The End of Another Week in Paradise

040518 – 040618

Yesterday was a sea day and we did nothing but lounge about. I thought I’d go to the casino and give them back some of the money I won, so that’s what we did!

As we made our way north-ish from St Thomas the water was that dark blue I love and I spent quite a bit of time staring at it and contemplating life! No actually, I played a game of group TV trivia by the pool. (Our team missed one of fifteen….sigh) Then I read my book and pretty much did a lot of nothing. Perfect sea day!!!

It was the second formal or ‘gala’ night and surf and turf was on the menu! They did have five or six other entrees but steak and lobster for this girl! It was delicious. The steak was very tender and cooked perfectly and the lobster was a decent size and also cooked just right. We all enjoyed the dinner very much.

We finally managed to get to the BB King Lounge for a show. The performers were amazing. They did a lot of old Motown tunes and people were up on the dance floor having a great time. Although I must say, some people should watch themselves in a mirror before taking their moves public. The shows are just the right length – about an hour and they perform several shows a night. This is actually the only show we attended—we even missed the comedian the other night.

We were up quite late despite an early arrival to Half Moon Cay—the private island. First—Wow, just wow! We tendered in from the ship and the process was very organized. We went over about 9:30am.

I had rented a clamshell and a couple of loungers as I knew I would not make it all day in that sun. It was well worth it too. The sun shined all day. And that water………..you know how I feel about ‘that water’ and it was here too. All those gorgeous shades of turquoise and blue.

The island is a nice size and the people were fairly spread out along the long crescent-shaped beach—the most concentrated area being closest to the tender boats and a little water area for the kids. We were down about two-thirds of the way.

They were renting little sailboats, paddleboards and those big-wheeled pedal powered things. Plus bikes for rent as well as snorkeling equipment and those floating mats for the water.

There were also excursions for purchase and of course, several bars serving alcohol. I had a couple of BBCs—Bailey’s Banana Coladas. Decadent!!!!  They also had waiters patrolling the area offering bar service. There was food there also but we didn’t have anything so I don’t know if there was a charge for that or not.

We spent our time shuffling back and forth from water to lounge chairs. It was HOT but the water actually took your breath for a minute or two until you got used to it. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered water that cold in the Caribbean. Once you were in for a few minutes though, it was just refreshing and so clear you could see your toenail polish!

Again………that water

One of the Bars

Tonight we are having dinner at the steakhouse. I’m very excited to try it. I’m told the food is over the top great. I’ll let you know!

Well, the Pinnacle Grill was amazing. The setting was amazing. Very posh and upscale. The Caesar salad was mixed at the Table. I had the Alaskan King Crab Legs, Kolton had the filet and Betzi had the Halibut with Shrimp Scampi. I could not even finish my crab legs, there were so many. I did have a bite of the steak and it was very good. Dessert was over the top. Betzi and I had the Grand Marnier Volcano Cake with ice cream and Kolton had the Raspberry Cheesecake.

Words don’t do it justice so here are a few photos.

The Charger Plate

 The Fresh Flowers on the Table

Salmon Tartar

 Cesaer Salad

King Crab Legs

Raspberry Cheesecake

 Grand Marnier Lava Cake

Petit Fours

After dinner and a walk around the ship, we went to the Casino where my beloved 3 Card Poker table was closed. So, I played some blackjack and quickly got tired of the idiot at the end of the table that was doing things like splitting 10s or taking the dealer’s bust card. UGH I colored up and was up $21-a win I guess. LOL

We had placed our luggage outside the room earlier and when we got back, they had already taken it.

Debarkation was very easy and very civilized. You could wait in your room or a public area until you color and number were called. And guess what? EVERYONE listened! There were no lines snaking down the hallways and people crowding the atrium. It was great. We were off the ship in a few minutes and made our way to the warehouse where our luggage was waiting for us.

I flagged down a porter, he loaded our luggage, took us through the very short porter line and we were outside in 5 minutes. He wheeled our luggage over to the Uber area and I gave him $15. Less than 10 minutes later we were on our way to the Crowne in Ft. Lauderdale. Easy Peasy!  I highly encourage you to make use of the porters.

I will post a summary of my overall impression of the ship, but it’s 7:16 and time for dinner. 

And now, it's 10:39 and we need to get to bed--alarms are set for 4. We have a 7am flight. I'll finish after I get home and add the rest of the pictures.

TTFN
jilly

Just Another Day in Paradise

040418 St. Thomas

How has this slice of paradise escaped my radar for so long? This place is amazingly gorgeous. I know I keep saying this every day but I swear it’s true. The water, the mountains, the flowers—everything was just beautiful.

Sapphire Beach

Today we chose to sleep in a bit and then take a cab to Sapphire Beach. From what I’ve read, with 3 ships in port, Magen’s Bay would have been extremely crowded. The cab was $10 per person each way to Sapphire beach. It took about 25-30 minutes to get there and we drove up and down these crazy hills on the left side of the road.

Along the way we saw evidence that things are still not returned to their pre-hurricane state. Many houses sported blue tarps on the roof—still waiting to have the houses reroofed. There was also much debris along the sides of the road including things like cars, trailers and piles and piles of building debris.

Schools are open however they were closed for 2 months after the hurricanes came through. The children will get no days off to try and make up as many days as they can during the school year. Interesting side note here: All the kids on the island must wear uniforms – no matter which school they attend. They resembled a typical Catholic school uniform—only in shades of pink and crimson—boys and girls.

Despite being hit hard by the hurricane, this island seems to be faring much better than Puerto Rico with regard to repairs and the return of tourism. Sapphire Beach is operating, however, there was one large area that looked like some type of bar/restaurant that was being rebuilt. However, there is a bar that sells all the normal beachy drinks as well as some decent food. Internet was restored and credit cards were accepted.

There is also a dive shop that was doing a great business renting chairs, snorkels, rafts etc. Some of the condos around Sapphire appeared to be fully restored while other still look damaged. There was also a para-sailing outfit that looked steadily booked while we were there.

The Hat Man

The sandy beach was beautiful as was the water. Lots of fish and lots of visibility. People were snorkeling from the shore.

Sapphire Beach

As we did not arrive until close to lunch, all of the chairs they had were rented to the people on ship’s tours. We were able to rent an umbrella from the ‘dress lady’ for $10. So that was fine. We just laid out on our beach towels about 15 feet from the water.

The Dress Lady's boutique

I bought 2 strawberry pina coladas for $9 each + tip. They did not skimp on the booze and they were delicious.

Our little umbrella in paradise

We spent quite a bit of time in the water lazing around and then looking for shells or anything else of interest. We were quite lucky to find 2 nice pieces of sea glass and some tiny seashells. We did put those in the backpack and were able to take them right onto the ship—that we almost missed!

Yes, we did. We stopped at the various stores in the port area and I bought a pretty sea glass bracelet.

We knew all aboard was called so we were rushing to get back to the ship when I realized I had dropped my ship’s card someplace. EEEEEEEK! So I backtracked to try and find it. No luck. When we got to the first security checkpoint, I told the guy I lost my card and he said to go up to Gate 3 where you ship is, someone found it. We start the ¼ mile trek to Gate 3 and there is a ship’s person yelling at us to hurry. OMG

We missed the lemon water table and the cool towels to wipe your face—everything was packed up and there were 3 ship’s officers waiting there. I said to the man checking the cards that I had lost mine and he says—oh that woman over there has it. Sure enough, someone found it and turned it into the ship. Thank you, Jesus. I did have my passport so they could have validated who I was and be issued a new card… but headaches! So glad it all worked out.

We rushed aboard and before we were even out of the elevator, we heard the ship’s horn sound and we were moving away from the dock. We did sail early (about 4:50) but the three of us were the last people aboard.  Despite the mini-drama, still a great day so far!

Once onboard, we headed up to the Lido deck and I finally got a Dive In burger and fries. We hadn’t eaten all day and were very hungry. The burger and the fries were delicious. I recommend this place if you are on the ship!

Afterward, a nice tepid shower was in order as my back is a bit burned. And before I knew it, it was time to head to dinner at 8pm. I thought tonight’s dinner was the best I’ve had so far. I had a chilled melon soup, Caesar salad and the Shrimp and Cajun sausage with some excellent rice. Dessert was some sort of decadent chocolate goodness that just melted in your mouth.

My Dinner

Kolton's Pot Roast dinner

I decided to try and redeem myself at 3 card poker. $100 stake and the game was on! Lady Luck was with me tonight and I had a great streak – including a straight flush that paid very, very well. I cashed out for $500 after a couple of hours and quickly turned those black chips to cold, hard cash that will remain locked in the safe until the cruise is over!

The slots have also been very, very good to Kolton and Betzi—they’ve both hit some sizeable jackpots.

After a nightcap on the Lido deck, I’m in my cabin finishing this post. It’s about 12:30 here and tomorrow is a day at sea! We can sleep in.

Sweet dreams from this Lucky Lady!

San Juan is still not recovered.....

040318   SNUBA in San Juan

We didn’t arrive in port until 12:30 today so we had plenty of time to sleep, have breakfast and watch our arrival in port from the Lido Deck. We went ashore and walked about Old Town for about an hour and it was hot. While many of the shops and hotels in this part of town are open, there are still a good many still boarded up. It was very sad to see that.

Our SNUBA excursion was at 3:30 and it ended up being just the 3 of us. The reef around San Juan is pretty much destroyed so our SNUBA location was in a former marine park. Although we didn’t see any coral, we did see sea urchins and a couple of different kinds of tropical fish. They’ve also started several artificial reefs here and you can see the new growth beginning.

What was horrifying to us was the hotels and buildings—just a 10 minute ride from the port are still majorly damaged. None of the hotels on this long stretch of beach are open, the roads are in complete ruin and the smaller homes and buildings were nothing but rubble. It really looks like a bombed our war zone. I can’t even imagine how devastated, financially, the people are that made their livings here. The company we had our tour with said he and the dive master are the only two employees left at what was once a thriving business.

Once we got back on the ship, we were on the Lido deck enjoying an adult beverage and what sat down near us? A table full of Fox News, Trump lovers that were spouting off about the people in Puerto Rico are lazy and just want hand-outs from the US, praising the man that is not my president and how he handled everything. It took everything I had not to turn around and tell them what I thought of them. But, instead I just moved to another table.

We are in port until 11pm tonight, however we don’t have dinner until 8pm so I am pretty sure we won’t be getting off the ship again. We were a bit disappointed as we were hoping to go to Watch & Co where we bought our cool jewelry last year but they closed at 6. Oh well, we will just have to come back!!!

Dinner was at 8pm tonight but we sort of spoiled ourselves at the buffet. I have to say the food at the buffet is excellent. So much variety and everything I’ve tasted was wonderful. Today I had a fruit and cheese plate and ceviche shrimp with Cilantro. The bread is out of this world—and a great variety every day.

In my opinion, the food in the dining room is “OK”. Nothing has wowed me yet, but I certainly didn’t starve and the service is impeccable. There is, thankfully, no singing and dancing waiters on the ship! If the menu doesn’t look good tomorrow night, I think we will just eat at the buffet. I do know, we plan on going to the Steak house one night if we can get in.

Tomorrow is St. Thomas and the only thing we have planned is going to a beach! We’ve just left port and spent the last few hours after dinner sitting outside on the Lido deck enjoying the perfect weather. It was one of those nights where the temperature was neither hot nor cold, perfect for enjoying a late night beverage and chatting. All in all another great day in paradise!

Turks and Caicos

040218  Turks and Caicos

We just sailed after having spent the day in paradise. Turks and Caicos will always be one of my favorite ports. Jerked Chicken from Jack’s Shack in Cockburn Town and that water. The blues remind me of Tahiti.

The  beach on the way to Jack's. Looks like a postcard, doesn't it?

 We chose a Snuba excursion on the far side of the island. When I say far side I mean it was about a mile from where the ship docked. Unfortunately, the water was very choppy and the current fairly strong on that side and it made for some challenging swimming to get to the reef. But when we finally got there, the view was amazing. I did not have an underwater camera this time, but we saw some fish and a huge barracuda! The coral shows some damage from the two hurricanes last year but much of it was in pretty good shape. There were gorgeous sea fans all over the place.

Back on shore, we found these gorgeous conch shells that had washed up. I was lucky to find one that was not very weathered. It was over a foot long and weighed about 5 pounds. I was SO EXCITED! That shell was going in the front flower bed at my place in Florida!

My companions and the many washed up conchs.

We were dropped back at the port and we walked all the way down the beach to Jack’s Shack. I had been looking forward to eating some chicken at this place since last year. It is the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. They cook it over an open fire in the big drum-like grills. The seasoning is amazing. I’m talking so good, you want to suck the bones when you are finished good!  And if you know me, you know about my issues with chicken so ‘bone sucking’ is way beyond my normal comfort level!

I made a rookie mistake getting back on the ship and I’m a bit sad. We should have wrapped that conch shell in our beach towel and put it in a backpack. When we got to security, they confiscated it. L I asked why and was told you are not allowed to remove shells from the island. What? The tour operator said I could take it because there was no live animal inside. The conch fisherman catch the conch, remove the meat and toss the shells back overboard where they eventually wash up on shore. UGH!

We boarded the ship about an hour and a half before ‘all aboard’ and headed to the Sea View pool. Lounge chairs were in abundance and the pool was ours! We were so hot that after we set our stuff down, we jumped right into that cold water. The pool itself is a decent size and is 7’ 2” deep with a water-filled walkway all around it.  There are also some nice benches built around that so you can sit with just your feet in the water. All in all, a very nice ship pool.

Yesterday, we discovered these chocolate mint buzz (not sure of the real name but it does have the word buzz in it) drinks on the menu. We are hooked. They are a chocolatey, minty, creamy slice of heaven in a glass. If you have 2, consider it a meal. They are very filling. Two days in a row, that was pretty much lunch.

I am back in the cabin now after cleaning up in a tepid shower as I am a bit burned despite applying and reapplying 50 SPF sunscreen. My face seem to be the most red despite that sunscreen and a hat. Hopefully, a bit of aloe with cool that off.

Right now, I’m thinking a nap sounds perfect! I’ll be back later to fill you in on the evening’s activities.

Sailing away from paradise.

I’m back and I think the sun, SNUBA and the ½ mile long walk to Jack’s and back did us all in. We ended up skipping dinner in the dining room, ordering room service and calling it a night. Some of us are not nearly as young in body as we are in mind. But, it was an excellent day and we are looking forward to sleeping in, late breakfast and our lunchtime arrival in Old San Juan! 

Greetings and Happy Easter from somewhere in the Caribbean!

Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam

Saturday---We arrived at the terminal at 1:00pm and were quickly through the lines and on the ship in less than 30 minutes. Very efficient check-in process. Our rooms were ready so we dropped off our carry-ons and went to see about lunch. The buffet was slightly chaotic but the lines moved well and I had Pad Thai with Coconut Curry Chicken. It was delicious. Betzi ordered a burger from Dive-In. It came with fries and was freshly made when she ordered it. She was given a beeper and about 15 minutes later, her food was ready. She said it was also delicious.

After lunch, our luggage had been delivered and we unpacked. We chose inside guarantee cabins and were assigned two on the 6^th floor—Upper Veranda deck (6), aft. Very convenient location to both the lido and the dining rooms. Passenger decks above and below. Not much traffic in the hallways and it’s very quiet. These cabins do not have a bathtub, only a shower and are very nicely appointed.



One of the pieces of art in my stateroom. I just love this!

The atrium is not large—only 3 floors I think but it is very impressive

We did some exploring and were very impressed with the various displays and the art all over the ship. Even the elevator doors are unique! The elevators themselves have mats on the floor showing the day of the week!
These are the doors on the Lido deck. The ones are our deck are different!


They have these gorgeous seats in the elevator lobby. I want a single one just like this for my bedroom!


The day of the week mats in the elevators!

We did go to the dining room for late dinner and we were not very hungry. I got a salad and French onion soup. I have to say the soup was awful - broth tasted like dishwater. I just ordered another side salad—which was excellent and called it a night.

We had an early night as we were all tired and I was asleep by 10pm.

Sunday---Easter morning arrived and it was gloriously sunny and warm. I headed up to the Lido deck for a quick breakfast about 9:30. I ordered 2 scrambled eggs and some turkey bacon—and the eggs were ‘real’ – not that liquid stuff I’ve had on other lines. Service was speedy and after two cups of coffee I was back to my cabin to change into my bathing suit.

They have 2 pools on this ship—the Lido pool and the Sea View pool. The latter is supposed to be adults only, however there were kids in it today as someone got sick in the Lido pool and it had to be drained and cleaned. Yuck. So, the area was not as tranquil as it should have been. But I managed to get a bit more sun than I expected, despite wearing 50 SPF.

I skipped lunch and opted for a couple of slushy drinks and went to High Tea at 3pm. It was held in the Steakhouse and it was so elegant. I was very impressed!

The casino called my name and I answered however, lady luck was not with me today. 3-Card poker is my game and it’s usually decent to me—not today though.

Spent some time writing the blog and before I knew it, it was time to get ready for the Formal Gala dinner. The food was delicious and presented beautifully.

I have to say this is the most gorgeous ship I’ve ever sailed on. Every place you look there is something beautiful to see. 

We have an early day tomorrow—Turks and Caicos, so I’ll end here. Life is very good and I am very grateful.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn: We, the people, are not amused

So, I've arrived in Florida. I'm just here for a very quick trip. I haven't been here since January and I wanted to check on things at my place and get out of that hell they call winter up north.

A quick trip from Hooterville to BWI and boom, two hours later I am in Tampa. I did check a bag but it's normally not a big deal for me at this airport because right outside the doors to baggage claim and across the walkway is a rental car facility.

So, picked up my bag and went outside (where it was a balmy 58 degrees) to the crosswalk and there is a sign there saying the car rental place has moved offsite. WHAT? Directions are sketchy so I ask an employee who volunteers to show me the way.

Hike all the way down to the end of the baggage claim terminal & take an elevator to the 4th floor. Walk some more, then queue to wait for a train to take you to the car rental place. WHAT FUN! After a few minutes wait, we all pile into the 'train' which is just another monorail type thing. Two stops later you arrive at the ginormous building housing all of the car rental places.

Schlepped across a huge open space (why so much wasted room?) to get to the Alamo car rental place. Of course, there is a huge line because 300 people just debarked from a train at once. JOY
The line is long and there are only 3 people working at the counter.****

(****Little sidebar here---in this age of computers, these car rental places HAVE to know approximately how many people are going to arrive at a given time based on the reservation information. I want to know WHY they never staff appropriately? A most inefficient practice and the customers are at their mercy because we need their cars. UGH)

While we are waiting in line, they have these self-service kiosks that have never worked for me before, but this one employee is manning the stations and his only job is to take people over, insert licenses and credit cards and continually repeat "NEVER EDIT and always hit DECLINE" (there are 6 or 8 kiosks but 2 are already out of service..lol). He asks if I have an out of state driver's license. Yes, I do. Follow me he says. Off I go to a kiosk. He inserts my driver's license into slot A and then my credit card into slot B. BAM there is my reservation. Then I go through (not exaggerating here) 12 screens saying Accept or Decline to all the possible little add-ons they want you to have. And every so often, they throw you a curve ball where you don't decline you have to hit a different button and if you mess up you get charged. I think they do that on purpose.  After all of this, it spits out a rental agreement.

THEN the exciting part: You get to walk to the right about 1/4 of a mile to a set of elevators or escalators and take one to the 1st floor where the cars are at. YES! Of course, the economy cars are never conveniently located near where you show your paperwork--but they do have 3 people standing around going Yeah, economy is way over there--see the sign? Sure. Off I go again trekking to no-mans land to get a car.

Almost done! Now you follow the exit signs around and around to a booth where you have to show the agreement, your license and credit card to the attendant before they lower the steel wall to allow you to leave. 

Finally, on my way--then a quick trip around the airport to the exit and I am on the road to St. Petersburg. It is now 10:15pm. I picked up my luggage at 8:50. I am not happy about this.

But, the major car rental places that were conveniently on-site are now housed in the same building as the budget places like Fox. Six't and others. Those little companies are rejoicing I'm sure because I know many people would stay with the 'majors' for the convenience of not having to take a shuttle off-site. HA  I know I will certainly be going for the cheapest rental company in the future.

I believe I can honestly say based on the comments and reactions of the people around me, this is NOT an improvement and no one was happy about it. No pictures to share of this little adventure as I was too irritated.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn, if you are reading this, we, the people, are not amused.
Gypsy Jilly

A Tale of "F"s

It's been quite awhile since I wrote a post and it's overdue. Where to start? A brief synopsis of the past couple of months:

Family: Everyone is well and the holidays were a bit different this year as I missed Christmas night at my parents' place because I was out of town.

Feenix: (In keeping with the F theme) I flew there for a very quick visit over Christmas. Friday to Monday night. 

Fago deChao: YUM But I don't think I would do it again. It's very expensive and I don't feel like I was able to consume $50+ dollars worth of food.

Flight: Summary of the experience in a few words: Don't fly out of Reagan Airport, Don't assume you will be able to sleep on a redeye despite being in business and partaking in several adult beverages. 

Fatigue: Extreme fatigue and when I arrived back in PA, I faceplanted onto the bed for a good 18 hours. 

Flu: Of course, I got the flu!. I was a mess. For 3 days, I did nothing but sleep and ache. It was probably a good 2 weeks before I felt 'recovered'.

Fate: In what I am choosing to believe is a sign from God or Fate or something, the Cruise Line CANCELLED my Australia cruise!  Just the sailing I was on--none before or after. So I did not rebook and will look at this area again in another year or two. 

Florida: I did manage to go to my place down there to have the popcorn ceilings removed. OMG what a mess that was. But it's finished now and just needs paint! 

Blah--unparalled ugliness-----------------Now gone 

Freezing: And just so you know, Florida was freezing cold! I know? At one point I was lamenting that I did not bring a heavy coat. 

Fast Forward: I made other vacation plans. Yes, I will be cruising the Eastern Caribbean the beginning of April.   happy happy joy joy

Football: I am NOT a sports lover, one bit but I have to say--Go Eagles!!! The dog masks won me over!

Farewell, until next time my Faithful Followers!

Time for a cool change.....

I'm in the process of baby steppin' my way closer to Florida! (I know, sometimes I can't believe it's actually starting to happen!)  I notified my landlord that I will be vacating the apartment at the end of this year.

So, once again, the packing begins! Although I do have way fewer possessions this time around, I do think another 'purge' is needed. My strategy this time around is to start packing boxes with the stuff I know I want, other things will go into a different set of boxes.

I'm thinking of doing this Tag Sale my brother told me about. Friends of his put prices on all the things they wanted to sell and on a specific date, opened their house for Cash and Carry sales. Although, if you know me, you also know I don't like people touching my stuff. LOL So, I'm sort of torn about what to do. If you can think of an alternative, post a comment!!

I just joined the Buy/Sell pages for the West Shore and I'm going to start by putting up photos of some stuff and see how that goes. I did not have the best luck when I tried to sell a bedroom suite on one of those pages--60 people posting that they want it and I said, first one to my home gets it. People were crazed and in the end, NO ONE bought it. I donated it to the ReStore. So we'll start baby steppin' into this resale thing.  I'll keep you posted.

Where am I going you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago I started asking around for a room to rent and a very surprising opportunity came up that I could not refuse! See this mind of mine kept going over and over expenses and quite honestly, maintaining 2 residences was seriously cramping my style--funds wise. I mean, I could afford both places, I just had to be on a strict budget. So that is why I started thinking about this renting a room thing---SAVINGS  and more disposable income--for what else? Travel, of course!!

And of course, this is the absolute perfect time to move---NOT. I am hoping the weather will cooperate because ladies and gentlemen, I am going to have a POD to load. I don't want to be hoicking my sofa outside during foul weather, nor do I want to have to shovel a path to load said sofa.

So what's the plan after that? Ummm... I really don't have one! I would love to keep my current job and just work 'remotely' but I feel pretty certain my current management would not allow that. But, I do know on the insurance side of the business, they do offer opportunities like that. So, I will be on the internal job boards looking for a job!

So another path, down another unknown road for this Gypsy. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was posting about that last road I turned onto:   Turn the Page

That's all for now! Enjoy the link to the music video below!
Your baby steppin' Gyspy!

Credit for the Title of This Post: Little River Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bKwRW0l-Qk

Vanuatu - Stars and Stripes forever!

As 2017 winds down, discovery and planning begins for my 2018 adventure.  One country, with four different stops, on the itinerary is Vanuatu. It may sound familiar because a season of Survivor was filmed there many years ago!


For me, reading a bit of the history of the Islands made me even more curious and excited to visit. Although I will not visit the island of Tanna, I am most fascinated by the God some folks on the island worship. His name is John Frum and his home is the active volcano, Yasur. Today, John Frum is both a religion and a political party with a member in Parliment!! He is worshiped by what is called an "indigenous cargo cult".  (a movement attempting to obtain industrial goods through magic)   


Here is an excerpt from the article in Smithsonian magazine:
The island’s John Frum movement is a classic example of what anthropologists have called a “cargo cult”—many of which sprang up in villages in the South Pacific during World War II, when hundreds of thousands of American troops poured into the islands from the skies and seas. As anthropologist Kirk Huffman, who spent 17 years in Vanuatu, explains: “You get cargo cults when the outside world, with all its material wealth, suddenly descends on remote, indigenous tribes.” The locals don’t know where the foreigners’ endless supplies come from and so suspect they were summoned by magic, sent from the spirit world. To entice the Americans back after the war, islanders throughout the region constructed piers and carved airstrips from their fields. They prayed for ships and planes to once again come out of nowhere, bearing all kinds of treasures: jeeps and washing machines, radios and motorcycles, canned meat and candy!

But the venerated Americans never came back, except as a dribble of tourists and veterans eager to revisit the faraway islands where they went to war in their youth. And although almost all the cargo cults have disappeared over the decades, the John Frum movement has endured, based on the worship of an American god no sober man has ever seen.

A link to the full article is here and very much worth the time to read!

An excerpt from the article on CNN:

...who explained how the spirit first appeared on Tanna in the form of an American serviceman, who ordered the tribe to reject Christian missionaries and promised boatloads of American cargo in return.

Then came World War II and boatloads of American cargo.

To this day, the Stars and Stripes is a religious symbol for the people under the volcano and their children are shamans in training, learning to talk to the spirits in the trees and shoot birds from the sky.

Full article can be read here.

February 15th:
In the morning heat on a tropical island halfway across the world from the United States, several dark-skinned men—clad in what look to be U.S. Army uniforms—appear on a mound overlooking a bamboo-hut village. One reverently carries Old Glory, precisely folded to reveal only the stars. On the command of a bearded “drill sergeant,” the flag is raised on a pole hacked from a tall tree trunk. As the huge banner billows in the wind, hundreds of watching villagers clap and cheer.

Chief Isaac Wan, a slight, bearded man in a blue suit and ceremonial sash, leads the uniformed men down to open ground in the middle of the village. Some 40 barefoot “G.I.’s” suddenly emerge from behind the huts to more cheering, marching in perfect step and ranks of two past Chief Isaac. They tote bamboo “rifles” on their shoulders, the scarlet tips sharpened to represent bloody bayonets, and sport the letters “USA,” painted in red on their bare chests and backs.

John Frum Day, on the remote island of Tanna in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. On this holiest of days, devotees have descended on the village of Lamakara from all over the island to honor a ghostly American messiah, John Frum. “John promised he’ll bring planeloads and shiploads of cargo to us from America if we pray to him,” a village elder tells me as he salutes the Stars and Stripes. “Radios, TVs, trucks, boats, watches, iceboxes, medicine, Coca-Cola and many other wonderful things.”


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Another fascinating thing about all the islands of Vanuatu is the consumption of Kava. I didn't really know much about it until I started researching the islands.Kava is a plant with calming properties.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it:
The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with sedative, anesthetic, euphoriant, and entheogenic properties. Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia for its sedating effects. Its active ingredients are called kavalactones. A Cochrane systematic review concluded it was likely to be more effective than placebo at treating short-term anxiety.

And from what I've read, you only want to consume drinks made with "noble" kava. Vanuatu's most popular noble strains are  "Boroguu" or "Boronggoru" from Pentecost Island, "Melomelo" from Aoba Island (called sese in north Pentecost Island), and "Palarasul" kava from Espiritu Santo.

Kava is prepared by either chewing, grinding or pounding the roots of the kava plant. Grinding is done by hand against a cone-shaped block of dead coral; the hand forms a mortar and the coral a pestle. The ground root/bark is combined with only a little water, as the fresh root releases moisture during grinding. Pounding is done in a large stone with a small log. The product is then added to cold water and consumed as quickly as possible.

Fijians commonly share a drink called grog made by pounding sun-dried kava root into a fine powder, straining and mixing it with cold water. Traditionally, grog is drunk from the shorn half-shell of a coconut, called a bilo. Grog is very popular in Fiji, especially among young men, and often brings people together for storytelling and socializing. Drinking grog for a few hours brings a numbing and relaxing effect to the drinker; grog also numbs the tongue and grog drinking typically is followed by a "chaser" or sweet or spicy snack to follow a bilo.

How does Kava make you feel:
When the mixture is not too strong, the subject attains a state of happy unconcern, well-being and contentment, free of physical or psychological excitement. At the beginning conversation comes in a gentle, easy flow and hearing and sight are honed, becoming able to perceive subtle shades of sound and vision. Kava soothes temperaments. The drinker never becomes angry, unpleasant, quarrelsome or noisy, as happens with alcohol. Both natives and whites consider kava as a means of easing moral discomfort. The drinker remains master of his conscience and reason.

I may have to report back on my personal experience with Kava!

But here is the most important reason I wanted to visit Vanuatu: