Is Visiting Tanna Worth It?

Now this depends. If you're adventurous, patient, and love to get off the beaten track - ABSOLUTELY! If you're grumpy, entitled, time poor, or unempathetic, absolutely not! 

Sounds harsh, right? You'd be horrified to hear how many tourists treat the Ni-Van locals of Tanna Island, so please read this and be a part of the change. 

We stayed in Tanna for a full week and climbed the volcano multiple times. This was actually my second attempt, after my first trip to Vanuatu got cut off by two Category 5 cyclones. A shame, but it happens. Be prepared for delays in Vanuatu. Plan to avoid cyclone season if you don't have time to risk getting stuck. But read ahead to learn how to be an ethical travel in Vanuatu, and how to use your voice to stand up for the Ni-Van people if you encounter any entitled travellers in this magical country!

When Things Go Wrong ... Don't Panic - Empathise!

Online, you may hear the following complains about Vanuatu: 

• The locals were lazy and slow

• Our driver didn't show up and/or abandoned us

• The locals were hostile or mean 

• We didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted on Mt Yasur Volcano 

• Our flights were cancelled/delayed and we're angry at Air Vanuatu

• A cyclone passed through and the locals didn't treat us like royalty, it's not fair!

• My food isn't nutritional, there's no hot water, I can't charge my phone, I want fresher food

Vanuatu is the most disaster-prone country on earth. Seriously. Cyclones are a common occurence. I've been caught in three in Vanuatu, and six in the Pacific overall. Earthquakes also occur frequently and outside of cyclone season. Rough storms can cut off inter-island ferries and make it unsafe to fly planes. And any of these disasters can completely destroy villages that may take years to rebuild, especially with limited avenues for foreign aid to enter the country. 

The locals were lazy and slow

They're not. It's as simple as that. If you're finding the locals to be lazy and slow, you need to stop, take a breath, and reconsider. Island time is a real thing. Nothing gets done quickly, there are countless logistical hurdles for any task, and rather than spend every day in stress, the Ni-Van choose to take their time and embrace life. To many, its genuinely perplexing why tourists come in such a rush and panic when things take longer than they expect. Just embrace the island, and have a good time. Remind yourself not to stress about time. Throw away your watch. Just enjoy. 

Our driver was late / didn't arrive

Very few people own cars in Vanuatu, especially outside of Efate. On Malekula, Tanna, or even parts of Santo, there may only be one car between a village of a hundred people. Those who do own cars will often drive around tourists to help out friends who operate home stays, treehouses, or bungalows, but if an emergency comes up in the village, family is always the most important priority. Fuel is incredibly expensive on these outer islands, and most people work in subsistence-based agriculture with very little cash flow coming in. If a foreigner is using a car to get around the island, don't be surprised if other locals jump in the car to get a lift as well. The driver may also use this drive as an opportunity to drop off food or supplies to friends at villages along the way. In Vanuatu, you can truly see what it means to live in a community - people have friends and family across the whole island, and the culture is inherently collectivist, as opposed to western-individualistic society. If you get mad about a delay, you will look like another selfish tourist throwing a tantrum because they think their money should mean the world revolves around them. I guarantee you that the locals will complain about you to each other - or even laugh about you later if you get really angry. Vanuatu is not a 5-star destination, even if you're staying in a 5-star resort. Just calm down and embrace the chaos. 

The locals are mean / hostile

Ni-Van people are some of the most community-oriented, open individuals in the world. If you're genuinely interested in talking to and connecting with Ni-Van people, they will invite you into their cars, homes, schools, and hearts without a second glance. If a local is ignoring you or not being helpful, the problem is probably you. Take a deep breath. Check your actions. Were you being demanding? Were you assuming that your money meant they should drop everything to cater to you? Did you use a rude tone? Did you complain about their home? Did you make derogatory comments, look down on them, or expect things that they simply do not have - such as running hot water, bountiful fresh fruit and vegetables, or 24/7 electricity? Did you genuinely listen to them, ask them about their lives and their day-to-day? Did you offer to help them cook, clean, build? Are you taking the effort to become part of their community, or are you treating them solely as a service provider? Vanuatu doesn't have the same culture around tourism as Fiji does, and the service industry hasn't developed in the same way that you will find in the West. It's simple though - in Vanuatu, community and family is paramount. If you respect their community and families, they will respect you. If you welcome the communities with open arms, speak to them as equals, and treat them as you would want to be treated, then you will be welcomed into the family and treated as a brother or sister. 

We didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted at Mt Yasur volcano

It is expensive to visit the volcano, but to make your trip worth it economically, stay a few extra days and visit the other incredible sites and places on Tanna Island. 

Many people also choose to do the volcano more than once - i.e. go up one night and the next morning, or two consecutive nights. If you want to do this, stay in a treehouse close to the volcano's base. If you're staying at Whitesands resort, you'll have to drive all the way across the island each time you wish to get there, which is time consuming and expensive on fuel. 

You may also want to consider going up the volcano yourself, without a guide. This is illegal, but if you befriend a local they may invite you to go up yourself, provided they think you will respect their sacred site and the conditions are safe. You do not have the right to go up on your own, so please do not demand this of your host. You can read more information about this option here. 

Our flights were cancelled/delayed and we're angry at Air Vanuatu

This is not just a risk when you travel anywhere in the Pacific, but a genuine likelihood. The best way to get around this is to factor in the possibility of cancelled or delayed flights into your trip. 

Air Vanuatu is not a huge airline - in fact, none of the Pacific airlines are. Air Fiji is the biggest airline with 21 planes. Air Vanutu has only 6 planes, and the smaller ones are rarely used for international travel. If a plane has any maintenance issue, it will be grounded and flights delayed/cancelled. If this happens, do not panic. You'll be rebooked when possible. Instead, be grateful - I would much rather a plane be grounded than take off when unsafe!

Make sure you get travel insurance that covers delayed and cancelled flights. Even better - get travel insurance that will cover the cost of your accommodation or give you an allowance if your flights are cancelled! Across my Pacific travels I've had more flights cancelled than caught, and each time I've gotten my extra nights' accommodation paid for by insurance. I like to think of this as a blessing in disguise!

If you are in a pickle, here's my full article on how to navigate Air Vanuatu without the stress. 

A cyclone passed through and the locals didn't treat us like royalty, it's not fair!

You would be surprised, but tourists are awful. Travellers, I love, but tourists tend not to empathise with the locals or take the time to learn about their situations. In most countries, tourists stay in the big resorts and avoid going off the beaten track. In Vanuatu though, there isn't really a beaten track and everything is in the early stages of tourism development. The recurrence of heavy hitting cyclones each year further makes it difficult to build a thriving tourism industry. This makes Vanuatu one of the most incredible places to visit, but it also means that you may encounter tourists being assholes. If you see this, please stand up for the locals!

During a category 5 cyclone, I ended up relocating to a resort hotel after the window to my budget accommodation got ripped off and the room flooded. There were several instances of tourists being awful to the locals that I witnessed here, and whilst I don't usually use this website to highlight negativity, I believe that the only way to change these attitudes is through awareness. Some instances I saw were:

1. In the budget accommodation, the few travellers staying here had their rooms flooded. One traveller I met demanded that the accommodation refund her the full cost of her stay, despite being there for multiple days and the staff sharing their own food with her because she hadn't prepared for the cyclone, despite warnings before the cyclone. She also left negative reviews on their social media and berated the staff. This accommodation is locally owned, and it took months to reopen after the damage because the local owner didn't have the funds to fix the accommodation, meaning their family was without their primary source of income. She should have been grateful that they looked after her, rather than demanding and entitled. 

2. In the resort I changed to, one traveller was yelling that the staff were "lazy and stupid". His room has leaked during the cyclone, the power went out, and he "slipped and hit his head" because the staff didn't come quick enough to patch the hole in the roof. During this cyclone, winds hit up to 215 kilometres per hour. The staff at resorts usually live in dormitory style rooms with limited facilities. In speaking to the staff later, most still hadn't heard from their villages and families - they didn't know whether their homes had been destroyed, schools washed away, or whether their children were safe. Telephone towers were down and the staff could not take time off to travel out to their villages, because if their families were hurt or homes were damaged, the families would be dependent on their cash incomes to provide support and rebuild. 

3. After the cyclone, I met two well meaning travellers from Australia who were telling me how stressful and scary it was. They wanted to get massages to calm down and unwind. I told them that the town had been hit hard and that the focus was on getting access to emergency services, clearing roads, and removing debris. They didn't listen and went to catch a taxi (which they couldn't find so ended up walking an hour into town). When they returned, they spoke to me about what happened and were kind in asking about donating to aid relief initiatives. However, in telling other tourists that there was no massages available they inadvertently they set off a chain of entitled tourists complaining about how their holidays had been ruined, that they should get compensation from the government, airline, or hotel, and that it wasn't fair on them. Nevermind the fact that thousands of locals were without homes, power, or hadn't been able to contact their families. 

My food isn't nutritional, there's no hot water, I can't charge my phone, I want fresher food

Even outside of cyclones, I ran into a couple of tourists who had stumbled across home stays, bungalows, or treehouses. These usually cost 1,500-3,000 vatu (AUD$20-40) per night and include a basic breakfast, and sometimes dinner as well. The most common complaints were that hot water wasn't available, the locals only ran the generators for a few hours and the tourists couldn't charge their phones, that the meals didn't meet the tourist's nutritional expectations, or even one tourist that couldn't understand why the host wouldn't kill a chicken for them, and instead used canned chicken to cook dinner. 

To explain in short, fuel is incredibly expensive, and running a generator throughout the entire night may cost more than a weeks' salary for some small families. Hot water is a luxury that is not available in much of the world, and certainly not to small communities. Nutritional food is also challenging - on Tanna island, most of the soil is covered in ash and not suitable for growing vegetables. All across Vanuatu, it's incredibly challenging to establish long-term vegetable gardens due to the cyclones that rip through for four months of every year. There are limited species of fruit and vegetables that grow naturally and readily, and most locals simply eat fish and rice for each of their meals. Whatever they have cooked you, I guarantee you its significantly more nutritional than what they eat for themselves. And please, never be so entitled as to ask that a village kill one of their live stock for you. Killing an animal and eating its flesh is saved for special occasions - births, deaths, marriages, coming of age, someone returning home after a long time away, a child graduating etc. Large scale mass farming isn't a thing in the Pacific, so please don't be an entitled tourist.