No, I did not misspell the title! Fact is that the local language, called “Bislama”, contains a lot of english words spelt as they are pronounced! Actually, in Vanuatu they speak both English and French, because the Country was governed from 1906 until independence in 1980 by a strange “Condominium” (that’s how they called it!) between France and Great Britain. … Continua a leggere→

We are sailing from Fiji to Port Vila, Vanuatu: initially the wind was very light and in the first couple of days we seldom switched the engine off. Since yesterday the wind has built up from the SE between 20 and 25 knots, and we are speeding towards our destination at an average of more than 140 miles per day, … Continua a leggere→

I’ll explain: “BULA” more or less means “hello” and is the greeting that the Fijians address enthusiastically to everybody they meet. Strange mixture of new and ancient, even if all villages have cars and satellite-TV, they are still strongly attached to the tradition of the “sevu-sevu”: every visitor is expected to report to the village chief, under the sponsorship of … Continua a leggere→