WE SLEPT IN A JUNGLE TREEHOUSE (overlooking an active volcano)

Is this our treehouse? Up we go.

This is awesome.

We're Karen Nate. We've been traveling the world full time for four years, pursuing our goal of visiting 100 countries. And we are getting so, so close. Last night, we landed in our 99th country of Vanuatu on the main island of Efate. We went straight to bed at an airport hotel, and today we are heading back to the airport.

You know, you've flown into a small country when the road from your hotel to the airport is gravel.

Out of all the South Pacific island nations we could have visit, we chose Vanuatu because we wanted to climb Mount Yassur, which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

So the reason that we're back in the airport so soon is because in order to get to the volcano, we need to fly 40 minutes south to the island of Tana.

So we were supposed to leave about 30 minutes ago, and our flight was delayed because the plane weighed too much, 400kg overweight. So they probably threw our bags off.

Oh, gosh.

I thought this was the plane that we were going to be on, but it's not. It's this. This big one.

40 minutes to time.

I would not have thought 400kg would make a difference on a plane this size.

We just came to the realization that we didn't go through any security before getting on this flight.

Like, I just brought on this giant water bottle. This is the first time in four years that we haven't gone through security before getting on.

Which feels crazy.

We made it.

Welcome to Tana. No security and overweight plane. No problem.

And now to see if our bags made it. I love this baggage claim is literally just a hole in the wall that they stick the bags through.

Yay.

I actually feel guilty that they left our bags on that plane. Can't believe it.

So ride.

So the.

So the main thing that brought us here was the volcano. But the other thing that we're super excited about that here it's traditional for the tribes to build tree houses. So we're going to be living in one for the next three nights.

Yay.

We just have two hours in the back of this truck.

I had no idea what to expect when we landed.

We booked everything last minute, so we're pretty much clueless about everything that's going to happen in the next 72 hours.

Just made it downtown.

So apparently this is one of the only stores on the island. And there's no water at Ultra House, so we need to stop that. It's turning into a party.

Just made A pit stop at the local gas station.

Hello.

According to the reaction of the children, I don't think many foreigners stop here.

And now we're at the local market. All the locals are just sitting outside. Like, all the kids are just playing in the grass. They're beautiful people. I already love it here so much. It's, like, so calm.

Like, everybody.

Everybody's just sitting with their little pile of produce. Nobody's, like, yelling at anyone, trying to get them to buy anything. I haven't really seen anything like this before.

The views just keep getting better, though. It's all just jungle and ocean.

The island of Tana is not that big, and I was curious how it was going to take us two hours to get to our tree house. We just left the pavement behind. It's making a lot more sense now. And the road is, like, turned into volcanic ash.

That is an active volcano.

This is crazy.

I go on a roller coaster.

Is this our tree house? This is our tree house. Oh, my gosh. We just drove down a dirt road for so long. Like, we haven't seen anything else in so long. And this is where we're staying.

This is awesome. Way higher than it looked in the photo. Each one of these steps is about two feet apart.

Oh, my gosh.

Okay, the sun is about to set, so I'm gonna give you a quick tour of our treehouse before it gets dark. Home sweet home. This is our big, comfy bed. We have a mosquito net, a blanket, two towels, and the whole thing is decorated with these fresh flowers from their garden. And that is literally it. Like, there's nothing else here. We're in a wooden tree house and the top of a giant tree with no outlets, no WI fi, no bathroom. I think there's one light.

There's the. There's the cords. Oh, the cords go outside. And I don't think the light switch is in our treehouse. I think it's somewhere down there.

But the best part is definitely our unobstructed view of an active volcano right outside our door. Like, we could just sit out here all day and just watch the smoke. Like, I can see the smoke coming out of it right now.

This has to be one of the most simple but most awesome places that we've ever stayed.

We walked out of the airport having.

No idea that we were getting in a truck for two hours.

I think the one word that comes to mind is, right raw. Like, everything has been so raw and real. Nothing is set up for tourism. We got in the truck, and she didn't Tell us, like, if we were making any stops or what we were doing. And we ended up making like 20 stops on the way here, like dropping off groceries for other people at villages.

I think it's one of the most primitive places we've ever been. I mean, there are definitely, like some concrete structures that we passed for, but for the most part, it looks. Looks like people are living in, like.

Bamboo huts and tree houses.

People are living in a structure similar to what we're staying in tonight.

Our whole way here, we didn't pass anything commercial. Everything was local.

It's rainforest and volcano as far as you can see. Like, has kind of like this tribal feel. Like, I feel like an explorer right now. That's what I feel like. And that's what I've, like, always wanted to be. It's like a real explanation. Explorer. I said I feel like an explorer. We've got two massive suitcases, all of our electronics. We got in the car. Somebody took us exactly where we needed to be. We're not really. We're not really exploring, but like just the. The setting that we're in feels that way. Do we know where the bathroom is?

Yeah, I think she said it was down there.

And this is our bath house. So this building has a toilet and a shower. Here's the toilet, believe it or not. There's a flushing toilet and toilet paper in this little bamboo building. And the shower, there's only one nozzle, so I'm assuming that means there's no hot water, which I feel like is okay in the jungle. Just feels right. And here's the cute little outdoor sink. We have running water, soap, and once again, decorated with all of their flowers. I love it here.

Dinner time. So there's a family who lives here who manages this property, and they made us this beautiful meal. We have rice, chicken, veggies, some kind of root juice, and bananas. And we're the only ones here. I'm so happy. This is so fun.

We are watching the. The moon rise.

This is awesome.

As we sat in our treehouse watching the fiery red smoke billow from the crater of the volcano, we were reminded why we're still traveling four years after leaving home.

It seems like no matter how many places we visit, there's always something new, something awe inspiring that makes it worth continuing the journey to the next destination.

Good morning. From the middle of the jungle. For breakfast, we have peanut butter sandwiches. Just bread and peanut butter. You can put some bananas on them and good old coffee.

On our plane ride on the way here, we watched this movie called Tana, and it was this beautiful love story that's actually based on a true story. And it gave us such a good picture of what life was like here on this island as recently as the late 1900s. It was such a good movie and we totally recommend it. But we were talking to our host this morning, and she said that it was filmed at a village just a 10 minute walk from here. So we're gonna go check it out.

The steps are so big, it's really.

Hard to look cool.

I don't think there's any graceful way to do that.

So scratch all of that. The village where the movie was filmed is actually two hours on the other side of the island. Still a great movie. You should still go watch it. And we're still going to a local village. It's just a different one that's right down the hill.

Apparently the entrance to the village is through a giant banyan tree. And we've just met up with our local guy, J.

Oh, my gosh. Did you know that was gonna happen?

She literally hit me with a stick and ran away. All those people just came out of nowhere. It was so quiet. I didn't see anyone. And I was like, are we here? And then, boom. Whoo. Okay. What a welcome. Or unwelcome.

I feel like I just got a glimpse of what Captain Cook felt like showing up to the island in the 1700s.

Apparently this is a hidden trap. You gonna go first this time?

Is somebody hiding under here? Are they gonna jump out and grab me?

Oh, this one's stuck.

And they're off.

And they're gone again.

You.

Well, that was not at all what I was expecting. Much more of a show than a visit to a local village, but entertaining nonetheless.

They were good actors. They actually terrified me. And then once I realized I wasn't going to be killed, I would, like, smile at everyone and try to get them to stop. Smile back. And no one ever did. They stayed in character the whole time.

From the moment we walked through the tree, I was just like, what is happening right now?

There was no explanation.

Literally, we just walked. They jumped out at us a bunch of different times. We went into a little hut which is where the. The chief slept. Hello. This is much more of local life.

So to clarify, they did tell us at the end, like, this was an act. This isn't how they actually live, but it is how they used to be. Like in the movie we watched, like, that's how it was.

But before we showed up, we. We were told we were going to visit a local village. That's what was going through our head as we were walking through. We are going to end this video here because in just a couple hours, we finally get to do what we came here for. The volcano that we watched smoke all night last night. We are going to stand at the rim of the crater and look down into lava.

It's Al.

Is my face dirty?

It's just. It's just black right now.

Just got a little volcanic ash on my face. This is nuts. Oh, gosh. Why does that always happen to me? All you can hear right now are the kids playing in the garden and the security and the American jelly at.

The camera talking to themselves like weirdos.

I thought I would feel scared up here being, like, on an actual tree, but it's just so cool. Like, I'm not even scared.

Why would you do that.

Man? My last bite of banana fell on the ground.

My last bite of banana.

Well, I bite for Lana. That. Oh, it's fine.

Secret temple.

I can go see it?

Yeah, you will. Follow him.

Okay, let's go see the secret temple.

How do I look? Normal for the intake. Yes, sir. I'm following the rules in this village.