Fiji continues to be full of surprises. The first was a bit of a disappointment — seems we would not be visiting Dravuni Island as planned, that stop changed to Fiji’s second biggest island, Vanua Levu, specifically at the port of Savusavu. Bummer, but at least we traded one port for one port, not two ports for extended time at to already-planned ports.
On our first day in Suva, most of the group went with Lily (the guide from Lautoka) to find the local caches and do a few other things. June and I chose an excursion that I would might be generous enough to rate a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. But first we took a taxi to the Fijian president’s house to log a virtual cache.
Then we returned to the ship for our tour which was advertised as something like “Explore by Longboat.” Naturally I assumed that this meant we would spend the majority (or at least the plurality) of our time on a longboat. Now, the word longboat has many different interpretations, and I will grant that the longboats we were on were indeed longer than they were wide. But they were 4-passenger water taxis. And we were on them for two very short rides. Short as in about 5 minutes each. At least I had the good fortune to be in the front seat on both rides.
We were warned to “please do take care of yourself footstepping” which I found an endearing way to say “watch where you step.”
The first highlight of the visit to the church — which supposedly was buried deep in the tour description but I missed it — was my choice to skip out on that part of the tour to go outside in the heat and humidity … for which I was rewarded by getting to see a Pacific kingfisher (bird). The other highlight was a nearby building with an interesting geometric paint design on it so we went to investigate it — and had the delightful chance to meet a man who used to teach agricultural engineering in Fiji but now works in Australia; we was to return to Australia the next day which may have explained why his 9th grade son and 3rd grade daughter seemed a bit clingy and shy when we spoke. The careful reader may note that neither highlight was an actual part of the tour.
After our second short longboat ride, we drove to a village which was interesting. There was music to welcome us and it was impressively upbeat for such an equatorial location (in my admittedly limited experience, hot places tend to have slower music and less active dancing). The village had 105 homes and 435 people who cam from 5 different clans. Many of the residents joined us.
The program started with a Kava ceremony. This is a ceremony where the guests are welcomed into the family (more on that below).
Then there was some entertainment with Fijian songs and dancing. After that we were informed that we needed to participate, “if you don’t come the Fijians will get you.” I was “gotten” by a nice 12-ish year old girl named Sivo — I think because I was probably the youngest person in the tour group. Initially a younger child was with us too. At the end of the dance Sivo gave me a high five, and I returned to my seat. Another dance started almost immediately, and Sivo made a bee-line for me; after the second dance Sivo hugged me (I later suspected it was a play for money since Sivo very much wanted to walk me back to the bus which I declined). Then the villagers did a dance for us and Sivo caught my eye (she’s in the red top and striped skirt). And the “refreshments” we were promised turned out to be a soda and a small packaged chocolate chip cookie — not exactly a nutritious or filling meal.
On the return trip we saw — but I did not photograph — cows sitting under palm trees. Some of the cows even had birds on their backs.
A very disappointing excursion, though I admit I’m spoiled by the many wonderful travel experiences I’ve had. On the positive side, the sunset was beautiful!
The second day in Suva was much better! June and I went on a tour called “The Jewel of Fiji” which involved a longboat ride — announced as what seemed to be a fairly accurate 45 minutes and in a boats that could reasonably be called longboats. It started with a long bus ride during which the group needed to identity a “chief” and after no one volunteered I chose to be very brave.
The lush scenery as we went upstream and through several sections of rapids looked like it was right out of a travel brochure — plenty of volcanic tree-covered hills, lots of green, people swimming and fishing in the river, gorgeous blue sky, clear water, a few small waterfalls.
We left the boats, walked maybe ten minutes on a narrow path that in places had bags of flour to step on and occasionally ropes to hold onto … and reached a stunning waterfall! Tall, the sound of rushing water, and a fantastic swimming hole with emerald green water. Ah, this is why I travel! The water was a wee bit chilly to get in, but delightfully refreshing once I was in. I tried to swim close to the waterfalls but the current was quite strong and the spray from the waterfall was not entirely pleasant. That said, the time at the waterfall rivaled the time in the Blue Hole in Vanuatu as one of the best water experiences in a long time. Needless to say, I was one of the left to get out (surprise!).
The only disappointment was that someone picked up my sunglasses while I was swimming.
We then returned by boat to the area where we’d parked. Going downstream was a bit faster, and the rapids even more fun. Time for the Kava ceremony. This village was a bit more “professional” (the “tiles” were on the ceiling) but, like the first village, they sang and danced with joy, and wholeheartedly welcomed us. The singing and some of the dancing was coed, the videos below are of short segments of the single-sex dances.
Kava itself is (as I later learned) a bit of a topical anesthetic made from, surprise, the root of the Kava plant. It’s mixed with water in a wooden bowl, then poured into a coconut shell which is the drinking vessel.
First the chief of the visiting group drinks it, then the chief (and others) of the host group drink it. I was offered “low tide, high tide, or tsunami” and I knew enough to request low tide but the chief from the other bus naively I chose tsunami so he had to drink three or four times what I did. The Kava tasted like muddy water, but then I was surprised — and a bit worried — that my mouth felt numb. I kept monitoring my breathing which was fine, and after the end of the ceremony I asked the leader if that was normal which is when I learned that Kava is a topical anesthetic.
Lunch was homemade and delicious, particularly a stir-fry noodle dish. After lunch there was a call for a pair of purple prescription sunglasses (mine) and they were returned.
Fantastic day! And such a different experience from the first day in Suva!
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