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 Facts at a Glance
Full country name: Republic of Vanuatu
Area: 860,000 sq km (533,000 sq mi), 12,336 sq km (7,650 sq mi) of dry land
Population: 182,000
Capital city: Port Vila (Efate)
People: Melanesian & Polynesian (94%), French (4%), Chinese, Pacific Islanders and Vietnamese
Languages: Bislama ('pidgin' English), French, English and more than 100 indigenous languages
Religion: Christian (84%), animist (16%)
Government: Republic
President: John Bani
Prime Minister: Donald Kalpokas
 Environment
The 80 or so habitable islands of Vanuatu straddle the Pacific Ring of Fire, giving residents a roller coaster ride of volcanic activity and tremors as well as occasional tsunamis. On some islands the land erupts out of the seabed to rise nearly 2000m (6560ft) above sea level, on others coral atolls and rocky islets lie only a few metres above it. Not quite the size of Northern Ireland, the dry land is scattered over an area slightly larger than Germany, France and Switzerland combined. Port Vila is 1900km (1180mi) north-east of Brisbane, Australia, and Vanuatu's nearer neighbours are all island states: Fiji to the east, to the north the Solomon Islands and a splash of haute coûture pacifique marks New Caledonia to the south-west.
Unlike the nearby Solomons, vast tracts of Vanuatu's forests have been preserved from commercial logging, mainly because the terrain is too rough and the grades too steep to make it economically viable. The forest is typical of the western Pacific, and includes giant banyan trees and kauri pines as well as isolated stands of sandalwood that survived the 19th century obsession for it. Some of the more mountainous islands are cloaked in almost impenetrable forest from the shoreline to the highest peaks, and over 150 plant species of the more than 1000 so far identified are endemic. Coconut trees and plantations are common throughout the archipelago.
The South-East Trade Winds that discouraged early attempts at European colonisation prevail over the islands and are responsible for much of their weather. The wet season falls from November to April and dumps more than 4m (more than 13ft) of rain annually in some places. Many tour groups from Australia go for their Christmas holidays during the wet, but the cool, evening sea breezes generally save them from taking a long walk off a short pier. During the dry, Vanuatu enjoys sunny days and mild, spring-like weather. The cyclone season is December to March, with possibilities for wild weather a few months on either side of that. The winds are generally more unruly during the wet season than the dry, and cyclones can hit any island.
 History
Some of the islands have been populated continuously for thousands of years and others are still uninhabited today. The earliest known settlement was on Malo Island, where pottery at least 4000 years old has been unearthed. Prehistoric cultures in Vanuatu were plagued by inter-tribal warfare. The tribes' rich spiritual life attributed all natural and human-induced bad luck or calamities to sorcery, and they staged lavish festivals to appease the gods. The elaborate burial chamber of a nobleman buried in AD1265 was excavated on Eretoka Island, off the coast of Efate, and bears evidence of human sacrifice.
Spaniard Pedro Fernandez de Quiros laid eyes on the islands in 1606, naming the first one he sighted Nuestra Señora de Austrialia del Espiritu Santo, known today simply as Santo. His lofty - if quixotic - ideal was to found New Jerusalem in the Pacific on the banks of a river he called the Jordan. But the locals didn't really want to be saved and the prevailing south-easterlies continually hindered the Spanish landings. De Quiros wandered off into the Pacific not long after he arrived, presumably believing his failure had condemned the unsuspecting ni-Vanuatu to burn for eternity. Among the Spanish, Portuguese and French explorers who followed was Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who wrote that he had been 'transported to the garden of Eden'. The Englishman Captain James Cook was perhaps less starry-eyed in 1774 when he wrote that the traditional manner of preparing kava 'is as simple as it is disgusting'.
Vanuatu's more recent history brims with a panoply of pulpit-pounding priests, scurrilous slavers and fumbling colonial bureaucrats. Hot on the heels of the explorers came the adventurers to harvest whales and sandalwood and the missionaries to harvest souls. The Europeans brought epidemics of influenza and measles, venereal disease and the slave trade, and the populations of some islands, particularly in the north, have never recovered. The English and French, often at war with each other last century, settled uneasily next to each other in the New Hebrides, as the archipelago was known until independence, and formed probably the strangest colonial administration the world has seen. Two declared enemies were sitting in each other's pockets and forced to cooperate in a far-flung outpost of the European empire. They finally settled on a joint mandate early this century with the Anglo-French Protocol (the 'Condominium', sometimes referred to as the 'Pandemonium'), establishing equal influence for both powers.
By far the greatest misery inflicted on the islanders was 'blackbirding', the South Seas' own version of slavery that continued into the early years of the 20th century. Thousands of ni-Vanuatu were persuaded and downright kidnapped to work on the sugar and cotton plantations of Queensland and Fiji, and many never returned. WWII brought a massive influx of US military personnel to Efate and Santo, which became crucial bases in the Pacific War. The country was awash with American know-how and dollars, and many ni-Vanuatu earned real wages for the first time in their lives. More importantly, the islanders observed black Americans enjoying the material benefits and luxuries afforded the whites, and this played no small part in their agitation for independence.
In the late 1960s the Nagriamel movement began to attract thousands of followers, mostly in the northern islands. Its leader was Chief President Moses (Jimmy Tupou Patuntun Stevens), and it was originally confined to obtaining rights to the 'dark bush', the land Europeans had never claimed or settled. Nagriamel became increasingly politicised, however, and petitioned the United Nations in 1971 for an 'act of free choice' over the archipelago's independence. Britain and France agreed that under the terms of the Condominium neither would withdraw without the other, which became a recipe for inaction. They were finally dragged to constitutional reform by 1974-75, and as the islanders agitated for further rights they conceded to elections. Condominium bureaucrats could see the writing on the sand by then - even they were aware of the stink of colonialism in the modern world.
Independence was set for mid-1980, but amid widespread secessions the Condominium fractured over its inability to agree on much more than the height to fly their standards. Anglo-French troops could not halt the violence and looting that broke out even in the larger towns, and the local government finally called in troops from PNG to restore order and declared independence on 30 July 1980. The 1990s have seen bouts of instability in government. A scheme by the paramilitary Vanuatu Mobile Force to overthrow the government and establish martial law over a pay dispute was thwarted in 1996. Allegations of massive bank fraud by members of the Carlot Korman government were aired the same year, and continuing political uncertainty has seen the economy slow down, foreign investment fall and the economy shrink despite the flood of money that has washed in owing to the country's tax-haven status. In February 1997 the government signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank to significantly restructure the economy with private investment funds.
 Economic Profile
GDP: US$219 million
GDP per head: US$1200
Annual growth: 4%
Inflation: 4%
Major industries: Agriculture (copra, timber, beef, cocoa, coffee), a growing reliance on finance and tourism.
Major trading partners: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, New Caledonia.
 Culture
The ni-Vanuatu pride themselves on their musical instruments, of which the tamtam - also called the slit-drum or slit-gong - is a fine example. Traditionally used in ceremonies, it is an intricately carved log with a slice hollowed out from the centre from which the sound reverberates. Panpipes are also common in music, as are conch shells, which double as bush telephones. On Santo they play a three-holed flute, while on Ambrym a long, carved musical pipe is played. Ambrym is also home to the most elaborate sand drawings in Vanuatu, which villagers employ to illustrate legends, songs, ceremonies or to leave messages. Stone, wood and even treefern carving has developed into an intricate art form owing to the abundance of available materials, and in the north the sculptors sometimes use coral to carve small statues. Magic stones carved from pumice are part of Vanuatu's hidden life and are generally not on display. Tattooing was once a high art form but is becoming rarer, although body and rock painting are still widely practiced.
Vanuatu's fractured terrain has produced a kaleidoscope of cultures and more than 100 indigenous languages. Isolated from each other by sea or impassable mountains, disparate groups of islanders had hundreds or thousands of years to jealously guard their own cultures and languages or to throw them in the mix with their neighbours. The indigenous population is an assemblage of Melanesian - the black people of the Western Pacific with links to Papuans and Australian Aborigines - Polynesian, the lighter skinned people of the eastern Pacific, and varying degrees in between. While Bislama is a linguistically unifying factor, English and more commonly French are also spoken.
In a country that owns up to being predominantly Christian, traditional beliefs hold sway over much of the populace. The missionaries had success in imposing an alien faith over people who already had strong beliefs, but that success may have been due in part to some remarkable similarities between Christianity and local beliefs. Many islanders believed in a Creator Tahara who didn't sound too different from Jehovah, a Garden of Eden where the original man and woman ate fruit from the forbidden rose apple tree and fell from grace, and the demon Saratau, who neatly paralleled Satan. The ni-Vanuatu world is still inhabited by spirits and demons, despite the missionaries' best efforts to expel them. Anything tabu is sacred or holy, and the word is in common use - on signs it can mean simply 'no entry'. Traditional dances and ceremonies still play a major role in villagers' lives, with participants acting out the roles of mythical figures or their ancestors. The Nimangki system, or 'grade taking', is important to many islanders in the north. Participants publicly give away wealth through a series of ceremonies, including a full-blooded slaughtering of pigs. Pentecost Island's spectacular naghol or land diving is a significant fertility rite.
Around 80% of the population dwells in rural villages and their main pursuit is agriculture. The food is basic but a few standard dishes can be infinitely varied. Yams, manioc and taro root are the most important crops in village life. Laplap, a stodgy paste of ground manioc, taro or yam with wild spinach and grated coconut is Vanuatu's national dish. Pork, beef, fish, poultry, seafood or bush meat like flying fox can be added, and the mixture is wrapped in banana leaves and baked in a ground oven. Nalot, a delectable mixture of taro, banana or breadfruit mixed with grated coconut and water caters to vegetarians. When the French arrived, of course, they brought more familiar foods from home, and exotica like frogs' legs, escargots and croissants now figure on many menus. Kava (Piper methysticum), the 'anti-anxiety herb', is the national drink and virtually a national obsession. Vanuatu's kava is reputedly the strongest and best in the Pacific, and fantastic claims have been made for its stress-relieving properties, (should you be stressed by Vanuatu's beaches, reefs, forests, mountains and other pleasures). It was traditionally picked and prepared by young boys, but the modern industry encompasses plantations, 'instant' powdered kava, and nakamals, or kava bars, where stress evaporates, Captain Cook's condemnation drifts off over the horizon and 'island time' comes into its own.
 Events
From April to June land diving takes place on southern Pentecost Island. Men dive off bush timber platforms with flexible vines tied to their ankles in this important religious and fertility rite. The divers' hair scrapes the earth at high speed to fertilise it and ensure a successful yam harvest. The government was compelled to cancel all land diving for a year in 1995 to allow the ceremony's cultural worth be re-established after it had become swamped by tourists.
On Tanna, Jon Frum Day is celebrated in February and includes dancing, parades and festivals. The Jon Frum cult appeared this century, when ni-Vanuatu believed the mythical Jon Frum would deliver them from Europeans in general and missionaries in particular. The movement was given a boost by the arrival of over 100,000 American service personnel during the war. The Americans dazzled the ni-Vanuatu with their refrigerators, trucks, canned food, cigarettes and other luxuries, which convinced the Tannese that the Europeans were purposely withholding these goodies from them. July sees the celebration of the mid-winter horse racing carnival in Port Vila, and the Toka, a significant clan alliance dance, is celebrated on Tanna for three days between August and November.
 Facts for the Traveller
Visas: Nationals of Commonwealth countries, the EU, Fiji, Japan, Norway, the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA do not require visas for stays of up to 30 days.
Health risks: Tap water in urban areas is generally safe but not in rural areas. Visitors to the outer islands should take precautions for malaria. No vaccinations required.
Time: GMT/UTC + 11 hours.
Electricity: 220 to 240V 50 Hz.
Weights & measures: Metric (see conversion table)
 Money & Costs
Currency: Vatu (VT)
Relative costs:
- Budget room: US$40
- Moderate hotel: US$95
- Top-end hotel: US$160 and upwards
- Budget meal: US$5-10
- Moderate restaurant meal: US$10-15
- Top-end restaurant meal: US$18 and upwards
Vila and Luganville aren't cheap, but if you're on a budget you could get by on US$60 a day by staying in hostels, eating in markets, walking everywhere and avoiding tours. Outside of the markets most of the food is imported, carries a tax and is expensive. Eating out a little more, perhaps moving up a notch on the accommodation stakes and catching taxis will boost your spending to the US$100-120 mark. If you intend to fly and take guides wherever you go, take the occasional chopper ride and stay in the best accommodation it wouldn't be difficult to spend US$150-200 a day.
Outside the larger towns it's difficult to change money. While establishments in Vila and Luganville can handle travellers cheques in major currencies, hotels elsewhere may only be able to take Australian or US dollars. It's wise to take 500 and 1000 VT notes as well as 10, 20, 50 and 100 VT coins for smaller purchases. Major credit cards are accepted at airline offices, car rental agencies, hotels and most of the larger shops catering to tourists in Luganville and Vila. ATMs are springing up in the larger towns but don't rely on plastic anywhere else except the resorts of Tanna and Santo.
A refreshing aspect of Melanesian life is that tipping and bargaining are not on the agenda. It's offensive to suggest another price than what is asked. If someone is quoting a grossly inflated price they may be taking a wild stab at the prices asked in Luganville or Vila, in which case you should simply find another seller. Tipping imposes an obligation that the receiver must return, so a smile and a thank you with your wallet firmly in your pocket are sufficient recompense for services rendered. The government imposes a 10% tax on all hotels and licenced restaurants, council rest houses, church hostels and snack bars.
 When to Go
The southern winter is the best time, from April to October. Expect clear, warm days with an average temperature of 23°C (73°F). Summer is the wet season and brings warmer weather but it can be unpleasantly steamy, with the heaviest rains in January. From April to June the islanders on Pentecost practise land diving to guarantee their yam harvest and from August to November the spectacular clan alliance dance, or Toka, is held on Tanna (check with the tourist office for the current dates).
 Attractions
Port Vila
Efate is the island Cook called Sandwich, after Lord Sandwich, and is home to Port Vila and most of the tour operators. An ideal base to plan trips to the outer isles, Port Vila curves around Vila Bay and creeps up its steep hillsides. The central commercial district falls neatly into a small block - about 1km by 250m (0.5mi by 820ft) - bounded by the harbour on one side and steep hills on the other. Kumul Highway is the main drag and the best thoroughfare from which to explore town. It winds around the waterfront and leads you past major landmarks such as the Cultural Centre, the Constitution Building, the GPO, the fish market and the covered market.
The French Quarter (Quartier Français) lies just to the north of central Vila and boasts a handful of colonial-style houses with French louvred windows. Rue Emile Mercet affords excellent views over the harbour. Chinatown is sometimes called Hongkong Street and lies mostly around rue Carnot in central Vila. Not far from the upmarket inner suburb of Nambatu are the waterfront markets, with the best prices in town for food, no haggling over prices and no hustling if you don't want to buy.
The cemetery in Anabrou is worth a visit if you're interested in old bones and wildly decorated Chinese and Vietnamese tombstones. It also gives you an insight into the background of Vila's population. Independence Park, up the hill from the Post Office, is where the Condominium was proclaimed in 1906. It's also where petty British officials rubbernecked during Condominium rule to check that the Tricolor fluttering in the breeze at the former French Residency wasn't upstaging them by flying any higher than the Union Jack. While the French and Chinese quarters are in town, the area around the park is like a corner of a foreign field forever England, with a village green, quaint little houses and an English church. During the dry season you'll even hear the thwack of a cricket ball on drowsy Saturday afternoons.
Vila is not the cheapest place to stay in Vanuatu, and while the best accommodation there rivals the best anywhere in the world, so do the prices. You can console yourself that Vila offers some of the best and most varied dining in the Pacific. Apart from a few hostels, backpackers' lodges and church-owned accommodation, most of the rooms are in the middle to top end of the price range and better suit business travellers and big dollar tourists than budget travellers. Although camping is not generally encouraged, you can pitch a tent in the grounds of the Vanuatu National Women's Council Guesthouse in Anabrou, which also offers rooms at a reasonable rate. There are several backpackers' lodges and cheaper guesthouses scattered within a short walk of the city centre.
Mele Bay
There's little at Mele Bay above water level, so if you're not into diving keep on driving. Underwater, the attractions just keep on coming; coral heads, shipwrecks and an undulating topography to keep you on the edge of your flippers. More sites are being discovered all the time, but Black Sand Reef is one of the most popular sites around, replete with coral caves, tunnels and outcrops. Gotham City is an extravagantly colourful reef named for the large resident population of batfish. One of the best dives, with a spectacular array of tunnels and underwater holes, is at The Cathedral, and Tuki Tuki has excellent visibility and enormous chasms that divers can swim through. Semle Feders and MV Konanda are two accessible wrecks scuttled in 1985 and 1987, for the not-so-serious and the very-serious diver respectively. Mele Bay is 4km (2.5mi) north-west of Port Vila, and you can reach it on foot or by taxi.
Erromango Island
The population of Erromango, once estimated at 10,000, is now around 1500. Some locals say the depopulation - caused by introduced disease and blackbirding - was in retribution for missionaries killed last century. The Martyrs' Church at Dillon's Bay has small tablets in memory of the preachers welcomed with open mouths by locals yet to kick their boutique meat habit. Sandalwood first brought Erromango to the attention of Europeans, and the forests on this mountainous island are still a fine reason to visit. Many people come to trek independently along myriad paths that cross the island, but you need to hire a guide for some of the more rugged walks. Huge kauri reserves, sheltered estuaries with white sandy beaches, caves full of bleached and mineralised skulls, and tropical rainforests with diverse flora are highlights. Erromango is just over 100km (60mi) south of Efate, and Vanair has return flights from Vila.
Pentecost Island
Pentecost is home to the spectacularly frightening naghol, as land diving is known there, and under the maxim that you should fall before you can walk many boys are primed for land diving from an early age. Despite a flimsy overlay of Christianity many islanders live traditional lifestyles and adhere strictly to indigenous beliefs. If you aren't interested in watching the land dive you can do your own underwater diving at Laone or visit hot springs at Hotwata. Melsisi is a fine place to see kava and cocoa plantations, and from south-west Pentecost you get splendid views of Ambrym and its actively puffing volcanoes. Pentecost is 190km (118mi) due north of Vila, and there are return flights from both Vila and Luganville.
Luganville
Luganville is a messy collection of corroded, corrugated iron WWII huts, ugly concrete slabs and rusting steel sea walls, with no decent beaches unless you like walking on coral the consistency of broken glass. Dining out is limited, although the market is reasonable for the budget-conscious. There's no night-life to speak of other than numerous nakamals, and they'll become very attractive if you have to spend too much time here. Nevertheless Luganville is a good base for trips to the northern islands, such as Pentecost, Maewo and the Torres group.
Down the road from town is Million Dollar Point, where the US military dumped tons of equipment - including canned food, bulldozers, trucks, jeeps and crates of Coca Cola - at the end of the war. Most of that is now encrusted by coral, making for great diving in the still, shallow water. More good diving is to be had 10km (6mi) across the Segond Channel from Luganville on Bokissa Island, which has a resort, restaurant, bar and swimming pool. Luganville is the capital of Espiritu Santo Island, 260km (160mi) north-west of Port Vila. There are daily flights from Vila to Pekoa Airport, 6km (3.7mi) outside Luganville.
Off the Beaten Track
Torres Islands
When the South-East Trade Winds are blowing in the far north of the archipelago the surf is up in the Torres Islands, and even if it's not the brilliant white beaches are still worth a laze. Only four of the six main islands are populated, and the Polynesian influence is at its strongest here. They get so few visitors this way that the shops are not geared up to tourists, so you'd be wise to bring some of your own supplies. Coconut crabs, elsewhere a delicacy, constitute an important part of the local diet and you can pick them up cheaply. On Toga Island, children as young as seven smoke tobacco, using coconut crab claws as pipes. Hand stencils are visible on the walls at Yeyenwu Caves on Hiu Island, the northernmost island in the group, and they will keep stalactite and stalacmite buffs entertained for hours. You can see Vanikolo in the Solomons from Mt Wonvaraon on Hiu. Flights leave from Luganville for Linua, and from there you can get around in outrigger canoes or speedboats.
Gaua Island
Dominated by Mt Garet, which puffs steam, ash, sulphur and smoke into the air, Gaua Island is renowned for its natural beauty. Lake Letas lies on an ash plain at the top of the mountain, and the lake's extraordinary ability to carry the reflection of passing ships hundreds of metres below has earned it the more prosaic name of Lake Reflection. At 7km (4.3mi) long, it is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the South Pacific, although volcanic sulphur has stained the waters orange-brown. Thousands of birds come here to feed, and incubator birds lay their eggs close by, abandoning them to incubate in the warm mud. De Quiros estimated that 200,000 people lived on Gaua, most likely a gross exaggeration to impress the Spanish king, but dozens of stone ruins and dry stone walls reclaimed by forest attest to a time when Gaua supported a larger population than the 1300 it does today. Trekking on Gaua is strenuous, but the lake and Siri Falls are worth it. The falls drop away into dense forest shrouded in mist. The Banks Group, of which Gaua is the second largest, is serviced by air from Luganville, and speedboats ply between the islands. Small trading ships also service it from Luganville.
Maewo Island
A needle-thin chunk of land on the maps, Maewo's central mountainous ridge draws more than 4000mm (that's 4m, or 13ft) of rain annually. Not surprisingly, the rivers run fast and the jungle grows thick. A magnificent waterfall surrounded by deep waterholes lies near the airstrip. Two coral monoliths at the village of Kerembai represent people turned to stone in the island's mythic past. Sorcery, secret societies and a rich mythology flourish on the island despite, or perhaps because of, its tragic history. About 90% of Maewo's population was wiped out by disease and blackbirding during the 19th century. Avoid Maewo during the mid-year yam harvest, when the mid-year hurters, masked men wearing sacks and banana leaves chase and beat people with thorny sticks. Hot springs at Lolarouk and Gaiofo, and cascades at Naone make Maewo worth more than a flying visit, and you can dive on a wrecked blackbirding vessel at Talise. Reach Maewo by air from Luganville or on the Aloara, that sails from Vila and Luganville.
Aneityum Island
The southernmost of Vanuatu's islands, Aneityum arguably has the most pleasant climate. Tropical fruits and vegetables grow luxuriantly and a walking track that loops around the island makes trekking an attractive prospect. It is harder work in the interior, but worth it for the magnificent mountain scenery punctuated by massive kauri pines and ancient waterfalls. Three mountains dominate the interior, two of them extinct volcanoes, Mt Inrerow Atahein and Mt Tahentchai. Accessible reefs, such as Port Patrick and Inmal Reef, are ideal for diving and hot springs at Umetch, Itchepthav Bay and Anwunupol offer a rewarding soak at the end of a long day. The locals at Anawamet have created an offshore marine sanctuary to protect the numerous turtles that feed there, whereas they are hunted for food elsewhere on the island. Vanair links Aneityum to Vila.
 Activities
Vanuatu is a mecca for diving enthusiasts and the underwater action is virtually unparalleled in the world. Not only does the sea offer 30m (100ft) visibility (up to 50m (165ft) depending on conditions), but the seabed is continually surprising and spectacular, with coral reefs and all the bright, sprightly marine creatures that go with them. Highlights include the Cathedral, a vast cavern shot through with spectacular shafts of light from above; Blacksands Reef and Caves, inhabited by myriad small rays; Mele Reef; and more civilian and WWII shipwrecks than you'd care to wave a flipper at.
Other watery activities such as windsurfing, water-skiing, snorkelling and even swimming come into their own (although sharks have been known to spoil the fun in some areas). You can try sport fishing for the big ones, as well as the other sort of fishing where you get to eat the catch. Trekking; through cloud forest, rainforest and the mountainous terrain of Santo, Gaua, Ambrym and Erromango is as good as it gets anywhere. Learn to ride a horse at one of the horse riding schools or join in the annual picnic horse race day. Port Vila has four excellent golf courses to wind down after a night of dancing or throwing your money away at the casino, and you can console yourself by drinking kava at a local kava bar or nakamal, and realise that the tangible world is just a passing dream.
 Getting There & Away
The international airport is at Bauerfield, 10 minutes north of Port Vila. Air Vanuatu services run from Auckland, Noumea, Nadi, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Air Calédonie services Vanuatu from New Caledonia, Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti, and Air Pacific links Port Vila with New Zealand, Japan, the USA and Fiji. Solomon Airlines links Vanuatu with Port Moresby and Honiara. P&O and Pacific Cruise Company cruise ships are another way of reaching the islands. Departure tax is 2000VT.
 Getting Around
Hiring cars, 4WDs and jeeps is relatively straightforward, and the taxis are plentiful and all metered. Mini buses are frequent but untimetabled; simply flag down the driver, tell him where you want to go and pay a set price per trip. Efate has around 240km (148mi) of sealed roads and Santo has 370km (230mi), but sealed doesn't mean free from potholes. Many of the roads on the outer islands are off limits during the wet. If you want to island-hop it's usually better to fly because inter-island passenger boats are irregular.
 Recommended Reading
- To Kill a Bird with Two Stones, by Jeremy MacClancy, takes the country from its earliest history through the Condominium and into independence.
- Isles of Illusion: Letters from the South Seas, by RJ Fletcher, is a remarkable collection of letters from an Englishman ahead of his time.
- In Beyond Pandemonium: From New Hebrides to Vanuatu, former PM, Father Walter Lini, writes about his life and his role in the country's independence.
- Charlene Gourguechon's Journey to the End of the World is a fascinating look at life with traditional tribes in Malakula, Pentecost and Ambrym.
- Art in the New Pacific, by Vilsoni Tausie, is a comprehensive study of Melanesian art forms.
- Port Vila Blues, by Gary Disher, is an edgy, hard-boiled crime novel with a Pacific Island pitch.
 Lonely Planet Guides
- Vanuatu
- Pisces diving guides to Vanuatu
- Video of the Pacific Islands (Fiji, Solomon Islands & Vanuatu)
 Travellers' Reports
 On-line Info
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