Village Stay - Hambere Village
Kerrie at the Dive Shop helped set up this two day excursion for me. The purpose of a village stay is to experience first hand life in a real native village. For the first time in my life I slept in a native leaf house - this one actually over the water. I ate my meals as the villagers would - all cooked in a separate building behind my leaf house. I don’t think the rest of the villagers were served quite ike I was or as much as I was - but we ate pretty much the same foods. The view from my veranda as I ate my meals - was petty cool.
The village (set in a quiet bay) has about 80 people in 10/12 structures - all leaf houses. There is no electricity or running water. A small battery is solar charged and a tiny light bulb gives you light for a few hours after dark. There is an outhouse outback for a toilet. They set up a mosquito net over one of the beds for me to sleep. Somewhere in the guide books I’m sure it says to bring insect repellent. I didn’t and paid the price. The sand flies feasted on me and the mosquitos had their way too.
As the sun sets you start to sense the complete tranquility of the village. It's totally dark.