Monday 9 June – Pentecost Island the home of Land Diving

Rob had arranged with Eileen for us to attend a Monday Land Diving ceremony. We were at the beach by 10 am. Eileen is very enterprising as she organises the whole tourist aspect of it. It cost about £60 each and must be one of the few sources of income on these remote islands. The money gets divided somehow between the many participants. She has created lovely walk ways decorated with colourful flowers. After explaining the experience to us under an enormous old tree, she gave us each a flower necklace. We walked up to the wooden tower structure, crossing the year old Chinese road.

“The origin of land diving is described in a legend of a woman who was dissatisfied with her husband, Tamalie. It is sometimes claimed that the woman was upset that her husband was too vigorous regarding his sexual wants, so she ran away into the forest. Her husband followed her, so she climbed a banyan tree. Tamalie climbed after her, and so she tied tree vines to her ankles and jumped and survived. Her husband jumped after her, but did not tie tree vines to himself, which caused him to plummet and die. Originally, women did it in respect to the original woman who did it, but husbands were not comfortable with seeing their wives in such positions, so they took the sport for themselves, and it gradually changed from trees to specifically designed wooden towers. The men performed the original land diving so that they would not be tricked again.

The land diving ritual is associated with the annual Yam harvest. It is performed annually in the months of April, May, or June. A good dive helps ensure a bountiful yam harvest.”

We went up to the viewing seats, the men were allowed to go closer but it is unlucky for women to go closer. The Tower is about 15m tall, international pressure on the government means they are no longer allowed their 30m high structures! When Queen Elizabeth visited in 1974 they performed Land diving for her, one of the vines snapped on a jumper which killed him. Considering how long the tradition has been going Eileen assured us there were not that many accidents, but now they have reduced the height to 15ms it is a lot better! There are five platforms on the tower for the jumpers, today the first 3 are young boys, and two adults jumping from the top two platforms. It all involved a lot of men on the tower adjusting and tying the tree vines onto the jumpers. There was a Constructor who worked out the length of vine required, all by eye, no tape measures here, nor a single bit of rope, all natural construction. A few men on the ground to keep the soil turned over for a soft landing, and cutting the jumpers free at the end of the jump. Villagers on the crest of the slope chanted, whistled and danced the whole way through the ceremony. It really was a spectacle. I will let the endless photos do the talking. Sorry there are so many!

We gather under an enormous tree

Kids playing in the tree

Our lovely entrance from the sea we missed

We couldn’t establish the name of this enormous old tree

The nut the tree produces, it is not edible, the oil is used on skin

Our lovely organiser Eileen

We are welcomed with a flower necklace

All smiles

This little girl was so pleased to get my blow up globe ball

We had to cross the Chinese road to get to the tower, completed a year ago, a lot more pedestrians than vehicles!

The tower comes into view, they are all built on slopes, the landing area is finely dug over for a soft landing

The little girl I gave my globe to is on the front bench

The very important Constructor, in charge of all measurements, all done by eye! His tail feathers picked him out as very important!

Preparing for the first jump

The youngest on the lowest platform being tied up

The first jump, best watched on a bigger screen. Us women were kept a fair distance away

Releasing the boy from the vines. The village support group on the crest of the slope were impressive

Second platform, another young boy

Second jumper, looks like his one vine had to be cut to get him going!

Can’t believe their stamina dancing and whistling so long

Third jumper, still too young to wear a penis sheath, the youngsters have a grass covering

The Constructor giving instructions for the fourth jump, the first adult

Platforms getting higher for each subsequent jumper

Fourth jumper, first adult

The constructor eyeing it up

He jumps

Cut free

Fifth and last jumper at the highest platform

Looking back to sea, us ladies are all agog, the men were allowed higher up

Rowan took a brilliant video of the last jumper, the men were allowed a lot closer than us ladies

The last jumper is cut free with a lethal looking sword

The fifth jumper avoided the after photo with the tourists!

The whole crew from the 5 boats

Heading back to the beach with Eileen

Eileen had another trip to offer us which was to a waterfall further up the coast. After refreshing pamplemousse we got into the back of a truck and drove to the waterfall. It was a lovely waterfall, even better was the refreshing cool water to swim in, it was really welcome. The hydro works looked like they were in the beginning stages of work, I hope it doesn’t ruin the area.

We all headed back to our boats for an afternoon nap and returned to the beach at sunset for a fire and a drink. Eileen organised the wood and we all chipped in some food. We had toasted marshmallows to end the evening. It had been an amazing day.

Off to the waterfall in the back of a truck with Eileen, passing plenty of walkers but no vehicles

A lovely white beach

The water fall, the hydro works appeared to be still in the beginning stages of construction

Good path to the waterfall

A really lovely waterfall, some we have visited in the past have been a little underwhelming

We all appreciated a cool swim

Eileen was a very jolly tour guide

The path and bridges were all very well done

It’s been a long day

4 of the 5 boats, Jiyu was far away

Looking back at the tower

Eileen organised a fire on the beach which we came back to at sunset

All making plans as we go our separate ways tomorrow

Eileen and her husband join us for left over burgers and focaccia, she brought a cassava pudding, a bit to starchy for me. She loved our pork sausages