Monday 19 September Port Stanley Vanuatu (not Falklands)

Our plan when we set off this morning was to head for the anchorage behind Wala Island off the east coast of Malekula. The guide books suggested we'd be able to see traditional kastom dancing on the adjacent island. However, the sea had developed a big swell and we were not certain if the anchorage would be protected enough so we diverted to Port Stanley. Not the Port Stanley in the Falklands but the big bay on the north east side of Malekula. Tucked in behind Suaro island there was no swell but the wind was still spinning the blades of the wind generator.
Eric and Annie picked us up in their big tender and we headed over to Lakatoro town wharf. David had caught 2 more fish, a dorado and a tuna on the way and as our freezer is full we planned to give them to the villagers who don't have the boats to fish the deep seas. On the short walk into town we met the chief from one of the nearby islands who was happy to accept our gift and would share it with his village.
It was a short walk into 'town'. Town being the grand name for a collection of huts, a sell everything store, the vegetable market, the abattoir and a large school hosting an inter village football tournament ranged along the sides of a dusty road. Town was buzzing with all the young man visiting to take part in the football games. The market had plenty of produce to sell and they were butchering cow at the back of the abattoir with the help of the local strays picking up anything that was being discarded.
Eric, Annie and Bear have less time to spend in Vanuatu than we do and were keen to see traditional kastom dancing at a traditional village. Malekula is divided between two tribes; the small nambas in the south and the large nambas in the north. A namba is a penis sheath. One group went the XXS route and the others a more modest SM. Through asking around we were able to find a chief from a nearby village who happened to be in town that day and who's family perform the dances for visitors. He said we could get a taxi up to their village tomorrow afternoon and they would give us a show and prepare laplap food for us. Laplap is taro or cassava cooked in an underground oven and served with coconut milk. As white men we've come to accept as the norm a diet with far more meat and fish than local people.

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