Underveis amongst cannibals

MALEKULA, VANUATU: - They will love your white skin, our man says, smilingly, showing off his long, yellow teeth and looking at us with blood-shot eyes. We are on our way to the island of Malekula in the Vanuatu-archipelago, to look for the last cannibal.

Nakamal
Later on, another chief, Eric, shows us the place where they would dispose of the bones and skins after their cannibal feasts, and the place where they cooked their victims. The place is called “nakamal”, a place that is taboo for people who have not been formally allowed to enter it. We are not, of course, but when we are going there with the chief, we are safe from the spirits that guard the nakamal. The recipe for cooking someone, was simple. After the victim had been clubbed to death, arms and legs were cut up in pieces, and everything put in an earth oven furnished with palm- r bananaleaves. There, the meat was cooked until it was done. With bones, skin and hair.
- This place has been used by my ancestors for sacrificing humans from time immemorial, Eric says, and shows us stone walls so old that no one knows who built them. Very few people from outside the village have seen this place before us, and we feel both privileged and disgusted at the sight, and at the thought of what must have taken place here, up until for just a few decades ago.

Presents
In the evenings, my travel companion Finn Olav, organizes shows with spewing flames and juggling burning sticks. All the children, and all the village, gathers to watch in awe. We listen to them telling the century-old stories of their culture, and we tell them some of our old Norse and Viking stories. It is customary to exchange presents in the Pacific. We give them a large bag of fishing equipment, writing books for the children, an old knife, a torch and many other things. When you own few items on this earth, you learn to appreciate what you have, and even our plastic water bottles with sportscaps, are well received as gifts. After a week and a half among once-was cannibals, time has come for us to say good bye and catch another boat back to the capital Port Vila. With a luggage of splendid memories, we set our course back to Port Vila, Coca-Cola and cold beers.