We visited two ports in New Caledonia, which is a semi-autonomous French territory. The differences were stark, which helped us understand the guerilla war that has been simmering in New Caledonia. Lifou Island, which we visited on March 20, 2025, is native and rural, and wants independence. Noumea, the capital, which we visited on March 21, 2025, feels like a European city, with excellent roads, elegant museums, and expensive housing areas. Noumea would prefer to be part of France. There are valuable nickel deposits in New Caledonia, which makes France want to keep this territory.
Each of our two Lifou Island tours began with the gift of a wreath for our heads.
Our morning tour was of a regional vanilla collective. As an avid cook, I know that there are many qualities of vanilla extract, and that some of the best come from Tahiti and Madagascar. New Caledonia also prides itself on its vanilla. Small farmers grow vanilla beans and bring them to this collective to be processed and then sent to Noumea for the final processing and sale.
Our young guide led us around the small demonstration garden near the collective, and then showed the steps the collective takes to process the raw vanilla beans. He also told us his political views, including that New Caledonia would be better off independent, rather than as a territory of France. As I listened to this wiry, educated young man speak, I remembered that guerilla movements are often led and joined by educated, under-employed young men. They are still idealistic in this disillusioning world.
We saw vanilla vines, with the vanilla beans hanging off them. Each of us was given a bean as a souvenir.
We also saw land crabs climbing poles in the garden.
New Caledonians eat the crabs.
The vanilla beans are dried and cured, and then sent to Noumea to be made into extract or vanilla paste.
In the afternoon we took a guided nature walk through the jungle. We crawled down into a small cave and watched our guide check her traps for land crabs. Our guide spoke limited English, moved slowly, and the cave was more of a big hole than a tourist attraction. I heard one member of our group grumble, "For this I paid $100?" Personally, I found the tour charming and "real." I wanted an authentic native New Caledonian to tell me how she used the plants and animals in her jungle, and she did.
We followed our guide along a dirt trail in the jungle as she pointed to various leaves and branches, telling us how they were made into teas or ointments to cure diseases.
Dave's t-shirt featuring a bear and the words, "Dawson City, Yukon" looked incongruous as he wore his wreath of vines and made his way over the roots and rocks on the jungle trail.
Our guide pointed to a hole in the undergrowth and encouraged us to crawl inside.
The cave was not Carlsbad Caverns or even Timpanogas Cave, but it did have a few stalagtites and was delightfully cool on this muggy, tropical day. Crawling down into the hole was the type of thing I do and David regards with incomprehension that anyone would do it.
Our guide opened the trap and showed us the land crabs she had caught. They would make a great dinner.
We finished the tour with a drink of punch and some fresh fruit served by this pretty young lady.
The beaches and sea around Lifou Island were gorgeous.
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