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Vanuatu
A few years ago, we were planning a trip to Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, and decided to take a detour to visit the island nation of Vanuatu, and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful and refreshing experiences of my life. The main draw is the natural beauty and picturesque beaches, but compared to touristy places like Hawaii, it's way more secluded, and you definitely get the feeling of going "off the beaten path". I don't remember seeing a single traffic light in the whole country.It also has some of the friendliest people I've ever met, which is unsurprising, given that in the past, Vanuatu was deemed one of the happiest countries in the world based on the Happy Planet Index.
Here's some of the things we did in just a few days (although, realistically, you can do almost all of these in one day because the country is so small):
Swam with giant sea turtles and reef sharks at Turtle Bay:
Took a small boat out to this tiny, private island and had a picnic. The island was only about 100m wide, and we were literally the only people on it.
Walked up waterfalls at Mele Cascades:
Rope swinger into the Blue Lagoon:
Checked out the local market in the capital city, Port Vila, where you can get fresh fried fish or roasted chicken on top of mashed taro or sweet potatoes:
And ended the day with sunsets like this:
We only went to the island of Efate, but if you also visit the island of Tanna, you can see Mt. Yasur, the world's most accessible active volcano.
