July 24 – Children's Day – Vanuatu

July 24, 2021

Posted on July 24, 2021

This is an update of my post published on July 24, 2010:

Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific, lying between Australia and Fiji. It isn’t just one island, but rather an archipelago of 83 islands and islets.

Today the people of Vanuatu celebrate Children’s Day, which has two primary themes: “Stop violence against children” and “Give a child the chance to express an opinion today.” In the morning marches are held, followed by speeches, a dance, and other activities at schools.

Kids get the afternoon off from school and are expected to have fun with their families. Some children receive presents from their parents, but folks often remind parents that it doesn’t matter if they can’t afford to buy their kids presents―that the day is aimed at encouraging parents and kids to spend time together.

How’d they get there?

People have settled the various islands of Vanuatu for at least 4,000 years, undoubtedly arriving by boat. However, there are a limited number of plant and animal species on the islands. This is most likely explained by the fact that the islands are quite new, geologically speaking. There are no large mammals native to the island, although people have brought the usual critters with them (such as hogs, dogs, and cattle).

The most common indigenous mammals seem to be bats and rats. There’s not much mystery about how they got to the islands: the bats flew, like the many bird and insect species, and the rats were probably stowaways on people’s dugouts and boats.

The Vanuatuan animals that are very common are fish, corals, and more than 4,000 species of mollusks. Mollusks are land or water creatures that create protective “homes” of one or two shells, plus squids and octopi. Some examples are snails, clams, conchs, and oysters.

Some of these creatures, including cone shells and stonefish, are fatally poisonous.

Did you know?

One tourist attraction off the shore of Vanuatu is a sunken luxury liner similar to the Titanic. Instead of being sunk super deep down in cold water, however, this luxury liner rests on a shallow sea floor in clear, dive-able water.

Vanuatu boasts a banyan tree as large as a soccer field!

Vanuatu also boasts the world’s most active volcano: Mount Yasur has been erupting continuously for MORE THAN A CENTURY!!

Yasur has been active and erupting consistently since at least 1774 – but probably centuries before that – and has been been considered erupting continuously for 120 years.

Since the lava tends to be less thick-and-sticky than in some active volcanoes, it is a bit less dangerous – and that’s why many people have gone to Vanuatu to peer into the crater and watch the lava with a lot less difficulty and danger than one would imagine. HOWEVER – and that’s a big however! – all volcanoes are dangerous, and there are very definitely unsafe places, actions, and times with Mount Yasur!!!