Port Vila

Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu, on the southwest coast of the island of Efate in the South Pacific. Its name in the South Efate language is Efil, and the islanders of nearby Ifira hold traditional rights over much of its land.

Melanesian people have lived around the harbor for thousands of years, and the Teouma site near the town holds pottery of the Lapita people from the 13th century BC. James Cook charted Efate in 1774 and named it Sandwich Island, though his ships did not land. British and French planters settled the island in the late 19th century, and from 1906 the New Hebrides were run jointly by Britain and France as the Anglo-French Condominium, with Port Vila as its seat. When the islands became independent as Vanuatu, the town became the capital of the new republic.

The harbor of Port Vila is the main port of the country and handles most of its imports, along with cruise ships from Australia. Tusker, the national beer, is brewed in the town by Vanuatu Brewing. Kava, a drink pressed from the root of a pepper plant, is served at the nakamals, the kava bars of the town, each evening.

The Vanuatu Cultural Centre houses the National Museum, with slit drums, masks and demonstrations of sand drawing, a tradition on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage. The covered market hall on the waterfront sells fruit, root crops and flowers brought by women from the villages of Efate. The Mele Cascades, a series of limestone pools and waterfalls in the hills north of the town, are reached by a forest trail. Hideaway Island, in Mele Bay, has an underwater post office where divers post waterproof postcards.