Just a short, 10 mile hop south of our last anchorage, getting into Loltong Bay was easy. Reefs on either side, but the triangles on shore were easy to see and once they are lined up, there is no issue with being in the right place. Much better than Ambae where the trees had overgrown the second triangle! This is a busy bay with supply ships and other local vessels coming and going. It is the Government administrative centre for Pentecost Island.
Ashore, we met Matthew and his wife Marie. They run the local yacht club and offered us a traditional banquet of 10 local dishes for dinner, only 1200 vatu (about NZ$18) per person and BYO drinks. So we booked in for dinner. Matthew then explained that he is the youngest son of the old chief Luc, who had died leaving 6 sons. The eldest son, Jacob, is now chief. We went to see Jacob and he immediately took us on a tour of the village. He showed us where they dry kava for export and then took us to the Government administration office where they look after banking and kava export to several countries, among other duties. After a look at the school, he told us that today was a special day and we should follow him to see a Kastom dance. We had heard about these dances that are arranged for tourists, but he insisted that this was not for tourists and the dancing was happening right now and we should just follow him.
We went to the neighbouring village just south of Loltong and here we found an elderly man wearing large plumes of leaves from his behind and carrying a stick. He was dancing and chanting around in circles, while stick drums burst out a quick beat and another man presented him with a pig. The pig did not look happy to be part of the event. Next, several other people from the village started dancing around with their arms spread wide, like they were birds flying. They formed a long line and danced up one way and down the other, zig zagging across the field like a long snake of birds. Some of the people were laying mats over the shoulders of other people while they were doing their bird dance. After a speech, another man presented an equally frightened pig, but this one was enormous, and the whole dancing and chanting and beating of drums and laying of mats started all over again. It looked like the whole village and perhaps most of the one next door were camped around the field to wat ch the event.
Most of the people involved were wearing shorts and t-shirts, or dresses - usual island dress rather than traditional grass costumes. They were however adorned with orange painted faces and several of the men had leaves of various descriptions sticking out of their trousers. Now and then one of the men would pass a long palm frond to the elderly man (the chief of that village)and he would dance with it for a while before placing it in a row at the side of the field. This was all very fascinating, but what did it mean? Jacob explained. Once a year, the chief of a village has the chance to improve his rank and become a higher chief. There are 5 steps to becoming the highest rank chief. The first four steps were like the one we were watching. The chief would arrange for 10 different people to give him a pig and the 10 pigs would be presented at the ceremony for him to kill. His sons and daughters and other family members would then dance with the family that had given the pig and give t hem mats as payment for the pig. The 10 pigs would later become part of a big feast, along with taro and yams. The ceremony could only be held once per year and it always has to be held at the time of the yam harvest, because then the village knows it has enough food for the feast. It is not to celebrate the yam harvest, like some other islands do, but it was held at that time just for practical reasons for the feast.
For a chief to get to the highest rank, he needs to go to step 5. This involves getting 10 people to give 10 pigs each to the chief, who then has to kill 100 pigs!!! Not many get to that level.
It was amazing to watch these people carry out this kastom dance, not for us, not for tourists, just a plain old annual event so the chief can get his ranking up. Wow! Later, we kept our appointment with Matthew and Marie for our dinner to start at 5pm. Marie had done a huge amount of preparation and Matthew patiently explained each dish. Tree nuts for a starter, then a plate of green paw paw salad with beans and tuna, next there was paw paw that had been roasted in a fire and then topped with freshly grated coconut. Another plate arrived with manioc chips and next to it a plate of pumpkin stalks and leaves that had been cooked in coconut milk. Neither of us had ever thought of boiling up the stalks and leaves of the pumpkin plant and eating them like you would beans and spinach - but it was delicious! Later came the local lionman banana wrapped in island cabbage leaves, then manioc wrapped in island cabbage leaves, then a plate of taro and a plate of island cabbage cooked in coconut milk with instructions to eat the cabbage and taro together. Quite tasty when combined! Just as we were feeling rather full, out comes a plate with two large omelets. The omelets were filled with onion, spring onion and capsicum and were delicious. We could not face the plate of yams that came out next, but did manage to slurp our way through a juicy pomplemousse. What amazing value and a truly delightful meal. Matthew and Marie were great company too, answering our many questions and laughing with us at our reaction to different dishes we had not tasted before. We asked about the Saturday morning market as we were hoping to buy some fruit in the morning and they immediately asked what we needed. They were happy to supply us with produce from their garden. We gave Marie 500 vatu and asked for a bunch of bananas and 2 paw paws. She returned with 3 bunches of bananas, 3 paw paws, 6 capsicums, a yam, a manioc, some ginger root and another root that they make curry from, but would not take more than the 500 vatu. A fun evening with generous hosts and a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Tonight, back on Aradonna having coffee in the cockpit, we noticed some interesting little lights flitting around in the water. They look like fireflies but they are just below the surface of the water and squiggle back and forth in a swarm that moves around like they are searching for something. If anyone has any idea what these brilliant creatures are, please let us know. They emit a very strong light, like a little LED swimming around! Another fascinating day in paradise.