Merry Christmas
21.12.2005
In the wind down to Christmas we have been busy running tour guide training, testing tours, writing information for tourists and gathering material for a grant application for a tourism information centre. Work is going along nicely and the community seem to be very happy with what we have been doing. We hope our efforts will result in many happy tourists departing Ambrym and spreading the news of this amazing place to their friends back home.
(Happy tour guides)
Below is a photo of our newly accredited tour guides who over two days gained practical experience in welcoming tourists, good hygiene, developing tours, and presenting information to tourists in an informative and interesting manner. We were lucky enough to have the story of our tour guide training picked up by the national newspaper of Vanuatu with a half page spread and photo.
Cyclone season is upon us and the owner of our Bungalow organized a renovation to make our Bungalow Cyclone Proof. Apparently if you tie green coconut leaves to the roof they help to keep the roof on in the event of a cyclone. The locals seem very confident about this technique, although we will be very happy not to have to test it out. We will both be pretty scared should a cyclone come.
(Cyclone proofing our bungalow)
The weather is still so hot. Some days it can be completely still for hours on end and when you lay down for your midday nap you drip with sweat. On these occasions our hand fans and cold showers offer a brief respite. When the rain comes it offers relief and its nice to fall asleep to the sound of it on the thatch roof of our bungalow. The mosquitos have really kicked in and we are in the routine of wearing repellant and burning mosquito coils most of the time.
Kids are in school holiday mode now. There is no cinemas, nintendos, or bowling alleys here so kids entertain themselves by using rubber sling shots (to kill flying foxes and birds for a midday snack), playing cards, swimming or kicking around a ball.
Laan behind, then Walter, Jomai and Donal in front on the hunt
We were having a nice evening walk recently when we came across a large group of families sitting by the water. We took out our camera out to take photos of a few kids in the water which caused a stampede as every kid in a 50m radius bolted for the water to be in the photo. It was hard to get the right shot so in the end we settled for a group photo on the beach.
After the stampede.
And now the Christmas message from the Queen. Na just kidding…..
We hope you all have a beautiful Christmas with your friends and family. Make sure to have a cold beverage, a nice cut of tender meat and fruit mince pie in honour of us! We love you all, miss you heaps and look forward to our return to OZ in September 06.
Posted by pippamatt 21:13 Comments (2)