volcano visitors

So Kelsey, Jen, and I have been planning to do an August break Manaro climb since our training daze in Nangus. It finally happened! With a few more friends in tow -

After we got supplies in town, we all followed a truck back to my house and got in some good naps and swim time. Around 4, the truck holding Ken, Emily, Elise, Tim came to Qwatuneala to grab Kelsey, Bilal, Michelle, Sydney, Jen, Kate, Bryan, and me and we headed off to Ambanga village! In order to get there, we had to pass the PISSA games and all the folks I know there. That's right. A 12-man American spectacle waving to my mama, making her both proud and embarrassed of her white man daughter!

After the steep truck ride up the hill with a full load of bodies and bags, we arrived at Ambanga, the highest village on Ambae. Ambanga has a little guesthouse (using the term guesthouse lightly) that folks stay in before they hike up. With 12 of us, it was tight quarters, but we're all pretty used to being flexible by now!

We played some frisbee as the sun was going down and enjoyed a delicious group meal. It was chilly out, so that made sharing a small room with 6 people not as daunting as it would have been in rainy season 

We woke up early, drank some coffee, and left around 7 with clear skies above us. It was 11 volunteers (Ken decided to pass due to a recently twisted ankle) plus 2 guides and a teenage Ambanga girl who wanted to tag along. A nice, long, single file trail of humans! The first 2 hours were hot and dry, but those feelings were soon forgotten when the rain came along. 

Everything green grows fast in Vanuatu, especially in the rich soil near the cone of a snoozing volcano. This made the overgrown trail quite a challenge, especially when it started pouring. Slips and falls and steep cliffs and close calls... but all were conquered with laughs between friends! I was in line behind one of my great friends here Kelsey, a chick who happens to be a geology major/nut with a focus on volcanos! You know I had a bunch of questions. I'm pretty sure Kelsey enjoyed answering the inquiries just as much as I loved asking them. 

Near the end of the 5 hour hike to the top, we came to mud walls and creeks that we had to shimmy down. If you're lucky like me, you're usually near the back of the group and end up at these obstacles when they've become soup. Not the tasty kind, though I did get a few mouthfuls. We finally arrived at the  lake where the cone is and it was eerie- like elephant graveyard eerie. Its taboo to talk when entering the crater, so that added to the excitement. The ground was warm and the hazy sky/ash plains made it feel like a horror movie lelebet (lelebet means little bit in Bislama and is one of my favorites to say/use) 

The cone of Mount Manaro sits in a lake, which makes it very dangerous if it ever explodes. The lake is sulfuric acid and has interesting qualities depending on the pH levels (thank you Kelsey for the science lessons) like it will turn super teal or pink when certain minerals shift about. There are probably pictures and much more accurate usages of scientific terms on google if you're interested. Man, the Internet can really rock sometimes! 

We ate our lunch and blocked off the wind and rain as best as we could. Bilal brought us a delicious treat from America that couldn't have been more appropriate. We happily gulped down the fireball whiskey, warming up our spirits in preparation for the hike back. 

We all knew that the trail was going to be tricky. We got to the part that resembled what would be the lovechild of a mudslide and the agro crag and began the ascent. This was definitely my favorite part of the hike. Jen and I pretended like we were real life contestants on Global Guts and totally championed the agro crag like a winning team would. Complete with commentary... "now back to Mo. Mo!"

After that feat, we were all covered in slime and goo for the return trip. In fact, we each would have brought back at least 74 pounds of mud if it wasn't for the steady rain that washed it off as we hiked. How's that for a silver lining!?

After too much confusion about if a truck could carry us back to site due to the muddy road up to Ambanga, one came through and Kelsey, Bilal, Jen, Kate, Bryan, and I were soon back at my place. We peeled off our layers and soaked in the hot springs for a couple of hours. The perfect ending to the climb up Ambae's volcano? Enjoying the hot spring that was formed due to its existence. Thank you, mama nature!

Bonus ending! As you can probably imagine, there is a lot of kastom around Mt. Manaro - stories of origin, black magic, and traditions that shape the culture on Ambae. In South, one kastom is the Manaro tattoo. The design is 2 lines that represent the path to Manaro. It's believed that if you've gone to the top and get the marking, when you die, your spirit will return to the volcano and dance in it's fire forever. Okay fine, I'm in!

 

We found one of my neighbors who's from South Ambae and he gave us the tattoos. He used ash and the juice from a medicinal leaf as the ink and a thorn from the pamplemus tree as the needle (don't worry mom, we all used different thorns) It turned out great, healed properly, and will be a sweet reminder of this incredible journey for a long, long time (forever)