I have just come back from a work trip to an island in the centre of the Vanuatu chain called Malekula. The name Malekula is the local derivative of the name given to the island by Captain Cook in 1774 – Mallicollo – which actually means ‘bad bottom’ in some latin languages. People have got all sorts of theories as to why the island was called ‘bad bottom’, and after having spent a week using the ‘bush toilets’ around Malekula, I have a few fairly strong theories of my own.
But! intestinal afflictions aside, it is a great place to visit, and the favourite hang-out of visiting anthropologists as it is home to 28 different language groups. It is also the island of the Big Nambas and Small Nambas tribesman, so named according to the size of their penis sheaths (nambas). The Big Nambas and Small Nambas were renowned for their ferocious battles which often culminated in cannibalistic rituals. They only stopped eating each other in 1969 (as far as we know). The Big Nambas were also not afraid of a bit of romance in their lives – apparently, if a Big Nambas woman pleased her husband, he would permit her to have her two front teeth knocked out by a stone.
With this brutal backdrop in mind, please enjoy the following selection of photos captured one afternoon as all the people in the village where we were staying grabbed their canoes and fishing gear and busied themselves with a spot of sunset fishing.
Roasted flying fox. I kid you not. A speciality of the region, apparently.
