rings, displayed on glass sculptures.  No pictures allowed. The building outside housed 50-100 silversmiths and you could go inside to see them working their craft. I bought a moonstone ring and a toe ring.

The building was surrounded by these dancing statues. The steps to the front door were made of green blown glass.

Not certain about the significance of the frog,  but the seat was a welcome resting spot.

Monkey with an ear of corn at the temple in the sky.

We visited a Balinese Hindu temple in the sky, as it is built high on the cliffs on the north part of the island. The jungle trail leading to the temple was full of monkeys and very mischievous one's at that. If you wore bright colors, earrings, or sunglasses the monkeys would rush down and take these items from you. Isi was very frightened of the monkeys which I thought was funny.

It reminded me of point Dume in Malibu and I was bit homesick.

Trail along the cliffs to the temple in the sky

Isi and I on the trail to the temple. Everyone had to wear a purple sarong. Once we were at the top there was a fire dance depicting the story of Rama and his wife Sita who gets kidnapped in the forest.

I had the Tuna plate with Balinese Vegetables It was awesome. I plan on taking a Balinese cooking class while I am here.

The Satay is served on these little charcoal cookers. I want to find some for the boat. The Satay was delicious and the peanut sauce even more delicious!

This was a vegetarian plate with Tofu. Mr. Suedarma let me have a few bites and it was also delicious.

Now here's a fascinating fact. Magic Mushrooms are sold here and our cab driver stated they were legal, however, the internet say's they are illegal in Bali but sold everywhere as the police simply do not care. It should be noted that if any eateries offer to add in some mushrooms into your food, they’re not really talking about ye olde regular mushrooms. Eat with caution!

Magic Mushroom of Bali

There is so much to experience in Bali that I will post again later this month.

10 Degrees South

Sailing on the Timor sea to Indonesia

We are very near the equator now and the days are hot, humid, and without rain. The blog needs to evolve to a new theme as we are no longer in the South Pacific, but rather in the Indian ocean. Slow Dance left Papal New Guinea at 9 PM. Quite relieved to be gone from the yacht club and away from Port Moresby. One week seemed like a month. Seven days at sea with 20-25 knots of wind for the first 3 days out of Port Moresby making for good sailing with rough seas. We anchored in the Taurus Straights the third night so the crew could have a nights rest before continuing on to Kupang. It was strange to be in the middle of the ocean anchored in 30 feet of water! The straight is wide but very shallow in places; 5 feet deep in certain areas. We followed the shipping route and at times there were as many as 15-20 ships on the horizon. On day 4 we entered the Timor sea, where the water was flat and the days scorching hot. We had to motor the entire time as there had not been so much as a puff of wind, not even a breeze to cool us down. A pod of dolphins followed the boat for 2 days, playing with the bow and entertaining us with their antics. We stopped the boat and jumped into the water  hoping the dolphins would play with us but they kept their distance. We didn't worry so much about sharks, because when there are dolphins there are no sharks. We hoped the swim would cool us off but the water was unpleasantly warm. Isi saw a great white swimming by the boat 2 days earlier when we were in the straight. The Australian waters are shark infested, especially in the Straights. Unfortunately, we watched a really bad Australian movie just before entering the straight, called "The Reef". A true story that takes place in the very sea's we were in. 5 people making a delivery of a 42 foot sail boat hit a reef and capsize. The boat is upside down in the water and one man stays on top of the boat refusing to get into the water because of sharks. Just prior to hitting the reef and capsizing the boat, these retarded people had gone ashore in the dingy for a snorkel on a small deserted island and proceed to hit a small reef at low tide on the way back to the boat, subsequently tearing a huge hole in the dingy rendering it useless. Their life raft is trapped inside the capsized boat and the emergency rescue device doesn't work. They are not more then 10 miles from land so 4 people (2 men and 2 women) decide to swim for it. The remainder of the film is about them getting eaten by great whites. We hit the fast forward button to spare ourselves all the drama. Only 1 of the women makes it to land but the last man gets eaten as he is trying to make it to the rocks after helping her up. The end of the film states that the boat and the guy left behind were never found and the female survivor was rescued after 2 days on the rocks. Needless to say we were NOT anxious to get in the water until we were in the Timor sea surrounded by dolphins and even then I was not tempted to swim to far from the boat! The evening sunsets were spectacular and we had a full October moon.

Sunset over the Timor Sea

We were 24 hours from Kupang, Indonesia, and nearly out of fuel. If we ran out of fuel it would have taken several days more to reach Kupang without the wind. In addition, we broke 2 belts on the main engine and only had one belt to replace them with. To much strain on the replacement belt would cause it to break, so we would have been in the same position of sailing with no wind. Good thing luck was with us.

We met other yachts that had sailed around Papal New Guinea and had wondrous things to say about the villages and unspoiled parts of the island. Unfortunately, we experienced only Port Morseby and the yacht club, where Americans and Europeans are not well accepted.

Huli Wig-man. This is the New Guinea I wanted to see.

Ron and Brian at Brian's Real Estate office

Armed guards at the gas station!

Cute girl at the local market.

 Brian Hull is 74 and has lived here for 50 years. Brian is from Tasmania originally and is the person that Ron obtained our slip from. Ron, being the entertaining guy he is, amused Brain, so we were invited to lunch, that very afternoon, as Brian's guest. Brian loaded Ron and I into his new 4-door Ford truck and as we passed through the gates of the club, we were met with life outside the yacht club. The Chinese restaurant was a modest establishment behind a gate guarded by 6 security men who let us through the gate. After lunch Brian took us to his office (also behind a guarded fence) Century 21, where he has made a fortune in the Real Estate market. At age 19, Brain was a patrol officer, walking through New Guinea, on foot, taking a census for the Australian government. What must that have been like? Amazing life this man has had. At 74, he commands a large staff of employees; some at work, some who drive for him, and those that look after his boat, meals, morning coffee, etc... Brian never married but has raised some locals as his children, educating them at private Australian schools. He now has a number of grandchildren that he does the same for. We spent an afternoon on his boat motoring out to Fishermen s island, with him and his grand-kids, who were all beautiful and well educated. Several were going to college in Australia. 

 Port Morseby is the capitol of Papua New Guinea, not a good representative of the country and no place to explore as a new comer. Our cruising guide states if one traveled to the more remote areas of the island, you would find lovely safe villages, where the people want to lavish you with fresh fruits and vegetables. Port Morseby is considered the second most dangerous city in the world. I was told that Nigerian cities hold the number one spot. Port Morsby beats out Baghdad, Detroit, and East LA! After a week at sea we arrived at dawn in the bay outside Port Morseby. Our cruising guide warned of "Raschels" throughout the city that grab purses and even board your yacht as you sleep to steal your dinghy engine and any thing else not nailed down. Ron went ashore to the yacht club and procured a slip for Slow Dance, which guaranteed protection from any thievery. If your boat is anchored outside the yacht club's small bay, you are certain to be robbed. Our first clue about this place, was the fact that the yacht club has 29  guards on duty. Brian say's the situation has grown worse over the years as the "Raschels" now carry guns. We met a young man from north Ireland that run's a security business (good business to have here in this city) He was driving by one of the not so safe villages inside the city one evening and another car hit him on purpose causing his car to roll over. He was dragged out of his truck and his wallet taken. A good villager pulled him up the hill and he escaped. When he returned with the police 45 minutes later his truck was stripped. There are over 1 million people living in the city and only 200,000 have jobs. The average wage is 50 cents US an hour. $30.00 US a week is the average wage. The people are starving so they turn to crime. The Australians that live here are very wealthy and an average rental is $3000-$5000 US a week! All houses are behind gates with razor wire. We met another Australian who has lived in the city for 40 years and he and his wife are robbed twice a month at their home. He said he just keeps $200.00 Kina on him at all times to hand over to the robbers. There are 4 men to every woman. Guns are everywhere and the bad guys put up fake roadblocks to stop cars. One wealthy woman Ron and I went to dinner with told us she has had her car window shot out as she went around such a road block. That happened in broad daylight. Two young women were recently stopped in separate incidences at a road blocks and dragged from their car, taken to a shack and gang rapped for several days. One woman worked for the Australian Embassy which has their largest embassy here. We couldn't figure out why anyone would want to live in such a place but alot of folks have gotten rich from New Guinea. The gap between the have's and have not's is very wide.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth. According to recent data, 841 different languages are listed for the country, although 11 of these have no known living speakers.  There may be at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of about 6.2 million. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its people live in urban centers.  The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea. The country's geography is diverse and, in places, extremely rugged. A spine of mountains, the New Guinea Highlands, runs the length of the island of New Guinea, forming a populous highlands region mostly covered with tropical rainforest, and the long Papuan Peninsula, known as the 'Bird's Tail'. Dense rainforests can be found in the lowland and coastal areas as well as very large wetland areas surrounding the Sepik and Fly rivers. This terrain has made it difficult for the country to develop transportation infrastructure. In some areas, airplanes are the only mode of transport.  The highest peak is Mount Wilhelm at 4,509 metres (14,793 ft). Papua New Guinea is surrounded by coral reefs which are under close watch, in the interests of preservation.The country is situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at the point of collision of several tectonic plates. There are a number of active volcanoes, and eruptions are frequent. Earthquakes are relatively common, sometimes accompanied by tsunamis. The mainland of the country is the eastern half of New Guinea island, where the largest towns are also located, including the capital Port Moresby and Lae; other major islands within Papua New Guinea include New Ireland, New Britain, Manus and Bougainville.Papua New Guinea is one of the few regions close to the equator that experience snowfall, which occurs in the most elevated parts of the mainland.

We entered Indonesia at  Kupang, and what a delight to be amongst such lovely people. Most of the people of Indonesia are Muslim, but the island of Bali, where we are now is primarily Hindu.

Boys on the beach when we landed in Kupang. They watched our dingy for us while we went to town.

Fruit stand in Bali. The watermelon was seedless and the best I have ever eaten.

Isi and I gave ourselves a facial at sea. We look like savage natives!

Isi at the Kupang market

Market in Kupang

This man opted for an afternoon break from selling rice and oil.

 Kupang was impoverished and the market was very dirty. We took a long cab ride to the large supermarket in town and were shocked to find very few fruits and veggies. There were a few hotels and youth hostels and lots of banks. This was a place for young backpackers adventuring on foot to rural villages in the interior of the island. The people were amazingly friendly and I felt safe at all times. Refreshing after being in Port Morseby. We hired an agent to clear us into Indonesia and her counterpart in Kupang was a man named Napa. He arrived at Slow Dance in a primitive dug out canoe with a young boy who constantly bailed out the water that was rushing into the small boat. I was a bit concerned but Napa turned out to be super professional and a really great guy. He had 5 books signed by all the yachts he has help clear into Kupang over the past 12 years. It was great reading them. Napa helped clear us with Quarantine and Customs, and in this part of the world, officials expect some type of bribe to make things go smoothly. A bottle of cheap vodka and $50.00 US dollars did the trick! Isi 's passport was due to expire in March 2013 and most countries require at least 6 months to enter. Another $50.00 allowed her to enter and travel with us to Bali, which she was very happy about. Isi will have 30 days and then she will have to return to Fiji to renew her passport. I hope she gets to come back and join Slow dance in Thailand.

Cute boys in the Kupang market. They tried to get in every photo.

On route to the marina in Bali

So Slow Dance has arrived to Bali and I can't wait for Ron to fly in so we can explore this magical place.
 

Sorsocers ,Land Divers, Blue Holes, and Boat Cats

The Blue Hole

We anchored in an amazing bay surrounded by deserted islands, just off the big island of Santo. There was a river you could travel up several miles which ended at a 80 foot blue hole of fresh water. Cold water and the bluest azure colored water I have ever seen.There was a rope swing tied to a giant Banyan Tree and we all had fun climbing to jump off into the water.

Twisted Trees in the jungle on the ride down the river to the Blue Hole

Road to the Waterfalls on Pentecost Island

  Change is the only constant and so it was, we departed Fiji with a new crew of young people; new captain, Eskil Glantz, a strong stapling Swed who possesses the same licensing as the last captain, Isi, our head stewardess, a lovely hard working Fijian girl,who spent three years at Fiji's most exclusive resort, serving up fine meals and good conversation to celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Jenifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Courtney Cox, and even our governor Arnold. Elaine Dowling (our captains fiance') is now official deckhand/first mate in training, and is also, a talented singer/songwriter from Ireland. Another fine Swed, Anders, joins us as our new marine engineer and really knows his stuff! An amazing crew of young talented people who are a joy to have aboard. Slow Dance is at last settling down to the FUN boat she was meant to be; I have not seen her looking so fine; clean, organized, and well maintained. Anders has a degree in Physics and has been engineering on boats since he was a young lad. After all,  Swedes are the Vikings of old!

Ezi, at the blue hole.

Ron and Elaine on Champagne Beach

Champagne Beach

 It was love at first sight landing in the beautiful bay of Port Vila, Vanautu. The French flavor mixed with the rural outter island culture has produced a local language called Bislama. An example is the Digicel sign below. Good Morning is-gut moning, good night-gut naet, how are you-yu orat, and so on. When speaking quickly, it is difficult to understand but no worries, French and English are spoken fluently. We are enjoyed the small town of Port Vila complete with great dental services by Phillip from Brazil, who just opened his practice overlooking the gorgeous bay with sailboats floating in clear blue waters. Elaine and I spent a day having much needed dental work for a fraction of the cost in out respective countries. I had a cleaning and 2 fillings, she had a root canal and a bonding. As we walked around the town Ron and I stumbled on the Casino! Yes Casino, complete with Texas Hold Em. You can play for $2.00.We had 2 hours of fun for $25.00 US$. I did great at Texas Hold-um, but lost when I switched to Black Jack! The money system is VAU (Vatu) and you get $89.95 VAU for $1.00 US. Makes me crazy, as a cup of coffee is like $500.00 dollars. (takes some getting used to). You can get anything you want in the local pharmacy without a prescription and booze is insanely cheap at the duty free shops for the yachts. Clothes shopping was awesome and we girls have purchased some nice new tops, shorts, and bathing suits.

Example of Bislamic-Small Store for your Sim Card

Due to the hold up in Fiji, we will have limited time to explore this awesome place. We have met other yachts from across the world who came here years ago and decided to never leave. I can see why. We left port Sunday and traveled toward the 3 islands that offer extraordinary experiences. Port Vila is on the main island of Efate, where we had time to explore the city and hike Melee waterfalls. I posted some pictures on my last blog. I had to get something up quickly as we were leaving Efate and there would be no internet on the outter islands.

Ron and Cookie at melee Falls

Ron peeling through laundry day on Slow Dance.

  Ambrym, was our first stop, where 2 active volcano's can be explored. The huge cones poke out of the clouds and resemble King Kong's island. At night, red fire glows from the craters on top of the mountains and during the day, plumes of smoke fill the air like low hanging clouds. 7000 inhabitants live in three corners of this triangular island and the only way around this island is on foot and by sea. The Ambrym islanders are famous for their heirlooms and have been known to shoot arrows at visitors who try to purchase them. We won't ask to buy a thing! A powerful traditional system of copyright exists on the island and only those with the traditional rights can make certain types of objects, such as drums, wood carvings, and pottery. The Storytellers of Ambrym use intricate sand drawings to illustrate their tales and can draw up to 180 patterns without removing their fingers from the sand, to convey a variety of messages! Ambrym Sorcerers are famous throughout Vanautu for their magic which mostly is a destructive power associated with the volcano. Chief Tolor resides at Fania, one of the most traditional villages in Vanautu and for $1500.00 VAU he will show you an actze made from iron given to his ancestors by captain Cook. We opted not to have a look. We awoke in the morning to a cloud covered sky. The previous day, the crew had arranged to meet guides from the village at 6AM, on the black sand beach, for a 3 hour trek to the volcano. I had a dream during the night that was powerful enough to convince me I did NOT want to join the others for the trek. Isi also decided not to go after receiving a tex message from her boy-friend stating he had a dream she was in trouble. So, Isi and I remained behind, unable to restrain Ron from going. I packed a hardy lunch for the others and we watched them row ashore to meet their 6 guides. At 10AM, Ron appeared from the jungle, weary and worn out. Two of the guides had helped him down the the first rock face he managed to climb. When he realized there were many more rock walls to climb, he gave it up. The others did not return until dark, exhausted and limping. I had a big pot of chili waiting for them and some tofu Pad-Thai. Later that evening, the kids went back to the beach for a bon-fire with the village men. They drank kava, which is rumored to be much stronger than the kava in Fiji. After 2 bowls, you can not lift your arms! The men told stories of travelers that came to their village to hike the volcano. The story teller told a tale of a recent visitor who arrived by plane with 6 friends and they took the trek up to the volcano together. The man decided to cast a line down into the crater and take a closer look inside the bubbling cauldron. The rope snapped and he was gone! When ask about his friends the story teller simply replied that there was alot of crying. Another story told of an elder Australian man who made the all day hike but upon returning to the village, dropped dead of a heart attack! Trusting your intuition is a really good thing!

After the ash field, the crew gets ready to ascend the first series of rigorous climbs up to the volcano.

 Next we sailed to Pentecost island, home of the land divers. Men tie liana vines around their ankles, then jump head first from atop a 30 meter man-made tower built around tree trucks. The men dive,jerking to a halt just centimeters from the ground. Slack in the lifeline vine eases the shock as it stretches to it's limit, and the platform is designed to sway, so the jumpers are rarely injured. Just before the diver smashes to the ground the vine stretches fully. This slows and finally stops his fall just as his head brushes the soil, blessing it for the yam crop. The jumping is done for fun and not manditory. Even eight year old boys participate and the diving traditionally takes place for the yam festival. As you must have gathered by now, yams are super important vegetables here in Vanautu. When the platforms are made women are not allowed near and guards are posted at night to protect it from "poison man". Jumpers can make a speech prior to their jump denying false accusations against them and criticizing anyone they like, including the chief. Traditionally, land diving takes place May-June when the Yams are harvested, but rumor has it that they will jump for money. Although disappointing,we decided not to seek jumpers for money, as it just seemed wrong. The villages here are as they were hundreds of years ago, except for the fighting and cannibalism! The other attraction on Pentecost was a series of waterfalls which offer cool refreshing pools and deep areas for jumping off rocks. We had an absolute blast hiking up to the waterfall near out anchorage. The trail led us up a fresh water stream that runs into the ocean. The trail breaks away from the stream and meanders through a small village. The villagers have made steps and a wooden bridge from tree limbs that help get you up to the pools. The pools are deep and you can sit under the falls which pushed you under from the force of the water. Trini came along, swimming and climbing the rocks, which made her resemble a small goat!

The ocean is the the most amazing water I have ever seen; blue azure and so clear you can see the bottom 50 feet down! The waters surrounding Pentecost are teeming with marine life and we have had lots of company from dolphins and sea turtles. Today we wanted to do some kayaking and snorkeling but unfortunately the weather did not permit it, so we are at sea headed for Santos.

A bit of interesting history; American soldiers were stationed here during WW11, including JFK on PT-109. Japan bombed Vanautu once and only two marines were killed. James Mitchner was stationed here and was inspired to write Bali Hai. The people love Americans and to this day have a holiday called "John From" day where they dress up in US military uniforms and march in a parade using wooden guns! One village man has collected coke bottles left by the US from WW11 and has made a museum of literally thousands of bottles! When the US military left Vanautu, rather then take their tanks and equipment back, they pushed it all into the ocean on Santo's island which has become a world famous dive site.

Final stop, Espiritu Santo, called simply, Santo, the largest island in Vanautu. Mt. Tabwemasana (1,879 meters) highest peak in the country, has never had a recorded climb. It is believed that still-contacted pigmy tribes reside in the impassable interior jungles. Whoa! Santo, has played an important role in Vanautu, from Quioros 1606 settlement on Big Bay to the giant support base set up by America during WW11, and the Coconut rebellion of 1980. This beautiful island has untouched beaches, wild jungles, friendly villagers, good internet, and an untouristed town. Apart from Port Vila, Luganville is the only other incorporated community in Vanuatu. A mixture of french, Chinese, Vietnamese, and American influences, with a Wild West air.

Champagne Beach, near Hog Harbor is rated one of the best beaches in the South Pacific and we anchored just off this beautiful beach, by far, the most awesome beach I have ever seen. The bay is surrounded by lush tropical islands and pure white sandy beaches. There are trails and dirt roads that take you through the rain forest, past grazing cattle, to small villages and quaint resorts on the bay, with sparse amenities. We met two young Americans from Buffalo, New York, Tiffany and Chris, and invited them for brunch. They were camping in their tent at the resort and had been working in Australia for 8 months, prior to exploring Vanautu. We are all going over to their small resort tonight for a meal of the traditional food of Vanautu, called, Lap Lap.  Oh yeah, the eat bats here! They shoot them with a sling shot, the roast them on an open fire after removing the wings. I found some in the local market, but opted NOT to try them out.

Just across from our bay is "Shark Bay, where we don't plan on doing any swimming or snorkeling! It is important to know the waters throughout Vanuatu, as there are areas that abound with sharks and other areas protected by reef and safe for swimming and snorkeling. It is believed that Vanuatu sorcerers can change themselves into sharks and kill their enemies; luckily we have only encountered sweet friendly islanders.

Lastly; we have been plagued by rats for the second time since I have been on Slow Dance. We figure they came on board sometime during the Bollywood shoot at Raki Raki.After cleaning out their nests and feeding them hardy helpings of poison we think they have abandoned ship. The poison we have makes them thirsty and they jump ship for water. I wished for some boat cats and low and behold, while enjoying a Lap Lap (traditional food of Vanautu) dinner in Lonoc near Champagne beach, the kitchen cat had 3 small kittens and we left with two of them. I doubt we will have any future problems with mice and rats! We named them Mizzen and Whaloo and they are so cute. Trinidad is a bit unhappy about it all but tolerating the little babies who try to eat her food at every chance they get.

Mizzen and Wahloo

The girls asleep in the wheel house.

 There are so many awesome photo's but it takes 20 minutes just to upload one, here in East Jesus, so
stay tuned for more great pictures. Tomorrow we rent a car and travel to see a tribe that still practice the old ways. Naked men with penis wrappers and bare breasted tattooed women come out to greet you under the largest banyan tree in the world! Can't wait to see this!

We arrived at the village after 15 miles on harsh dirt roads. The woman were not bare breasted any longer andan old man in the village told us the banyan tree had fallen down. And so, the modern world finds it's way to all places, no matter how remote. There were however some small boy's in loin cloths.

On route to the inland village, Vanuatu

Boy's hearding cattle

Here is an update to this post. We landed in Port Morsby, Papal New Guinea and the internet works very well here at the yacht club. My next post will tell the story of being here in the second most dangerous city in the world! Be afraid, be very afraid!

A bit more on Vanautu: Luganville was disapointing at best. The town had deterorated over the past 6 years and all hopes of hauling out Slow Dance vanished. The once booming shipyard was vertually deserted except for one old crusy mechanic that did manage to fix a part for us in his broken down shop. The town had 2 nice resorts and one large supermarket. The open produce market was a welcome sight, complete with avacados! There were many strange vegetables, but by far the weirdest item for sale were flying fox bats. Yes bats for sale! Dead ones, which are shot at dusk with a slingshot and rocks. Apparently they make for good eating once the wings are removed and you roast them in an open fire. UGH! No Thank you, no bats for me. The internet moved slow and posting photos was impossible.

Fox bats for sale along with bok choy

We have been at sea for 5 days so far. The first 3 days were hell, as the seas turned rough with 25-30 knots of wind and lots of squalls. It was great for sailing but hard to sleep with all the rocking and rolling. I put a patch on, enabling me to go down in the galley to make food for the crew. By day 4 the sea's calmed down with blue skies, causing me to remember why i love sailing! We caught a Whaloo and finally a tuna, which we celebrated with a grand night of Sushi. We are headed for Papul New Guinia and uncertain what we will find there. We should arrive at Port Morsby, the largest port on the mainland, within 2 days, reaching 10 degrees South of the equator. New Guinia is said to be a rough place, where yachts hire armed guards to stay on the boat for the duration of their stay. The cruising guide warns of "Raschels" that will steal you blind, dangers of walking alone, and warnings to NEVER go anywhere at night. To say Iam a bit nervous would be an understatement. On the other hand, people warn of the many dangers in New York City and East LA!
There is an Indonesian embassy and we will need to get all our paperwork and visas settled prior to landing in Indonesia. It is late in the season for crossing due to the wind direction and tropical storm belt. This is why we can not linger in New Guinia and MUST move on for what will be 2-3 weeks at sea!
 

Children in the village making baskets. The village was very remote, in the Banks. The banks is the last island in the chain of Vanautu islands. We stopped just prior to heading out for Papal New Guinea

Adorable girl in the Banks island village

Close up of bat for Dinner! They are cute little things and quite tasty I hear.

Market in Port Villa

 

At the Banks village. This elder of the village had 39 grand children. he is pictured here with his son, four grandkids, Elaine and Eskil.

The Banks village was very clean and organized. The cheif had a community hall which featured a DVD player, so we gave them some DVD's i.e. Lady and the Tramp, and several action movies. Also some pain meds and books for the kids.

 

Boy with coconut on the road to Luganville. The locals were swimming in a stream of the same amazing blue water we found at the blue hole.

Children in the remote village where we went in search of the giant banyan tree

 

Strange fruit growing at the Oyster Island Resort

 

 

 

Market in Luganville

Ron at the french restaurant in Port Villa