Yakel Kastom Village is located 20 minutes from Blackmantown, providing a snapshot into past Tannese life and is the village where the film Tanna was made. Blackmantown is a great place to observe Tannese going about their life, selling at the market, or socialising.

Tour Features.

Coming into Blackmantown.

Travelling along a coastal track, visitors explore the western coastline at the end of the Whitegrass plains, where small communities are interspersed with a number of churches, coconut palms and tropical bush. Wide beaches have collections of outrigger canoes, used primarily by local Tannese for fishing, pulled up to the beach fringes. Children are often seen playing in the waves at various spots, always with a smile and a cheeky wave.

Heading into Blackmantown, the central market is popular amongst local Ni-Vanuatu and also serves as a community hub where people get together to socialise, hear what is happening on the island and organise transport back to their villages. The marketplace has a vast array of both traditional staples such as yam, taro, banana, “kumula” and bush greens, along with introduced fruit and vegetables with citrus being prominent. Further interest is created with the market being situated on the coast near to the breakwater where the various cargo ferries offload goods that are sold in the local stores.

What’s in a Name : Blackmantown

Unusual for the islands is the nature of the surrounding area of grocery, butchery and hardware stores, all owned and run by local Tannese. The hum of the commercial area has an atmosphere that is uniquely Ni-Vanuatu, with no Chinese or “outsider” stores present. In fact, the island itself is relatively devoid of anyone outside of the island itself, with outsiders consisting mainly of a very small number of Australian, New Zealand, and French missionaries and accommodation management. While Tannese are affable, hospitable and very interested in the outside world, they are also proud of their island with the name “Blackmantown” being coined by the Tannese themselves.

Yakel Kastom Village.

While there is a small number of “kastom” villages, the original and foremost is located at Yakel located in the lower slopes surrounding the earlier volcanic mountains to the south-east of the island. Kastom villages that are open for tourism provide a glimpse of how Melanesian life was lived not so long ago, and much of the customs and traditions on display are still retained in varying degrees by most villages on Tanna today. The setting and slices of life presented at Yakel remain true and authentically represent these parts of kastom that are valued by Tannese. It is of note, however, that western influence has permeated most regions of the island in some form or another and most villages now live their lives in a duality of “worlds”. Almost all villagers own mobile phones and wear western clothes, and so today, traditional outfits seen in Kastom villages are normally reserved for ceremonies and more formal occasions.

The Importance of Yakel.

The trip to Yakel takes approximately 20 minutes from Blackmantown, and the village itself is centred on a large flat formal meeting area or Nakamal. Yakel has come to the attention of the media back in time as the area surrounding it is the home of the Prince Philip Cargo Cult which still has a small following. It is also the location of the four Tannese travellers that were the centre of the UK television series “Meet the Natives”, centred around the Melanesian tribesmen’s thoughts regarding the modernity that they were exposed to while visiting various families in England, especially how modern UK life contrasted with their own customs and culture. More recently, the village was the setting for the widely acclaimed independent movie “Tanna” which delved into the generational conflict that occurs within communities that observe strict kastom rules.

Contrasts of Island Life.

The tour provides visitors with insights into the contrasts in the way Tannese live, from the distinctly traditional displays found in Kastom villages, through to the more modern remote island adaption to outside influences.