Santo Island
This is Lonnoc Beach, a beautiful, unspoiled stretch of sand and surf. And these fellas have it all to themselves…
Santo was the first Vanuatu island to be discovered by Europeans.
There's a lot to see on Santo. We're about half-an-hour out of Luganville, the island's largest town, when my guide Glen suddenly wants to pull over….
Hidden inside this ordinary bushy hibiscus.. see the house underneath? That used to be the main radio transmission during the war.
The hibiscus is doing its best to reclaim the site, but there are still a few crumbling walls. Glen tells me the Japanese were desperate to destroy this comunications centre, but it was too well-hidden, and they wound up dropping six bombs on a nearby cow instead. No bull!
Looking at it from the outside, it's no wonder they couldn't find it….
Espirito Santo is dotted with beautiful waterholes. But none is more spectacular than this.
Jacques blue hole is spring fed, and the extraordinary deep colour comes from rich limestone deposits.The jungle perch are just swarming around me - it's truly amazing.
Then it's out of the blue and into the deep green… one of the great things about santo island is that the rainforest is completely intact….and hides many tales from the past.
This banyan tree is around a thousand years old... and this jungle giant has its own ecosystem... home to hundreds of species of birds and ferns.
Back on the coast, this peaceful stretch is Soorunda Beach.
During World War II, a hundred thousand US troops landed right here. They were deployed as part of the Battle of the Coral Sea.
It's hard to picture now, but believe me, they left their mark.
There's a lot more to Santo than first meets the eye… this is called million dollar point because when the war ended the soldiers abandoned millions of dollars worth of military equipment - the remnants of what's left behind can be seen at low tide.
To explore the spectacular island of Espirito Santo… try the Taste of Santo tour, run by Vanair Limited.The tour includes return flights to the island from Vila, a full guided tour of the beaches, rainforest and waterholes.. and a delicious lunch.
Contact the booking agent or Vanair Limited for more details.
We toured the island in a Toyota bus. For more details on all of Toyota's vehicles, log onto their website.
And to discover
more about holidays and tours in beautiful Vanuatu, check out
vanuatutourism.com
