The producers of the show needed to rent some of the villagers ’ dugout canoes for filming . They didn ’ t know how to pull it off , so I got tasked with making that happen .
Once the villagers had surrounded us , the chief gestured for me to
The people of Vanuatu speak Bislama , a pidgin language with hints of English . You can understand much of what they say , but not all of it . So on my first mission to speak to the tribes about using their boats , I brought a local from town who spoke English and could help translate . A boat dropped us off on a small island where we knew a tribe lived , and we asked to be picked up in three hours .
As we started into the jungle to find a trail or some sign of the tribespeople , I suddenly wondered how many visitors these people got . I wondered if our visit would be unwelcome or perceived as a threat .
Etiam et urna
I asked my translator where the tribespeople lived and if they welcomed visitors . He looked at me nervously and said he had no idea . Oh great , I thought . It wasn ’ t long before I sensed we were being watched .
A man appeared ahead of us and started talking quickly to my translator . We communicated our desire to meet with his chief . The man from the jungle gestured for us to follow him .
I had knots in my stomach , but at least we were making progress . Or so I hoped . The chief was a quiet , reserved man who wasn ’ t ornately dressed . I wouldn ’ t have guessed he was the chief except for the stoic confidence he exuded . start talking again . I realized he just wanted me to share everything I was telling him earlier with the rest of the tribe . This led to excitement ( not anger , thankfully ) from the villagers . When I finished explaining , the villagers led me down to the beach where they kept their dugout canoes . Each family had their own . They took much pride in them . Some had decorated theirs with primitive paints . They all wanted me to pick theirs for the TV show , so each one told me the story behind their canoe and showed me how sturdy it was . It was great fun and an early glimpse at how genuine these people were .
During my time in Vanuatu , I had the amazing opportunity to meet
He gestured for me to start talking , so I began to explain my reason for being there . I did my best to communicate and show my respect while hopefully getting him on board with the production company ’ s plan .
He sat and listened . Suddenly , he put his hand up for me to stop talking . I figured I had spoken too much or said something wrong . He rose and walked away . I looked at my translator and said , “ What just happened ?” He gave me that look again that told me he had no idea . Then the man who had led us there told us to follow the chief . We did .
The chief led us to a small clearing , where he picked up a big stick ( I ’ m not exaggerating ), which he swung at this large metal tank that was hanging from a tree . This thing looked like it must have washed up on shore at some point . Every time the chief made contact with the tank , it rang out with a loud boooonnnngggg .
Villagers began to appear from the jungle in every direction and surrounded us . I stood there in disbelief . It was like a cool scene right out of a movie . However , in reading up on my Vanuatu history days before , I learned that these people practiced cannibalism at some point in their past . So as cool as the situation was , I felt more than a little nervous about where all this was going .
Typical scene of how many locals get around the islands .
with many chiefs and tribes . They got to know me well , as I helped coordinate the multi-tribe production shoot with the villagers ’ canoes on the first day . After that , we hired many of them as deckhands on our boats .
They were some of the happiest and most endearing people I ’ ve ever met . They didn ’ t have any money , and their motivation for working with us was not money . They didn ’ t even know what to do with it once we paid them . They just wanted to be a part of whatever we were doing .
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