The Essence of Vanuatu
With a population of approximately 218,000, Vanuatu boasts
113 distinct languages and innumerable dialects. This
makes
it one of the most culturally diverse countries
on earth.
This amazing diversity is a result of 3,000 years of sporadic immigration from many Pacific countries. Although most settlers arrived from Melanesia, the larger built, lighter skinned Polynesians also settled in the islands. As with all nations and peoples, over millennia, these different groups came into both peaceful and violent contact, sometime intermarrying and sometimes losing their cultural identity to a more dominant group.
Natural boundaries; large open stretches
of water, dense jungle and mountainous terrain, isolated
many groups, even from the same ethnic origins, from each
other. And isolation bred not
just warfare, but quite
different sophisticated societies and political systems.
However, throughout all the islands, one thing remains constant, life is characterised by a constant cycle of ritual events. Every aspect of one's life is celebrated by extended families that number in the hundreds, filial relationships being remembered back in time through countless generations. Birth, circumcision and initiation, the achievement of status, marriage and death are a paramount feature of a community's social life. With so many relatives, there seems always to be a significant ritual of some sort happening, or about to happen, somewhere.
Our cultural tours can be taken as a package including accommodation, or built into your itinerary from the resort where you are staying. They can also be taken as individual day tours. Please contact us to tailor your Ni-Vanuatu cultural experience.
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Enjoy a day in paradise on your own Pacific island. |
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Discover the real Vanuatu. |
