Disappointment!!
Our 3 days at Vanuatu were truncated to a single day. Cyclones are a-comin', and the Captain cancelled days 2-3. And I never got to tour Mystery Island, or meet Jeff Probst.
Our one day was rewarding, though. In the morning, we walked to an outdoor market. It was really hot, so Jana returned to the ship to await our afternoon excursion. I walked into-and-through the town of Luganville, the second largest city in Vanuatu (18,000 residents).
Unlike the Solomon Islands, walking here felt very safe. A lot of folks trying to sell wares and taxi rides, but nothing ominous. As with the Solomon Islands, it appears that most of the shops are owned by Chinese interests. I walked through the local park, along the coast, and up to a river and across a bridge at the end of town. A rough weather front looked to be moving in, and since I was walking solo, I headed back (turned out to be a false alarm - just a short blast of rain, and it moved on).
A lot of folks from the ship walked to town, but many seemed to be dropping from the heat, and taking taxis back...
In the afternoon, we had a bus ride to the Riri River, and a canoe paddle down the river to the Riri Blue Hole (there are quite a few "Blue Holes" on the Island), where we went for a swim before returning to the ship. Still grieving over losing our next two stops (4 port days lost so far), but I guess that is what happens when you tour the South Pacific during cyclone season.
Not so many birds in town. Along the river, only saw one that we could recognize (a Pacific Kingfisher that buzzed our canoe), but no photo.
Next stop, Fiji. Where there seems to be yet another low-pressure system developing...
Luganville Port - There were a whole bunch of swifts buzzing around. The only way to get a photo was to set the camera, and after one buzzed by, click the shutter, and back up the 'live photo' and hope that one of the frames would include the bird.
In the end, I decided that they were most likely White-rumped Swiftlets:
In a front yard - the 'new' bird I thought I was seeing turned out to be a horribly ugly and bald Myna:
Walking through town, an interesting totem:
The local park, along the coast and then along the river:
And at the edge of the park where the river emptied into the ocean, I found this. Vanuatu is famous for the number of WWII vessels that are still present. I was unable to determine if this is one of them.
From the bridge at the end of town, looking down the river and into the ocean (Park is on the left bank). And bananas.
Our tour on the Riri River was in one of these canoes. No need to paddle. Just needed to watch. With my long legs, I was required to ride in front. First picture is of the canoe in front of us. Second is of our group (Jana is #3!).
And then we turned on an upstream branch of the river and arrived at the Blue Hole, a natural spring that feeds into the river. Cold water. Good swimming.
Sunset back on board:
Next day, a sea day, looking back on the low-pressure system we were escaping:
The boat was being escorted by some Shearwater birds. In the end, I figured that these were Wedge-Tailed Shearwaters:
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