Fw: Banam Bay - Ranon (15th August)

Mustang Sally Cruising
Mark Lawrence & Dianne Jackson
Wed 14 Aug 2013 22:21
Mustang Sally’s current position at Ranon on Ambrym is “16:08.38S
168:07.08E”.
We had a quiet morning on Sunday 11th as it a day of church and rest and we
also had a big walk planning this afternoon with our guide, John Eddy, to the
waterfall.
As planned we head into his house at 1pm and are greeted on the beach by a
whole stack of picinninies who greeted us and lead us up to the village just in
case us white fella’s got lost!
The walk to the waterfall which was meant to take around 45 minutes
actually took around 90 minutes although we did have a few stops to say hello to
people and also have a look around. The walk to the water fall is very nice
especially once you get into the hills a bit and can hear the river
flowing. As stated the waterfall is very beautiful and the water is
crystal clear and cool. Even though it is the dry season there is still
plenty of water flowing so would be amazing to see it after the wet. The
water was too inviting for Di who was in for a swim straight away.
During this time our guide disappears into the bushes for a bit. Not
wanting to be too inquisitive we just kind of ignore this bit and got on with
enjoying our stay at the falls. Before too much longer he reappeared
dressed in the traditional dress of the Small Namba’s (nothing but a banana leaf
wrapped around his penis and tied by thin vine to his waist) and jumps into the
water to go swimming with Miss Di. Needless to say this added plenty of colour
and excitement to the outing! We took the high road home though some of the
inland villages where we were met by the kindergarten group and given gifts of
banana’s and pamplemoose. Once we got back to the start we we traded for
even more fruit and vege’s – the fridge and fruit nets and now bursting with all
sorts of goodies!
Monday and we weigh anchor off to Ranon on the island of Ambrym – the black
island. It has 2 active volcano’s 5 miles from the anchorage, plenty of
black sand, good carver’s and apparently black magic. It is also the home
of the Rom dance. We have no sooner dropped our anchor than we spot a dug
out coming our way. This time the yachtie relation’s manager is
Barry. He fills us in on all the activities and happenings in Ranon so we
arrange to go on a village tour with him on Tuesday morning which was great and
we got to meet some of the chief carver’s and bought a few works to take home
with us. The village is very busy at the moment as they have been selected
as the location for the annual Presbyterian church conference in Vanuatu in 2013
which starts on Saturday. Apparently there are around 500 delegates
attending so there is plenty of activity in getting things ready. Every
afternoon a boat load of delegates turn up – most of them are staying at the
local schools.
Barry has done an excellent job and has arranged for us to go to Fanla on
Wednesday morning to see a Rom dance. To make it all a bit better we have
another couple join us who arrived in the anchorage on Tuesday afternoon.
This is one of the busiest anchorages we have been in – most of the time we seem
to be on our own but we now have another 3 boats in at Ranon with us so very
cossie – we think we may have to move out soon!
Fanla is a village in the mountains and the walk is through the cooler
forest to get there. We are met by the local guide John who shows us
around his village pointing out all sorts of wonders including the haunted tree
and the home of the black magic chief. We are then lead to the dance area
to watch the Rom dance. We are also joined by many of the locals which was
great to see. It is kind of difficult to describe a Rom dance,just think
National Geographic Magazine, but it was great to see. The costumes are
fantastic and amazingly ornate especially considering they are made mostly from
banana plants and other natural items from the forest. Wish we could
show you the photo’s but we can’t so might be worth googling this one!.
After the dance it is back down the hill for an afternoon of watering up.
Luckily Barry has a tap from the local fresh water spring and a tank so it is
not too difficult to fill up our containers and get them back to the boat – mind
you it takes us the best part of the afternoon to fill and transport 200Ltrs
although we do still have 70ltrs in containers waiting to go in the boat
tanks.
Of a night we can easily see the glow of the nearby volcanos as they light
up their ash clouds. You can well understand why the locals are into magic and
sorcery living this close to nature at its extremes.
Today is another day to check the weather – plus we are making bread this
morning and will then work out where we are off to tomorrow although we are
guessing it will be one of the northern anchorages at Pentecost island as we are
expecting stronger trade winds over the weekend so will be looking for somewhere
nice and comfy.
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