I’d heard of the ritual of drinking kava before I traveled to Vanuatu, but I didn’t realize how pervasive the practice was (particularly among men) until I traveled to the outer reaches of the archipelago.
Made from the emulsified bush-roots of Piper methysticum (roughly, “intoxicating pepper”) and mixed with water before being filtered with a strainer, kava has a calming, euphoriant effect when you drink it. Consumed in outdoor places called “nakamals” (which are also used for traditional ceremonies), kava is often drunk to seal agreements among people and generally bond with one’s fellow kava drinkers.
The kava liquid looks like something you might collect from a mud puddle on a gravel road after a heavy rain, and it has a bitter, faintly peppery taste that numbs the tongue and throat going down. Drunk from a “shell” (often a literal coconut shell, but also plastic or glass bowls), one is instructed not to sip it, but to drink it all in one go.
The footage you see below is from a couple of different nakamals on the island Uripiv over the course of one night. Our host, Numa, was a stately and regal kava drinker — often giving a speech and pouring some out in honor of loved ones before drinking a shell — and he clearly savored the ritual.
So what was it like? Kiki was a tad ambivalent about kava, but I enjoyed its chill, sedative effect, particularly in the evening prior to bedtime. It was a social ritual, typically among groups of men, and unlike bars, which tend to get noisy as people drink, I found nakamals to be quiet, companionable, mediative places.
Note: “Dispatches” are short vignettes, profiles, and mini-essays written and posted from the road, often in tandem with my Instagram account. I don’t host a “comments” section, but I’m happy to hear your thoughts via my Contact page.
Share This
