AMBRYM ISLAND – the land before time

Ambrym is a place for the adventurous traveller seeking a real island experience. It is a place of culture, spirituality and adventure and the people are warm, friendly and welcoming.

Ambrym is considered Vanuatu’s sorcery centre famous for its black magic. The North of Ambrym is famous for some of the best wood carvings in the Pacific, the mysterious Rom dance and for its easy access to Mt Marum and Mt Benbow volcanoes.

Culture There is still a strong custom culture present on Ambrym Island and many spiritual beliefs. The sacred custom of the North is that there is no fishing, hunting or other activities from 1 September – 31 December during the Yam planting season. Volcano trips are only available from the South during these months

The island is also home to the powerful and mysterious Rom dance. Dancers wear brightly coloured masks and hide beneath a clock made from dried banana leaves. A giant carved wooden gong known as a ‘tam tam’ provides a rhythmic beat to accompany the stomping and chanting of the dances. This enchanting dance has been performed since the dawn of time.

Ambrym is also famous for their good quality wood carvings which are sold internationally. Only some men have the right to make the carvings and must pay the right with pigs and money. Tamtams or slit gongs in the north have from 1-5 faces, which are long, huge disc like eyes, big nose and long hollowed out slits that enable them to be used as drums. They were originally used to send coded messages as well as forming a beat for ceremonies such as the Rom dance. Today, they often represent ancestral figures.

Most tamtams are made from the wood of the breadfruit tree and they require much patience and skill. It takes approximately 160 hours to produce a 2.5m tamtam with a single face.

Volcanoes Arctic core samples verify that a thousand years ago it erupted with such force, thirty cubic kilometres of earth ejected into the atmosphere, altering the planet's climate for the next three years. The now collapsed caldera in the island's centre is twelve kilometres across! On the edge of the caldera, two active cones, now named Mount Benbow and Mount Marum, sit side by side. Ambrym remains volcanically active, the last major eruption in 1913 killed hundreds and opened a fracture line across the island from East to West in a staggering series of blown out craters. Today, Benbow and Marum volcanoes still rumble away and smaller vents and fractures ooze steam and lava.

Wildlife Ambrym is home to some fascinating wildlife including the endemic Vanuatu Megapode (Namalao), dugongs and turtles.

The Vanuatu megapode Megapodius layardi is considered as Vulnerable, according to the IUCN red list category, because it is thought to have a small population that is likely to decline. The bird is extremely wary. It may often be heard, usually early and late in the day, but it is difficult to observe. Megapodes use external heat sources to incubate their eggs. Locals harvest them throughout the year except for the newly introduced 4 month taboo season.

The birds are small, black with naked red faces. Their call is a wail followed by a series of chuckles lasting 4-5 seconds.

The North coast of Ambrym also offers good snorkeling opportunities to view dugongs, large sea turtles and a myriad of brilliant coloured fish.

Dugongs inhabit the warm tropical waters and are considered vulnerable to extinction. They feed almost exclusively on sea grass. North Ambrym has a beautiful natural spring where turtles and dugongs often frequent.

For spectacular photos and information on the geology of Ambrym and it's volcanoes, please see our educational section on  Volcanoes - Ambrym.