We typically organize our travel memories chronologically. But on this trip, we wanted to add an extra post for the Turtlebay Lodge. It was a constant source of joy for us during our time on Santo, and we think this warrants some special treatment.

The Turtlebay was the 19th place we’ve stayed on our summer adventure.

Here, we had two adjoining rooms with a door between them. We also shared a large porch, which you can see behind the girls above. Each room had a queen-sized bed, a bathroom, and a kitchenette with a mini fridge. Our rooms faced the ocean, where waves broke on old coral. (I get no kickbacks, dear reader, but I’m trying to encourage you to go.) Here’s what we saw walking out of rooms (at low tide).

From our rooms, it was a short walk down to the restaurant, where we had all of our meals.

Part of what makes the Turtlebay so beautiful is the natural setting. Here’s how the tiny resort and surrounding area look today.

The lodge is in the red circle. Here’s what the area looked like in 2004.

So, 20 years ago, there was simply nothing there but trees.

As we’ve said in previous posts, the food at the restaurant was fantastic. Every morning, we started with a platter of fresh fruit.

Every other aspect of the lodge pleased us. One of the things we’d worried about in traveling so far off the beaten track was the water. We’d assumed that we’d be drinking bottled water for the week in Santo. But the tap water at the Turtlebay is wonderful, coming from the deep fresh water aquifer that underlies Santo.

It’s worth mentioning again the resources that the lodge provided us for our adventures, including the buggy, masks, snorkels, fins, dry bags, water shoes, and kayaks. The kitchen made us picnic lunches in little lunchboxes that we enjoyed on beaches and river banks. Even the little store they have onsite was helpful, offering reef-safe waterproof sunscreen that the pale Hubbards desperately needed.

One of the best facets of our stay was undoubtedly the people. They were some of the friendliest, warmest folks we’ve ever encountered in our traveler, from Mick’s top-notch scuba expertise, chatty nature, and easy laugh to Vicki’s organizational masterminding to Yvanah’s quiet kindness to George’s affable companionship. The Turtlebay team took great care of us every day, such as when Angie sorted out our flight troubles for us, pulling all the right ni-Vanuatu levers behind the scenes. We got to know many of the staff by name, including Dave, Dickson, Frank, Helen, and Valentine. On our last night, we asked Dickson to thank the chefs for us for all the great meals. In response, the three chefs came out of the kitchen to meet us. We liked every single person who worked at the Turtlebay.

And we will miss Ralph, the lodge dog.

I’m not saying that the Turtlebay was perfect, but it was perfect for us. It had our kind of smooth spots and our kind of rough edges.

There are a few places that Julie and I have visited that that have resonated with something deep inside us — special places like the Cotswold town of Woodstock in the UK (2017), the Motu Aito Pension on the island of Fakarava in French Polynesia (2003), and the Gubenare Lodge in the Okavango Delta in Botswana (2001). To this short list we’ve added the Turtlebay Lodge in Santo.

All of the staff at the Turtlebay wear similar shirts with a Bislama phrase on the back — “Isi Nomo.” We asked Mick what this meant, and he said it’s basically the Vanuatu version of “Hakuna Matata.” I dug into it a little bit to understand what the words mean, since Bislama has roots in English. “Isi” is straightforward. It means “easy.” “Nomo” is a little harder. As near as I can tell, it means “enough,” such as when someone is giving you food and you have enough — you might say “no more,” hence the Bislama word “nomo.” So, easy is enough. Whether you’re trying to decide if you need shoes for horseback riding or whether your Air Vanuatu flight is going to be canceled. But I also know that this is one of those pop-philosophical views that makes so much sense on vacation but soon fades with your suntan. I hope that thinking back on our time in Vanuatu will give us little isi nomo booster shots.

Time is precious. Easy is enough.

-Will