Events of Tuesday 18th February 2020
Overnight, the ship had sailed to Port Havanah, off Lelepa Island, where the ship held position without anchoring as the Zodiacs were prepared to land the passengers on the island.
We made a bow-first, wet-landing on a narrow beach of white sand, fringed with palm trees, where villagers were waiting to direct us along a neat path, parallel to the shore, which led through the village.
View from Zodiac approaching landing place: Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
The first buildings were corrugated iron covered shacks but these quickly gave way to more substantial dwellings with painted walls of cement-skimmed concrete blockwork topped with the typical low-pitched roof of the tropics.
Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu
But the old ways survive – we passed what appeared to be the Men’s Hut or 'Nakamal', a simple open-sided shelter with a thatched roof supported on posts made from stout tree branches with plank seating along each side and a hammock. At Lelepa, I didn’t spot a similar Women’s Hut.
Men's Hut: Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
Lelepa Presbyterian Memorial Church was a rather grand affair with a covered arcade along the seaward side set in a fenced compound of well-kept grass. A large bell was supported in a substantial steel frame, next to a grave topped with a wooden shelter which was decked with flowers.
Lelepa Presbyterian Memorial Church (Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu).
At regular intervals, we passed neat water standpipes set in a low concrete sink, with a collection of plastic containers nearby for lugging the water home. Presumably, the few houses with their own concrete rainwater tanks may have enjoyed the luxury of an inside water supply.
Regular, neat water standpipes set in a low concrete sink.
One almost square building, possibly incomplete, appeared to reflect earlier design ideas. The lower walls were blockwork, the upper walls, pierced by a number of louvred window frames, were sheeted and the structure was topped with an elaborate, gabled, thatch roof.
Modern building reflecting earlier designs: Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
As we continued our village walk, there was almost immediate confirmation of the origins of the design we’d just seen in a semi-derelict square building with the same gabled roof which had once had the same thatching. The roof was supported on a series of posts made from stout branches, with the spaces between filled with rough stonework. Wooden window frames pierced the stonework.
Semi-derelict building with the gabled, thatched roof: Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
I saw a few solar panels as we walked. The houses continued, arranged so as to overlook the sea. We came to an area apparently popular for drying washing, as a long clothes line ran across our path, supported in the middle by a clothes prop made from a long, straight branch, forked near the top end to form a notch to lift the line, once loaded with washing, into the ‘drying position’.
Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu
We approached Fels Cave, now part of the World Heritage Site acknowledging Chief Roi Mata’s Domain as a site of cultural importance. A group of local men in fringed, woven loincloths sang and danced for us and then, sixteen at a time, we ascended the steep steps some two hundred feet to the cave entrance.
Local men in fringed, woven loincloths sang and danced near the ascent to Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
Internally, the round cave is about 160 feet diameter and 115 feet in height. The lower part of the walls are covered in primitive paintings of various periods, the oldest handprints thought to date from 1000 B.C. Chief Roi Mata lived in the late 16th or early 17th century and he is still revered by the local people who believe that, after death, souls inhabit Fels Cave.
The lower part of the walls are covered in primitive paintings of various periods: Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
Leaving Fels Cave, Vanuatu.
Fels Cave is certainly a very special place where I was happy to linger before carefully descending the steps and returning to the landing place for the transfer back to the ship.
As we enjoyed lunch on board, the ship moved to a position off the nearby island of Moso. Our Zodiacs landed us at Tranquility Eco Resort where guests from the ship could swim, snorkel or visit the turtle sanctuary.
The 'Arty Shot': 'Caledonian Sky' viewed from the Turtle Sancturary, Moso, Vanuatu
The Hawksbill Turtle is endangered, largely due to predation of the young. The Turtle Sanctuary keeps young Hawksbills in a series of tanks, feeding them and changing the tank water daily, monitoring health and measuring growth. Around age one, they are tagged and released into the sea, with, hopefully, a better chance of survival. This approach is not universally acknowledged as sound.
After a short presentation about the work of the sanctuary, we walked from tank to tank seeing the turtles at different ages, until we reached the largest, Pre-release Tank.
Hawksbill Turtle hatchlings at the Turtle Sanctuary, Moso, Vanuatu.
Pre-release Hawksbill Turtles at the Turtle Sanctuary, Moso, Vanuatu.
A female turtle was selected for release and the unresisting creature was carried back to the beach near the Zodiac landing. The turtle was carefully placed on the sand and, for a few moments, nothing happened. Then, she slowly waddled towards the water and confidently struck out into the waves. I was able to follow her shell breaching the surface for some time.
Releasing a 1-yr old Hawksbill Turtle: Turtle Sanctuary, Moso, Vanuatu.
I made a couple of new friends, admired the passing 23-metre wooden-hulled sailing ketch 'Coongoola' (the website here has more), and couldn't resist testing a beach swing.
Making new friends at the Turtle Sanctuary, Moso, Vanuatu.
As 'Coongoola' passes, a group of passengers return to the ship by Zodiac: Moso, Vanuatu.
Jan at the Turtle Sanctuary, Moso, Vanuatu (I believe the dog is 'Socks').
After an interesting visit, we all returned to the ship for a Recap and Briefing in the Lounge followed by the usual excellent dinner.
Related posts on this website
This post is in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will display the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Tropic of Capricorn reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
My pictures
This blog post was first published on the ship via a satellite link with limited capacity so the links to my pictures were added later. Pictures in this post can be viewed uncropped, where necessary, by clicking on the image. To view all my pictures taken on Lelepa and Mosu, see other resolutions or download, select from the albums below:-
Lelepa and Fels Cave, Vanuatu
Moso, Vanuatu
[Link to pictures added 10-Mar-2020: Minor edits, pictures embedded 9-Apr-2020]
