This was a bit of an Indiana Jones day! In the year 2000 a local man lost his dog or pig or goat, cant quite remember but in tracking down said lost animal, he discovered this enormous cave way inland from Luganville. It is now one of the main tourist attractions on the island and we had a great day.
It started with a pick up in town and a bumpy journey into the village which was another wonderful example of the local culture and people. We then set off with our guides and have a lovely level walk through the local forest for an hour or so. We had a break and this involved a little face painting. On a first visit to the cave it is traditional to pay respects by doing this apparently. We were painted with a squiggle to signify the winding path, a ‘v’ for the swallows that reside in the cave, 2 splodges on our cheeks for the caves and a long smudge on our chins for the river. Thus daubed, we continued our walk and hoped that we didn’t bump into anyone we knew!!! (unlikely) It now began to get a little slippery as we descended to the entrance to the cave. Normally they only let kids over 10 do this trek but as the river was low they allowed Isabella along. She was treated like a princess with 2 local ladies assisting her up and over the rocks! The cave is huge and dark and everywhere you could hear and see the multitudes of swallows (and their deposits!). We flicked our head torches on and waded waist high in the refreshing (bloody cold) water to the other end. To do this we clambered over boulders, back under the water, over the boulders again, slipping sliding and climbing around with only our torch beam to guide. Eventually we saw a crack of day light and the riverside spot for a lunch break. After this we had to put on life jackets and the kids were given floating rings (the type you use at the beach!) . more trekking and climbing but now the boulders were seriously large and the drop off a little scary. There were some ropes to help with the trickier parts and wooden foot holds to slow the descent on the bigger rocks. This carried on for a while and then it was just the river. We kicked back and floated slowly downstream. It would have been much more fun with a decent flow of water but it was still good. Isabella was still being royally guided and was having a good giggle with Sophie the young local girl assigned to take care of her. Luca was being similarly assisted by 11 year old Paul from the village, but it ended up as a race between the 2 of them as Luca is more sure footed than a herd of goats! Once we had finished our lovely float, it was a vertical climb on home made ladders all the way out of the canyon and back to the village. With sodden clothes and a life jacket this was a bit of a challenge but we made it okay and the main village hut laid on coffee and fresh fruit to revive us – just perfect. Back in the bumpy van to Luganville where we waited for the little ferry to take us over to the island where we were moored. All slept well that night .