The Giant Banyan, West Coast, & Blackmantown tour provides visitors with panoramic scenes of the west coast. The Giant Banyan is a great spectacle, while the coastal journey provides those “slices of life” that makes travelling worthwhile.

Tour Features.

Travel into the Hills to Explore the Giant Banyan.

The Tour begins by travelling into the hills of the West Coast, through substantial groves of mango trees and yam cultivation, with panoramic views over the rolling landscape and east coast beaches. The 4WD track takes visitors past the overgrown airport used during World War II into a secluded valley that at first conceals any presence of the ancient Banyan tree.

A short walk through overgrown tropical bush continues to hide the Banyan, until, at the bottom of the trail it’s monumental extent and splendour is unveiled. The Giant Banyan was said to have been a sizeable tree when Captain Cook visited Tanna in August 1774, and visitors immediately gain an intense feeling of history, blended with immense cultural mystic. Not only has the myriad of trunks and branches spread themselves over a wide area, but twisted root systems have created a series of amphitheatric platforms around the base of the tree.

Walking around the tree is a pretty amazing experience and can take quite a while with awesome viewing from all angles. The strength and span of the huge branches, being supported by a network of trucks makes for stunning viewing. The Guide shows off his prowess at swinging from limb to limb using one of the many hanging vines, and invites participants to do the same.

Island Coffee Processing.

The soils and climate of Tanna island are particularly suited to coffee cultivation, and a network of small locally owned coffee plantations are spread out across the central highlands region. While initial drying occurs in the villages scattered around Middlebush, grading and processing occurs at a couple of locations along the west coast. Here, at certain times of year further drying occurs, defective and damaged beans are removed, with the remainder bagged ready for export.

The West Coast Beaches and Blackmantown.

Blackmantown or the Lenakel excursion, starts with a ride along the beach road to see the dugouts, and have a look around what makes up the major township of Tanna. The excursion spends time at the markets (Open most weekdays but traditionally Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), where travellers gain a great appreciation of what is grown, collected and of value on a remote Melanesian island. It is a great place just to sit and observe local Tannese people going about their daily routines. It is notable that Blackmantown is a term proudly coined by local Tannese signifying that they control all commercial activity on the island (and not outsiders).

Depending on whether the tour occurs in the morning or afternoon, there are a number of restaurants serving a wide selection of meals based on locally grown produce.