Shopping in Vanuatu

Like any other vacationing paradise, Vanuatu also offers a range of interesting goods for shop-a-holics.  However for Duty Free shopping; Vanuatu's only duty-free port is Prot Villa. You can buy from a range of luxury items, fine wines and spirits down to inexpensive souvenirs.

French perfume, champagne and patisseries can be found alongside souvenir outlets, jewellery and gift shops, and fashion wear including brightly colored sarongs, and-printed t-shirts, board shorts and beachwear. Chinatown in Rue Carnot is a good place to look for bargains, with everything from Japanese stereos to straw hats and camping gear.

Traditional crafts & Souvenir can be purchased at Luganville Town with numerous small restaurants, coffee shops, a sports club, several dive shops, grocery and Chinese shops that sell everything from food products to Santo Souvenirs and Art. Souvenirs can also be purchased at the island resorts, bungalows and guesthouses.

There are some fine examples of traditional and contemporary crafts available in Port Vila, Santo and the outer islands, including baskets and mats, carvings, shell and bead necklaces, headdresses, ankle rattles, carved bowls, masks and tree fern figures. Traditional handcrafts sold to visitors are usually small copies of those created for traditional ceremonies such as gade-taking.

Northern Ambrym is especially renowned for the artistry of its carvers. The most common subjects fro carvings are representations of ancestral figures. Wood is the main material used, but carvings are sometimes made from tree fern, stone, coral or even on the volcanic islands ash or volcanic sand. They can be painted in several different colours, depending on the grade being taken. Other carved items include miniature canoes, animals, bows, and bowls in which yams and kava are pounded. The patters from the Shepherd Islands are especially beautiful, often carved in the shape of birds or fish.

Elaborate masks, sometimes decorated with paint, feathers and pig tusks, are still worn in traditional ceremonies on the islands of Ambrym, Ambae, Maewo and Malakula. Most famous are those worn by the Rom dancers of Ambrym. Masks represent the faces of demons and ancestral spirits and are usually made of tree fern or clay moulded to a wickerwork frame. These are several of Malakula Island clay masks that can be found at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.

Vanuatu is also renowned for its fine weaving, which is mostly produced by the women. Baskets and mats are commonly made using pandanus leaves and burao (wild hibiscus) stalks. Larger items are sometimes made from wicker, coconut leave and rattan. Pottery is rare today, although it was once a widespread craft. The only remaining traditional potters now live in Wusi and Linduri, in south-western Santo.

You may purchase locally made totem poles, wood figurines, bamboo flutes, stone axes, pig’s tusks and pandanus leaf carry bags direct from the craftsman or his wife at better prices than is available from art shops. You will find the vendor willing to bargain only if you are purchasing multiple items. In general, it is not customary to barter and may be considered rude if the item is already well priced. We discourage the purchase of items containing shells.

By: Lamiya Sami

GOWEALTHY.COM © 2006.

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Source: www.vanuatutourism.com