Our second day in the island nation of Vanuatu was in Port Villa, on the island of Efate. It is the largest city in the country and also it's capital. We had signed up for a tour entitled "Paradise Cove Sail & Snorkel". We were hoping for better weather than the day before. It was overcast, but not raining, perfect. We boarded a small tour boat (it held 20 people) which took us to a larger "sail" boat. There were 2 sails up, but we were under motor power our entire trip. We cruised out around an island which was across the bay from our ship, then on to the next one where they anchored. We were given snorkel equipment, Mel and I opted to use our own masks and snorkels, used their fins, then could either jump in the water or take a small motor boat to shore and go into the water that way. I opted to climb down the ladder, seemed easier than jumping in with all that equipment! I had purchased a waterproof case for my camera, so had that around my wrist.
The tour company had put 2 stakes in the water about 1/2 way to shore. On the stakes were bags of bread that we could feed to the fish. When you put bread in the water, dozens of fish swarmed around you. Mel figured he would be nice and throw some bread to me to feed the fish. It landed in the water just in front of my face and immediately I had all the fish in my face and nipping my arms and neck. They didn't hurt, just was a weird experience to have all those fish biting at me! They were about 3" to 7" long. I took over 100 pictures, just snapping away. It was hard to see what I was taking, so just kept it up. Figured I'd get a few good pictures that way. You can see Mel feeding the fish in this picture, not bad!
The water was a bit churned up, probably from all the storms, so it wasn't as clear as it could have been. But we could see a lot of beautiful fish and coral. I'd never seen so much live coral before. It was white, yellow and bright lavender! Many different types were everywhere. We also saw a large purple starfish, it must have been over a foot across. Really interesting.
We went onshore where they demonstrated opening a coconut and gave us fresh coconut to eat. It was delicious. I walked up and down the beach looking for shells. I don't think I've ever found such a nice variety before. Hope they'll make it home in one piece. We swam back to the boat and motored back to the harbor....just in time for lunch onboard our ship. On our way back, some of the passengers were talking to the guides. One young man said he hadn't left his village or island to come to Port Villa until 2005. He was probably in his early 20's. In his village they still do not wear clothes and practice cannibalism. Hmmm, I didn't ask, but was wondering if they eat each other or just the tourists? :)
After lunch we took a taxi into town. There were more stores than in Luganville, but not many of interest. We visited the open market. Mel tried to buy a small bag of Taro Chips but the woman wouldn't accept our US$. They wanted the currency of their country, vatu. Some would also accept Australian dollars. I must say, the people were extremely friendly. Everyone greeted us with a smile and a hello as we passed by. Guess they were happy to see us. They only get 5 cruise ships a year in Luganville, about 2 or 3 a month in Port Villa.
Back at the ship I decided to go to my pool. It was so hot and muggy in town, that I needed another shower anyway. The pool was once again mine alone until the entertainment cast arrived. It had started sprinkling again anyway, so I returned to our cabin for the 3rd shower of the day.
Today was a sea day. Nice to get a short break between ports. We'll be in New Caledonia for 2 days, 2 different islands. We again experienced squalls all day. Hope we can get some good weather tomorrow and Saturday. We want to do more snorkeling.
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