12 Attachment(s)
Hunting on a remote tropical island and live volcano
Happy 2018 hunters. I haven't posted in a while and thought my last hunt might get some eyes wide open.
I was camping on one of Vanuatu's remote outer islands over New Years with some friends and we'd gone to hike up the island's two active volcanic cones. Both cones have football field sized lava lakes churning away and we thought we'd make it a NY worth remembering.
Attachment 81019
We camped on the edge of the jungle and ash plane / caldera for three nights. The the first two days we did trips to the two active volcanoes.
Attachment 81022
We trekked up towards the formidable mountains
Attachment 81020
Across endless miles of ash, ground scoria, and glass needles ejected by the volcanoes.
Attachment 81021
Our efforts were rewarded at the summit with incredible lava views. This was taken with my drone:
Attachment 81018
By day three I'd had enough of tipping ash out of my boots and hit up two of our guides for a hunt. I'd heard there were wild boar in the thick jungle and they had a pack of dogs from the village and machetes so we had all we needed.
We walked out to the ash dunes and skirted around the edge of the jungle until we found a good place to enter far enough from camp.
Attachment 81028
The boys nattered to themselves in Bislama (Pigin English), it was slow going waiting in the sun for some of the slow or over enthusiastic dogs to catch up. The boys carved their initials into stuff with their machetes. Every village man in Vanuatu has a machete. Some have smartphones, but everyone has a machete or 'bush knife' as they call them. A different style to our short, wide and curved machetes.
Attachment 81025
They told me they got a pig nearby a few weeks ago, the dogs bailing it in a washed out rut in the ash a bit larger than where the boys are walking.
Attachment 81029
The going gets tougher. Not that you can tell from the pictures but it was 100 degrees and humid as hell.
Attachment 81027
We bush bashed for an hour or so and one of the boys took the dogs ahead. I heard barking and squealing from over a ridge and sprang to action. I ran physically as fast as I could, first up the hill through thick ground layers of slippery palm fronds, then down through thickets of giant ferns towering over my head. In the few minutes it took me to get to the scene I forgot all about snakes, spiders, ticks and leeches. Probably the best rush I've ever had. I was totally drenched from the sweat and humidity when I arrived. The boar escaped and ran past me just as I arrived, but the dogs were too quick and too many and bailed it again a minute later.
I grabbed a machete and stuck it. It was hard work with the blunt machete and I was already exhausted.
Attachment 81031
The boys dressed and carried it out as I went ahead and slashed a path through giant ferns, palms, and things that looked like they'd just grow right back that day.
Attachment 81026
Back at camp the other guides roasted it on sticks over the fire and we cleaned up and rested until it was ready... And it tasted amazing, smoked and roasted.
Attachment 81024
This was my first hunt without a firearm and easily the most memorable. Not a bad way to finish my holiday!
