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North to Epi Island

Havannah Harbor

       Havannah Harbor is a large deep-water harbor that US forces used beginning in 1942. An estimated 100,000 service personnel passed through Havannah Harbor and Port Vila en route to other ships and Marine units in the Pacific. The harbor was also a staging area for up to 50 US Navy ships before to Battle of the Coral Sea. We are pleased to say that based on our brief tour of the area by land the only trace of the war effort are some 1942 Coke bottles that the locals sell at a roadside fruit and vegetable stand called a “WWll” museum!

Twin extinct volcanoes en route to Epi Island

Lamen Bay, Epi Island

        Lamen Bay is the home of Epi High School, one of only a few in Vanuatu. We met the principal, a couple of teachers, the chief bursar, the grounds keeper, and the secretary who seemed to run things. The principal, a delightful woman, appears calmly dedicated to making small gains. Two Peace Corps volunteers help around the school. One got the school garden producing a surplus that enables a small profit from sales at the market and to yachties. We gave the school pencils and paper pads that we had been carrying for just such a purpose and were advised that we must, in turn, accept some things from the school. We were given fresh tomatoes, cabbage, and a pumpkin. It costs 30,000 vatu, or about $230 US to go to school for each of three terms, and that doesn't include board. We don't know where the families get that much cash.

            That night the village hosted a traditional dinner for the yachties. The food was excellent, and we met quite a few more yachties and land based Europeans, and some Ni-Vanuatans. We finally drank some local kava. This brew truly packs more kick than Fiji kava because it is ground up without being dried, and mixed with a very small amount of water. It tastes like the drink is prepared without removing the dirt from the root.

High school students between periods	A young woman weaving palm fronds
Island lad	Tina from Germany, visiting Lamen Bay, Vanuatu

Lamen Islander sailing dugout canoe home using palm frond sail

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