A Look Around Efate Island

Efate is the largest of the 80-some islands of Vanuatu. The capital of Port Vila is located here.
The largest part of Vanuatu's economy is tourism. So, most of these pictures are places tourists tend to go. And they give a sense of the place.
The 1st 2 pictures are the Rarru Falls and cataracts. The 2nd picture is downstream of the falls and contains a couple of the cataracts. The water at the falls is deep enough to swim and even jump in. Perfect on a hot day.
The 3rd picture is a funky roadside attraction. It is located where the World War 2 US naval base was located and contains bits and pieces of what was left after the navy departed. That's the point of the slogan on the wall.
The 4th picture is of what is called the blue lagoon. It's another deep hole for swimming just near the coast obviously named for its color.
The 5th picture is at the Nisanu Hot Springs. These are natural geothermal springs said to be therapeutic. There is a slight odor of sulfur. Mud baths are available.
The next 3 pictures are all of different coastal locations to show the variety of the island.
After tourism, the next largest part of the economy is coconuts. This is about the only export. And I'm told Port Vila generates about 60% of their electricity by burning coconut oil. Put that all together and that's a lot of coconuts. The 9th picture is a coconut grove that's part of the crop production.
The last picture looks over what had been a magnesium mining operation before independence. Operations ceased many years ago, and I'm told that the probable environmental costs of mining will likely preclude the mine being restarted.Läs mer