The Real Scoop

July 16 The Real Scoop
I must say we have not in all Vanuatu heard so many birds as we did at dawn this morning.
9 am we were off to shore to meet Chief Solomon and his wife Purity. After Purity told us all about the Vatthe Conservation Area, its history and current status, the chief took us on a forest trek to see birds. I asked him about the dirt road we were walking on to get to the forest. There is a dispute as to whose road it is so it's not properly cared
for. It goes to Luganville. Barry asked about the chief who had many tusker pigs. Ho, boy! That chief lived over there where the Adventists are. When the chief died all the pigs got loose because Adventists won't eat pigs so no one cared for the pigs. Oh, my! You have to understand how important pigs are to get the impact of this. First in importance is land, then pigs, then women. Chief Solomon is AOG (Assembly of God). This is starting to sound familiar. Remember Marama and Epi in Daku where the chief was AOG and the village was divided along religious lines? So, actually, the two parts of the village are not getting along as well as they did when the conservation area first was set up. And, the conservation area is being diminished because the rapidly expanding population of villagers needs more land for their gardens and there is no suitable land left outside the conservation area. So, they are starting to eat into the forest to plant more gardens. Eventually, we headed off into the forest and was it full of birds! Solomon would hear the bird, mimic its voice, and then point to it in my bird book with his machete. He explained the plants and trees and vines and told their use. You are not hearing from us about seeing any mammals because there are none here except the fruit bats. (There are dogs, cats and rats in the populated areas.) We saw giant spiders and a millipede which he said would burn like fire if it touched you. We told him about the uprising of flying foxes/fruit bats and he said they were probably being hunted. How? With a shotgun, 12 or 16 gauge. At night there is phosphorescence in the bay. So many things alive in the sea making lights as they swim.

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