Sir David Attenborough Redux Revisited! Yes, It’s Time For This Special Video. A Video With Some Unique POV Perspectives Never Seen Or Filmed Before. Nagol, Nangol, Nanggol, Naghol Or Nanghol… We Call It Just Gol In Sa Language. The Spectacular Southern Pentecost Kastom Celebration That Takes Place Only During The Yam Harvesting Ceremonies. You Probably Know It As Land Diving & It Is The Instigator To Bungee Jumping. This Kastom Is Unique In The World & Only Takes Place Here In Vanuatu. The Period Of The Year This Happens Starts In April, Goes Into May & Finishes Late June, Occasionally Early July. So Timing Is Key If You Plan On Visiting. We Would Recommend June. In This Video We Follow More Than The Usual 5 Minute Bucket List Moment That Happens In The Space Of An Hour Long Package Tour. We Would Strongly Urge & Recommend That You Take The Time To Visit For A Week & See All The Work That Is The Foundation To This Kastom. Fast Tourism Detracts From The Traditions & Cheapens Our Deep Fascinating Cultural Heritage. Coming For Just The Dessert Means You Ignore The Steak & Potatoes. There Any Many Towers Belonging To Different Villages, All In Sight Of The Ocean. This One Is Filmed At Lonwey Village Who Have Usually 2 Active Towers. The Welcoming People Of Lonwey Will Be Happy To Show You Behind The Scenes & Explain All The Intricacies Of The Ceremony. You Can Learn, See & Experience Vine Cutting From High Up In The Trees & The Building Of The Tower & Individual Launch Platforms Using Traditional Methods. The Names Of The Special Materials Used Like The Vine Oafuro Or The White Wood Burao. The Jungle Nearby Is Beautifully Lush & Without Any Evil Fauna. Jif Ra-Gatian Toffo, (568 7068), Is An Excellent Host & Above All A Walking Encyclopedia Of All The Lost Secrets Of Ancient Kastom. An Anthropologist’s Dream. The Village Speaks Mainly French & Bislama But You’ll Find Some Who Can Translate Into English. We Can Arrange All This At Nagol Bungalows As We Are Just Down The Road. Prices Vary & Negotiation Is Permitted. Best Ask Ahead. Remember, If You Climb The Tower You Must Jump, Even This Can Be Arranged! (Video: Mimic Suits)
More Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_diving#Ritual
there’s another island called Pentecost and we heard that on that island and even more spectacular ceremony was to take place one of the most spectacular of all ceremonies are the South Seas so we sailed across the Narrows Strait in a canoe and came to a long silver sand beach and there we camped we had no difficulty in finding out where the ceremony was to take place because people who were preparing for it passed us all day long carrying bundles of vines all we had to do was to follow only half a mile from the coast we came to a clearing in the forest it was on a steep hillside and there at the head of it stood the half-built are already it was over 60 feet high and several more stories were yet to be added to the top the men had been working on it for nearly a fortnight and it would take another three days of work before it would be complete [Music] at the base of the tower the clearing was being enlarged to provide a landing ground for the jumpers the stumps too had to be dug up so that the falling diver wouldn’t brain himself on the letter the tar was now so high that although it had been built around a locked tree which had been left standing the top parts of it had to be guide with vines to stop the whole construction from toppling [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] each jumper will dive from a separate platform which has to be built projecting from the front of the tower I had imagined that every man who was going to jump would supervise the construction of his own platform to make sure that it was built correctly and safely but in fact this wasn’t the case everybody helped with the work when the platform’s were complete each one of them was carefully covered with banana leaves to prevent it from becoming wet and slippery if there were a rainstorm before the time for the ceremony arrived [Music] [Music] [Applause] looking down from the top most point of the tower the tiny doll-like figures on the ground seemed a very very long way away now came the last stage of the preparations the cutting of the vines which will be tied around the ankles at each divert these vines dangle from the branches of almost every tree as they do in all tropical forests but the pentecost men were very particular as to which sort they cut for only one kind is sufficiently strong and sufficiently pliable to be used in the ceremony [Applause] this particular vine is too thick at the base to serve as a jumping rope but the man has cut it for the sake of the thinner top section the vines must be cut exactly one day before the ceremony takes place if they’re cut earlier they dry out lose their natural elasticity instinct and may break when they’re finally used in the jumping nearly all the men had been working on the tower we’re in the forest occupied with this task for there were to be 25 jumpers each of whom would require two vines one for each ankle so that all in all five thousand feet of vine had to be gathered they were hung in pairs from each platform so that they dangled freely down the front of the tower [Music] [Applause] they had to be accurately measured for Lance for if they were too long then the diver would hit the ground at full speed and probably kill himself and if they were too short then he’ll be left suspended in midair but the assessment of their length is not easy for not only well the twisted curling vines stretch considerably under the strain of the jump but the platforms are so made that they will collapse and hinge downwards as the vines tighten there by acting as additional shock absorbers all this must be allowed for in measuring them lastly the ends of the vines were afraid to make them pliable so that they could be securely tied around the divers ankles [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the ground at the base of the tower was given a final digging to make it soft when the men went home that evening all was complete the tasseled ends of the vines had been carefully bundled in the wrapping of leaves soft stems of banana palms had been tied to the bottom Timbers of the tower to cushion them in case a diver should swing and crash against them the vines hung free like a monstrous shock of hair and the towers stood deserted and silent in the forest a hundred feet high after a fortnight of preparation all was ready the ceremony would start the next morning soon after dawn the following day the festival began many of these people had come from the interior of the island many hours march distant at least 20 of them will jump before the end of the day all of them danced back and forth on a specially cleared space behind the tower some carrying the Scarlet leaves of the sacred Croton apart [Music] [Applause] almost immediately a young boy together with his two assistants climbed into the tower to take up his position for the first dive he was going to jump from one of the lowest platforms yet even so he would be over 40 feet from the ground [Applause] his helpers pulled up the vines that were to be fastened around his ankles [Music] [Applause] [Applause] touching the red Croton leaves in his hand he walked forward to face his trial of courage [Applause] [Applause] without a pause a second diver left the ranks of the dancers [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] one after another they die each man jumping from a platform higher up the tower every diver takes with him a relative who carries a sprig of leaves which give an extremely painful sting should the courage of the diver shows signs of failing his relative standing behind him will thrash himself with these stinging leaves crying out with pain until the man is shamed into jumping [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] by midday men were diving from over 70 feet but with each successive jump the strain on the vines becomes greater and the danger of their breaking more likely [Applause] boo the vines had broken yet miraculously the jumper himself was uninjured if a man having undertaken to jump refuses to do so at the last moment the shame on him and his family is immense and he will have to pay the community a fine of many pigs to remove the block from his character [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] well now at last the climax of the whole festival approached this man climbing the tower will jump from the topmost platform a hundred feet above the ground [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause]