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Ambrym,
a place for adventure
Ambrym
is sometimes called the black island after the expansive
ash plain covering the interior. With two active volcanos
and strong kastom,
Ambrym is certainly a good destination for adventure travel
in the South Pacific:
-
Trekking to the Benbow and Marum active volcanos draws most
tourists to Ambrym. The coastal mountains are also good
walking.
-
Around
July every year you are bound to encounter Roms.
The Rom costume consists of a tall, brightly painted conical
mask and a cloak of dry banana leaves. Roms represent spirits
and Ambrym islanders are terrified of them. The highlight
of the season is the Rom dance. Ambrym
islanders are also said to be skilled in magic and sorcery.
- Carvings
are a requirement for grade-taking on Ambrym. In the kastom
natsaros you can see tall, multi-faced tam-tams and
tree fern sculptures. Some good carvings are produced commercially
for the tourist trade and even export. Another important
cultural tradition on Ambrym is sand drawing (artistic designs
which illustrate local legends or leave messages).
North
Ambrym has an annual cultural festival featuring Rom dancing,
grade-taking and sand drawing around mid-July every year.
The interior villages of West Ambrym also welcome visitors
to see their annual Rom dances. Tourists pay to witness
a Rom dance (around 3000 Vatu per person) or visit a kastom
natsaro (around 2000 Vatu per person). As kastom is
involved, the fees asked will vary.
Most
of Ambrym's population lives along the southwest and northern
coastlines. The villagers generate a meagre income from
copra, fishing and traditional carvings. Living on southwest
Ambrym can be hard; it's a dry, rain shadow area, and acid
rain from the volcanos damages gardens.
Ambrym
is not far from Santo or Port Vila and relatively cheap
to get to. You can do Ambrym by itself or, if you have lots
of time, a good travelling strategy is island hopping via
Ambrym by plane and/or ship between Vila and Santo. If you're
travelling on a budget there are some cheap and good places
to stay on west Ambrym. Our Itinerary
Ideas page outlines a quick Ambrym volcano trekking
adventure.
Bungalows
For a long time Ambrym had only two tourist bungalows in
the north. Today there's more interest in tourism as the
islanders see a small, steady flow of tourists attracted
to the volcanos. We feature the following places to stay:
Wakon
Sunset Bungalow and Lake Fanteng
Conservation Area, Dip Point 
Craig Cove Commercial Guesthouse
Bulevak Guesthouse, Baiap 
Polibetakevar Guesthouse
Bae Luk Guesthouse, Meltungon 
Lalinda PWMU Guesthouse 
Vetmet Bungalows, Ranvetlam 
Solomon Douglas Bungalows, Ranon

In July
2005 there were plans to build a tourist bungalow at Malver
village on west Ambrym. In December 2006 we heard there
was a new bungalow at Sesivi and a another, cheaper guesthouse
at Meltungon (1500 Vatu per night). In January 2008 we found
Nali
Guest House (link to VTO site) which is in the east
at Sameo village.
It is
true that almost every village has a basic guesthouse. For
example, some tourists stay at Wuro village. Others stay
with the Air Vanuatu agent. However, this website focuses
on places which are regularly used by overseas visitors.
Air
Transport
Ambrym has two airfields, one in the west at Craig Cove
and one in the east at Ulei. Air Vanuatu's weekly 'milk
run' between Port Vila and Santo services Epi (Lamen Bay),
Paama, Ulei, Craig Cove and Malekula (Norsup) with flights
in both directions. In March 2007 the 'milk run' was on
Tuesday and there were additional flights connecting Craig
Cove and Port Vila on Tuesday and Saturday. Check the Air
Vanuatu domestic website for more up-to-date information.
Tourists with a return Air Vanuatu international ticket
are entitled to a 20% discount on domestic flights. Exchange
Rates.
| Airport |
Return
Santo fare
(Vatu) |
Return
Port Vila fare
(Vatu) |
Flights
per week |
| Craig
Cove |
16490 |
21058 |
3 |
| Ulei |
19033 |
20045 |
1 |
Sea
Transport
Many ships between Efate and Santo sail via Ambrym. Some
of the more frequent ships are M/V Brisk, M/V Kotu, L/C
Sarafenua and M/V Halice-1 (formerly Belama). M/V Brisk
is quite regular: passing on Fridays towards Santo and returning
on Tuesdays towards Port Vila. A one way fare from Santo
to north Ambrym is about 4500 Vatu. It takes around 20 hours
from Santo to Ambrym by cargo boat, sometimes more. The
Brisk stops only at Craig Cove, Ranon and sometimes Olal.
Ships are a good option for island hopping to Pentecost
or Epi.
A comfortable
and fast passenger-only boat travelling to Ambrym is the
Island Gateway but only
on the last week of every month.
North
Ambrym has no airport. Speedboats often run to Craig Cove
to meet Air Vanuatu flights. A speedboat between Craig Cove
and Ranon costs 10000 to 12000 Vatu for a charter or 1000
to 1500 Vatu per person on a shared trip. You have a fair
chance of finding are shared speedboat ride to north Ambrym
on Air Vanuatu flight days. The speedboat ride to north
Ambrym takes two to three hours. An alternative to speedboats
is to wait for a passing ship. Exchange
Rates.
Land
Transport
West Ambrym has public transport trucks at Meltungon, Baiap,
Port Vato and Lalinda. Sample fares are listed below. A
shared ride should costs about 10% of the charter rate.
Exchange Rates.
| Truck
journey |
Charter
fare (Vatu) |
| Craig
Cove - Polibetakevar/Meltungon |
1500 |
| Craig
Cove - Baiap |
1000 |
| Craig
Cove - Lalinda |
3000 |
Services
are not regular. The best days for trucks are when the Craig
Cove bank is open (Tuesday, Friday) or there's a Air Vanuatu
flight (Tuesday, Saturday). An effective and free way to
get around west Ambrym is to walk.
Last updated: December 2006 by Stephen.
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