Highlights of Port Vila

special offer banner Highlights of Port Vila
Price: $100.00   Sale Price: $80.00   Save: $20.00
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Summary
Shore Excursion Size ? Small
Shore Excursion Type Cultural, Scenic
Shore Excursion Duration 3 Hours
Activity Level ? Easy
Shore Excursion Leaves From ? An approximately 2 minute walk from the cruise ship pier.
Food/Beverage Provided Bottled water, a kava tasting, and a fruit pack is included.
Recommended Dress We recommend wearing comfortable, weather appropriate clothing and walking shoes. Guests should bring insect repellent, a hat, sunscreen, and sunglasses.
Restrictions Participants must be able to step in and out of the vehicle. This tour is NOT wheelchair accessible.

Highlights of Port Vila

Your highlights tour of Port Vila will be one to always remember as you experience some of the best attractions this amazingly beautiful island affords.

The native Vanuatu people exist in total harmony with nature without destroying the beautiful environment they live in and live each day to its fullest.

We start our highlights tour by driving the short distance to one of the most popular and photogenic spots, Mele Waterfall. A series of clear aquamarine pools terrace up the hillside, culminating in an impressive waterfall flowing into a natural plunge pool.

Continue to one of Port Vila's best scenic lookouts. You will discover a beautiful location that gives you amazing views over the harbor and city.

Learn the culture of this South Pacific island that offers a series of lagoons, beaches, and offshore islands, Port Vila is a surprisingly compact, but energetic town. Vanuatu culture retains a strong diversity through local regional variations and foreign influences. Divided into three major cultural regions, the north establishes wealth by how much one can give away. In the center, more traditional Melanesian cultural systems dominate and in the south, a system involving grants of title with associated privileges has developed.

Next you will be introduced to the history of the island beginning when the first European contact began with the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandez de Quiros (1606), followed by the French navigator Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1768) and the British captain James Cook (1774). Cook mapped the island group and named it the New Hebrides. European missionaries and sandalwood traders settled on the fringes of islands from the 1840s, but their impact on the indigenous people was minimal.

To finish your tour, you will take part in a kava tasting. Traditionally, kava was prepared by young boys on Vanuatu, who was responsible for harvesting and processing the root into a potent brew for the evening nakamal, or social kava session. Today, Vanuatu's modern kava industry has expanded to include plantations where kava is grown and processed for export and modern urban kava bars (also called nakamal) where both locals and tourists can gather to partake of Vanuatu's most popular and ancient drink while absorbing the good vibrations of this laid back island nation.