Wild Earth

Naghol: The Land Divers of South Pentecost 

Reserved only for men this ancient ceremony celebrates the life and death of Tamalie and ensures a successful yam crop for the year ahead. A seemingly rickety tower dominates the arena, constructed from the surrounding jungle and bound with vines the tower can reach over none meters above the ground.
Having personally selected his vines, ensuring that they are of the correct length and suppleness the jumper will climb to his appointed jumping platform. With vines secured to his ankles the stage is his and he is free to air any thoughts or grievances prior to jumping, after all these may be his last words. Leaning forward until he is falling and flying all at the same time, in a moment of freedom before being abruptly halted by the vines. If he has selected correctly then his hair will have brushed the ground, fertilizing the upcoming yam crop, get it wrong and the results can be disastrous!

Melanesian Megapode

These unusual birds about the size of a large chicken have evolved in a very clever way to their environment, they lay their eggs in volcanically heated soil! After egg laying adults play no further role in caring for their eggs of young, meaning that they must only visit a suitable area to lay their eggs. The rest is left to Mother Nature and the warm soil. Chicks hatch beneath the soil before emerging on the surface fully feathered and ready to start running, within 24 hours the young birds are able to fly.
A large dark bird with a small head and short tail the Megapode grows to about 30cm in length and are most common in areas with some geothermal activity. Megapodes spend much of their time scratching around like fowls and are known in the local Bislama language as namalao or Skrab dak.

Tamtams

Vanuatu’s most striking and emblematic musical instrument, Tamtams are carved logs with hollowed-out slits that allow them to be used as drums. Traditionally Tamtams were made from Breadfruit tree wood, which gives the best sound for transmitting messages and the largest Tamtams could transmit sound over 30km. Traditionally the hollowed log “drum” was created  by placing heated stones into the cavity and then removing the charcoal but today more modern adzes and chisels but the end result is little changed.
Typically the Tamtam has a stylized human face above the drum although in northern Ambrym rooster faces are also common. Ambrym is renowned for the intricacy of its Tamtams with the most ornate having up 12 faces carved above the drum.

Coral Reefs

Slip beneath Vanuatu’s warm tropical waters and explore its beautiful coral reefs. The coral reef, along with the tropical forests for which it is the undersea counterpart, is the richest ecosystem on the planet. In these oases of life, thousands of species live, compete and evolve to fill the myriad of ecological niches, the result is a riot of colour shape and form like no other.
The high islands of Vanuatu do not support large fringing reefs but around the islands shorelines both hard and soft corals thrive providing habitat for an astounding 469 recorded fish species. Near the surface robust plate and branching corals along with coralline algae dominates, descend just a couple of meters and stag horn and brain corals become the dominant species, deeper again and the more fragile Gorgonian fans and whip corals appear.  Visibility is generally excellent providing numerous snorkeling opportunities.

Dugong

Also known as the sea cow, the dugong is the world’s only extant herbivorous marine mammal. Feeding almost exclusively on sea grass, they are essentially confined to the calm shallow waters and bays in the more sheltered coastlines of Vanuatu’s islands. Growing to 3 meters long and weighing up to 420kg dugongs are inhabitants of tropical seas where the water is 18ºC or above and range through the Indian and South-east Pacific Oceans with Vanuatu the easternmost extremity of its distribution.
There are thought to be several hundred dugongs distributed throughout the islands of Vanuatu, nowhere would they be considered abundant. Most commonly seen in groups of one or two animals, occasionally as many as 10 have been seen in a group. Dugong are still occasionally hunted for food in Vanuatu, a hunt which is steeped in mythology and taboo. It appears that despite global population declines the species is stable or even increasing in numbers in Vanuatu.