Port Vila: waterfalls and villages among Pacific islands

Run almost entirely by women, the Port Vila market sells fruit, kava, and local handicrafts daily under long awnings crowded from morning onward.

Moving toward the interior, the Ekasup cultural village guides visitors through the rainforest showing medicinal plants and traditional Ni-Vanuatu hunting techniques.

In the afternoon, Mele Falls, just a few minutes from the center, form multi-level natural pools among the tropical vegetation.

Toward evening, the port and the small island of Iririki, directly across from the city, offer one of the most photographed views at sunset.

Until 1980 Vanuatu was administered in a rare Anglo-French "condominium," with two parallel colonial administrations: an anomaly that left the country with two official European languages instead of just one.

The guides of Ekasup village still show today how to light a fire using traditional techniques, a gesture that for visitors remains almost always the most photographed moment of the visit.