Land diving, or nanggol, inspired modern-day bungee jumping
Island Hopping Through Oceania - Volcanoes, land diving and snorkelling in Vanuatu
Our plans for Vanuatu had been royally torpedoed by the liquidation of Air Vanuatu and the cancellation of our Air Calin flights to Port Vila, Vanuatu’s sleepy capital. Ultimately, we flew there via Auckland (for a few hours) and Fiji (for nearly 24). As a result, instead of ten days in Vanuatu, we had six. And with no internal flights operational, we were limited to the main island of Efate and any nearby islands reachable by boat.
Air Vanuatu's domestic check-in was conspicuously empty
Dealing with scuppered plans in Vanuatu
Thankfully, we discovered Vanuatu Air Taxis, a company running day trips to some of the outer islands in their 6, 8, and 9-seater prop planes. Our main reason for visiting Vanuatu was to see the land diving or nanggol of Pentecost Island. The nanggol is a cultural event where men and boys jump from a tower of branches fastened together with forest vines. With nothing but a pair of vines tied to their ankles to break their fall, it promised to be a spectacular sight. We’d even scheduled the trip around the dates of the nanggol.
Sadly, the day tour to Pentecost Island was beyond our budget, so we made other plans. By the time we concluded that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the tour only had space for a single person. After much toing and froing, I booked the nanggol tour, and Rico booked an overnight tour to Mt. Yasur on Tanna Island instead (Thanks, Rico!).
Volcano climbing and snorkelling
Rico’s tour came first, and while he stood on the rim of an active volcano, watching lava spurt forth from the bubbling cauldron of molten rock at the crater’s centre, I sipped a cold one on the beach of Hideaway Island Resort after a day of snorkelling. As a marine reserve, gliding over the house reef was like swimming through an aquarium, with fish of every possible colour combination circling through an elaborate reef of healthy coral.
Rico watched the volcanic eruption of Mt. Yasur from the crater rim
Hideaway Island also hosts the world’s only underwater post office. The official Vanuatu Post post office sits in about five metres of water, and the resort shop sells waterproof postcards to post in the adjacent underwater post box. Reaching the thing was surprisingly challenging at high tide. I might have given up altogether if it hadn’t been for the Chinese tourists watching my every move.
Snorkelling with a difference: posting an underwater postcard at Hideaway Island
Land diving, or nanggol, is the precursor to bungee jumping
The day after Rico returned to Port Vila, it was my turn to leave. The nine-seater prop plane took us north over Epi and Ambrym, with its twin volcanoes shrouded in cloud, to Lonorore airport in southern Pentecost Island, a strip of asphalt cut from the coastal forest. From there, the other seven tour participants and I were whisked to Rangusuksuk village, the site of the day’s land diving ceremony.
Lonorore is the gateway to southern Penetecost's land diving villages
We were early, and the participants were still straggling in, swapping their torn t-shirts and faded swim shorts for the traditional nambas, or penis sheath. The women changed into grass skirts (and only grass skirts), and a gaggle of small boys scampered here and there as the elders cajoled them into their own nambas. Except for the eight of us, the spectators were all local, and they kept to their faded secondhand garb as the traditionally dressed participants began to sing.
As the singing and dancing began (primarily that gaggle of small boys but also the chief and some of the older women sang), the preparations for the first dive commenced. The ground at the foot of the tower was worked into a fluffy mush with a heavy stick to soften the divers’ falls, as the first to jump, a boy around 13 years old, was tied into his vines.
The land diving ceremony was accompanied by lots of singing and dancing
A land diving participant gets tied into his vines, ready to jump
It would be his first time participating in the nanggol, and he was starting from the lowest platform. But it was all too much (you can’t blame him), and he gradually backed away from the edge until he was cut free of his vines. The following five jumpers went from gradually higher platforms, commensurate with their experience and prowess, until the final jumper took flight from the very top of the rickety tower.
Soaring through the air, above the glistening ocean and rustling palms, at the moment the vines become taught, the supporting platform is cut, dropping 90 degrees to allow extra give, before the jumper lands gently on the heavily worked earth at the base of the tower. A rite of passage for men and boys of the area, the nanggol is performed during the yam harvest, when the forest vines are at their most elastic.
The final diver leapt from the very top of the rickety tower
Legend has it that the first jumpers were women, following the example of a woman who jumped from a banyan tree with vines tied to her ankles to escape from an abusive husband. He followed, but without the vines. She lived, and he died. Men being men, women were eventually banned from taking part, and it became a show of manliness and a way of ensuring a plentiful yam harvest.
Beach time on Pele Island, Vanuatu
With the excitement over, Rico and I got a taxi north from Port Vila on the Efate ring road. Severely potholed, it was a slow and bumpy ride to Emua wharf, where we loaded our luggage into a 12-foot dinghy and puttered across the bay to Pele Island.
We had booked at the last minute to camp on the beach at Ocean View Bungalows. Our dinghy gently splashed past the sheltered crescent of golden sand on the west coast. Then, it rounded the rocky southern point into the full force of the ocean wind and waves on the exposed east. As we started to get wet, we wondered if we should’ve done a bit more research.
Chilling at our campsite on Pele Island
Thankfully, Ocean View Bungalows had a pleasant, if a little too sloping, camp spot overlooking Emao Island. The wind kept away the flies and mosquitos that plagued the sheltered west, and the place was as secluded as they come, at the end of the path on this car-free island.
There’s not a lot to say about our time on Pele Island. Mainly because we didn’t do much. We tried kava, the mouth-numbing local drink made from the roots of a pepper plant. We worked out on the beach. We chilled, a lot. And we made the 30-minute trek across the island to the sheltered west coast, where we snorkelled for a morning over a maze of stacked coral, big-eyed fish and giant clam gardens. We stayed until the last minute, then caught the boat and the bus straight to the airport.
The reefs off the western side of Pele Island were perfect for snorkelling
This Leg
Days: 9
Flights: 5
Boats: 2
Islands: 5
Countries & Territories: 2
Total
Days: 19
Flights: 6
Boats: 8
Islands: 9
Countries & Territories: 3