First published: 29/01/18.

Clyde 2.0

Chief Roi Mata's Domain

Chief Roi Mata's Domain (Inscribed)

Chief Roi Mata's Domain by Clyde

I visited this WHS in December 2017. As can be seen my the UNESCO map of the inscribed property, this WHS is actually made up of 3 main locations: Fels Cave on Lelepa Island, Roi Mata's graveyard on Artok (Hat) Island and Roi Mata's Domain, Mangaas, on Efate.

Since I wanted to make sure I could visit the paintings inside Fels Cave and cover all locations easily, I organised a WHS day trip with Atmosphere Tours. After picking me up at my hotel, we headed towards the rather rudimental museum in Port Vila. The most interesting section apart from the masks and chief roi mata sections, was the sand drawing UNESCO intangible world heritage with a live drawing.

Next we headed to Mangaas near Mangaliliu down a steep unpaved road to Roi Mata's domain. From there we crossed over to Roi Mata's graveyard on Artok (Hat) Island with a local guide where we actually walked to the few burial stones and shells. After that, we went to Lelepa Island. After a number of steep stairs, we reached Fels Cave which is only open if you book in advance. The cave is literally disintegrating and eroding at a quick pace. We could actually see constant dust falling from the cave's entrance which already suffered a major collapse during one of the last earthquakes. The rock paintings are immediately visible just after the pile of rocks from the recent collapse. Make sure to bring your own torch with you as everything is pretty rudimental in Vanuatu so don't rely on the local guide's torch if you want to see the paintings in detail. Being quite unsafe, your time inside the cave is really limited and you enter at your own risk but I spent around 20 minutes alone in the cave (apart from the bats) which was quite an experience.

All in all, the only really tangible heritage from chief roi mata's domain is Fels Cave, however if nothing is done to support the ceiling, I'm afraid this WHS will soon be lost. The locals do their utmost to welcome you and they really appreciate foreigners’ interest in their cultural heritage.

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