Lelepa

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Lelepa
Location of Lelepa on the north coast of Efate
Location of Lelepa on the north coast of Efate
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago New Hebrides
Geographical location 17 ° 35 '54 "  S , 168 ° 12' 44"  E Coordinates: 17 ° 35 '54 "  S , 168 ° 12' 44"  E
Lelepa (Vanuatu)
Lelepa
length 5 km
surface 1.6 km²
Highest elevation 202  m
Residents 500
313 inhabitants / km²
main place Natapao

Lelepa (or Lélépa ) is an island in the southwestern Pacific island state of Vanuatu . It belongs to the New Hebrides and is off the northwest coast of the island of Efate .

Lelepa has a diameter of almost five kilometers in a north-south direction, an area of ​​160 hectares, the highest point is the 202 m high Mt. Tifit. About 500 people live on Lelepa. The largest town on the island is Natapao, which is located on the southern edge and has 350 inhabitants. At the northern end of the island is the village of Lelo. There is a school, a kindergarten and two churches (Presbyterian Church and Seven-day Adventist Church) on the island.

Together with the northeastern neighboring island of Moso and Efate, Lelepa forms the natural harbor Havannah Harbor , named after the British ship HMS Havannah , which anchored there twice in 1849/50.

Rock cave

Entrance to Fels Cave

On the southwest side of the island is the Fels Cave (the name Falesa denotes a cave in the Nakanamanga language, Fels or Feles is a local dialect variant). There are numerous rock drawings up to 3000 years old . Since 2008, the cave as part of is Chief Roi Mata's Domain is a world heritage of UNESCO .

According to legend, the chief chief Roi Mata died in this cave towards the end of the 16th century. From its entrance you have a direct view of Eretoka , where he was buried. In other legends, the cave was the residence of the first bearer of the title Chief Roi Mata.

Fels Cave, 22 meters above sea level, opens up to a height of 35 meters after an entrance 6 meters high. Its diameter is approx. 50 meters and the floor plan is approximately round. The surrounding rock, locally called fta , consists of volcanic breccia and pumice stone . It is protected from erosion by overlying limestone from the earlier reef raised above the water surface .

Cave painting in rock cave. The right figure is often associated with Chief Roi Mata identified
Natapao town center

Except for the back wall, which is in the dark, all walls are covered with cave paintings at head height , and in some cases they even cover each other. The oldest of them are red spots and handprints, probably from the first millennium BC. They can be assigned to the Lapita culture . Most of the illustrations, however, are black line drawings. Among them, too, there are those that are 1500 years old, but most of them were made much later; the most recent dating points to the 18th century. The representations show birds, fish and anthropomorphic figures. Abstract motifs are simple and complex geometric figures such as angles, triangles and diamonds . According to tradition, the greatest human representation is identified with Roi Mata.

In some places there are long rows of round depressions carved into the rock, as they are known from other parts of Oceania.

Excavations have revealed no evidence that the cave was ever inhabited. In the event of an earthquake, it is regularly endangered by falling rocks. Most recently, part of the entrance area collapsed in a severe earthquake in 2002.

For the residents of Lelepa, the cave is considered a tapu . According to their imagination, after the death of a person, his soul wanders into the Fels Cave. It is said that you can then find their footprints at the entrance. Occasionally, the tradition is still followed to sweep this area after a death and then look for the footsteps the next morning.

tourism

Lelepa Beach
Typical house on the outskirts of Natapao

Fels Cave has attracted European visitors since the 19th century. In the entrance area of ​​the cave there are graffiti by travelers that go back to 1874.

The community of Natapau runs a travel company that brings day visitors to the island by canoe. The island achieved great fame through the opening sequence of the US reality television show Survivor , in which the candidates are greeted on Lelepa Beach. The actual jungle camp, however, was on Efate near Mangaliliu.

Web links

Commons : Lelepa Island  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files