I have been fortunate enough to come to Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu to do my elective at Northern Provincial Hospital, the second largest hospital in Vanuatu behind Vila Central Hospital. I am joined at the hospital by a number of other medical students, from UWA, UQ, Sydney and Adelaide.
I arrived a week early, taking advantage of the once weekly direct flight to Santo from Brisbane, which left plenty of time to do some exploring and touristing. Three girls from UWA were already here, and helped orientate me to life in Luganville. It’s really hard to figure out what to do in Vanuatu from the internet, but it’s pretty easy to book things once you’re here!
We all stayed at the Hibiscus Motel, the most popular choice for medical students. It’s easy to see why – it’s extremely affordable – around AUD$770 for a three-bed self contained unit cleaned daily for five weeks! It’s also fairly basic – foam mattresses, thin pillows, a ceiling fan, and a small two-burner camping stove. The owner, Marie, is one of the loveliest and most accommodating people I have ever met. She made the entire stay really special and I wouldn’t have wanted to stay anywhere else!
Some of the things Angus and I got up to in the first week included a visit to Aore, a trip up the east coast to Port Olry and some local exploring. We figured out the food situation, visited some local resorts, and went shopping for some cheaper food after experiencing Australian prices at the restaurants!
The local market is a real highlight of Luganville. It’s a covered area filled with stalls with local produce – hundreds of bananas, pineapples, papayas and many things I have never seen before in my life. It is essentially open 24/7 except for Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings! The people selling the goods often span a few generations, with mothers often sleeping and nursing their youngest underneath the tables. There are banana leaves protecting the food from the floor, and hand-woven baskets hold all sorts of goodies. Cooked peanuts in their shells are a popular item for sale, and are absolutely delicious! Most things cost 50-300 vatu, depending on the item. A bag of about 30 chillies, or 8-10 pieces of ginger 10cm long, or a bag of limes cost around 100 vatu – or $1.20. It’s extraordinarily cheap to buy from the markets, and as a result we have eaten a lot of stir-fries! Across the road from the market there is a butcher. Santo beef is famous for being organic, delicious – and cheap! Sirloin steak goes for about $15/kilo, and diced beef for our stir-fries is about $10/kilo. Among various cuts of beef, you can also buy chicken, pork, tuna, offal and dog. Needless to say, we didn’t buy any dog meat!
Next to the markets, there are local stalls where you can buy a meal for 500 vatu, or around $6. For that price, you get snacks (either peanuts, banana chips or marioc chips), a meal with rice (stew, steak or curry), fruit and the local speciality, lime juice, which is like a lemonade.
The local supermarket, LCM, sells everything else available. They have a lot of imported food which parallels Aussie prices – Tim Tams, Cadbury chocolate, Nutella and Lays chips. There is also a lot of tinned goods, sauces and a lot of usual stuff you’d find at your regular shop. They don’t have much fresh stuff – usually there are onions and garlic, and occasionally you can buy apples, carrots and cabbages too. There are a range of ice creams, cheeses and meats available too, but expect to pay about $12 for 500g of cheese! There’s no fresh milk, so UHT milk is the only option. The bread in Santo is fantastic, reflecting the long French history here. You can also buy alcohol from LCM, again at Australian prices – and there are a few bottles of mostly Australian wine which are all over $20, and don’t expect to see many (if any) familiar labels!
Aore Island (or ‘Little Australia’) is a small island across the channel which has a resort, plantation and apparently a large population of Australian ex-pats. As with most of the resorts here, buying some food or drink allows you use of the facilities/pool/WiFi etc. There is a free ferry that goes to Aore daily, leaving at 11.30am and returning at 4pm. There’s a great restaurant, lovely shady beach and decent snorkelling metres from the shore. The fish there are pretty bold – expect some nibbles or some confrontational fish swimming full tilt into your goggles.
The east coast was lovely – we stayed the night at Port Olry and did some exploring in between. The girls had a treehouse and we had a bungalow, just a hundred metres from the beach. Highlights of the trip included Champagne Beach (apparently a must-do while here), Riri Blue Hole (two rope swings!), Hala Blue Hole (local one, not signposted) and local lobster for dinner. We were pretty lucky with the weather, making our photos even more spectacular.
Vanuatu Elective 