Fiji

Hello Everyone!

We were not able to write sooner because we have been on an island …actually, 2 islands…without electricity, phones, etc. (I'll get to that later) for the last 17 days.

Our first day in Fiji we met a couple from Austria - Peter and Helga. They are also doing a RTW trip and are 6 months into their journey. They are in their late 40's / early 50's. They're both teachers. They're taking advantage of a new program in Austria for teachers where they can take 1 year off for travel …they simply get 75% of their salary for the next 4 years (and still get paid for the year off, plus keep their benefits). Don't you wish they had more programs like that in the U.S.??!! We hung out with them in Lautoka - visited the food markets and tourist office. The food market was really neat…they have all kinds of spices - every color you can think of…mostly Indian spices (I got some beautiful photos of the spices). Fiji is about 50% Indian …they seem to own most of the businesses. In general, they also try to rip you off a lot. I know that sounds awful, but that's how we saw it.

Fiji has around 300 islands (I had NO idea!). We decided to go off the mainland and stay on one of the islands - called Nacula (it's part of the Yasawa island group). We took a sea plane out to Turtle Island (Lon got to play co-pilot), then did a boat transfer out to Nacula. We had some awesome views from the sea plane. This place is SO different from anything I've seen. It's like a combination of Survivor/Castaway/Gilligan's Island/Blue Lagoon. We stayed at the Nabua Lodge. It consists of 4 beach bures (small single room thatched huts) and one dormitory. It sleeps 14 people total…it's very SMALL. We stayed in one of the beach bures. We would wake up in the morning with the sunrise (yes, I was actually up early everyday!), and I'd look out at the aqua-blue ocean…and think, "this is too good to be true". We'd go for a morning swim and then lounge in the hammock. LIFE IS GOOD! The sunsets were the finishing touches on the beautiful days. We had a full moon the first week we were there. We had excellent weather...it only rained for 3 days (on and off) the whole time we were there. I got a really pretty photo of a rainbow!

There was quite an international group - many from England, a couple from Holland, a guy from Ireland, another couple from Wales. They are all doing RTW trips and most of them are halfway done or finishing up. We've gotten a lot of good tips from them. (Hello to Kelly, Sofia, Caroline, Bryn, Elly, Richard, Mervyn, Rhiannon, and Gwern if you're reading this!) They were a great group of people! Kelly was the other Yankee in the group…she's from Wasington D.C. and is a very experienced traveler (an impressive Peace Corp. background). She had some great stories! I especially liked your pet monkey story! Sofia was from Sweden…a very fun-loving, genuine person. Caroline and Bryn were from England …and after having spent many days in Nabua, they were the DARKEST Brits we've ever seen. They really went native. Bryn was pretty much an expert on the Fijian Island lifestyle…he could have probably joined the village if he wanted. Just a little more time there and you could have speared that lobster, Bryn! Elly and Richard were from Holland. Elly was very nice and she took good care of Richard…killed the bugs and escorted him in the dark (O.K. - Richard didn't have his glasses). Richard provided the entertainment - he played guitar everyday. Even the local children stopped and sang with him on the beach. He could also dish it out as good as he got it! Thank you guys for making the first stop on our journey that much more memorable!

I have taken so many pictures!! This place is a paradise. The beach is white sand and the water is a clear, aqua blue…and there's a coral reef just 200 yards away with the most colorful fish (parrot fish, clown fish, angel fish, brown puffer with blue spots, and a million other fish that I have no idea what they are)… and there are these large purple starfish everywhere! Too bad my camera doesn't work underwater. There is no electricity (except they do have a generator that they turn on for 2 hours after sundown for the dining area). Coconuts fall out of the trees everyday…there's no telling when or where one might fall, so I always try to stay away from the trees w/ coconuts. The shower is outdoors and the toilet is also. It's so wild to take a shower outdoors, look up and see blue sky and palm trees!!

The people on the island communicate by radio to the other islands. Since we had no light, I really used my flashlight a lot (thank you, Abbyann)!! We drank rainwater (so far, no problems…I wouldn't try that back home). Vitili, part of Nabua's staff, tried to show me how to weave a basket from a palm tree.

There are several small villages on the island …with a total of 945 people…complete with a chief! The chief also rules over 2 other islands nearby. We are not allowed to go into the village (Naisisili village) …only if accompanied by a local. One night we actually heard drums beating!! Talk about a different life style!!

Our lodge was invited to go into the village one day for a "show". The women had to wear long skirts (I had to borrow a sarong) and no one was allowed to wear hats. They gave the women plumeria flower necklaces and had the men join their Kava circle. We all joked about how they were really planning to eat us! Believe it or not, Fiji outlawed cannibalism in the late 1800's. They put on a very nice dance and played music for us. It's strange to see the mixture of traditional dress with a Raiders T-shirt. The children of the village leave every Sunday by boat to another island for boarding school…they return Friday evening. Overall, the island people are very friendly.

The Kava circles are kind of strange. They grind up the roots of the Kava plant and put it in a cloth, then pour water over it and soak the cloth for a few minutes. When the Kava is offered to you, you clap your hands once, drink it, then clap 3 times when you're done to show respect. It tastes like dirty water and leaves your tongue and gums numb. Kava is actually a narcotic …but we didn't see any pink elephants - and we sure drank enough of it. It's sold in the U.S. as a supplement…for it's calming effect.

Most days we had rice and curry for lunch and dinner. However, we'd have a nice BBQ once in a while. One day we bought a crab that one of the locals caught.

Every Saturday they do a "lovo" …they dig a pit in the ground and throw lava rocks and wood into it…light it on fire for about 2 hours…wrap up pork, chicken, lamb, potatoes, cassava, and taro root in baskets weaved from palm leaves…then wrap these in banana leaves…throw it in the pit and cover it with dirt…cook it for 2 hours…then it's FEAST time!! They must have stolen that from the Cubans!

The staff at Nabua Lodge were great! Remi is the "manager". To steal a line from Greg…"if you were to look up the word "man" in the Fijian dictionary, there would be a picture of Remi". This guy kills the bugs, spears the fish, repairs and cuts metal with his teeth, catches the land crabs, cleans the toilets, drives the boat, fixes the motor, treats the cuts, builds the huts, BBQ's the food, and he does this all with a huge smile. Lon saw him spear an octopus and wrestle it to death! I saw the octopus when it was dead…and this was no small octopus! He also cheats at cards, likes to use other people's stuff, and lies about his age. Ladies, this man is available…he's a Virgo, has large, paddle-like feet, can hold his breath underwater for 2 minutes, he's got a pretty nice room, is a family kind of guy, and loves to joke around.

Lon and I joke that we're going to super-impose a picture of Remi in all the photos that we take of places around the world… "See Remi go around the world"!

You wanna know how much Nabua cost us??? We paid $16.45 U.S. dollars (U.S.D.) per person, per day - and that includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and taxes)! The conditions are pretty rustic here, so I wouldn't recommend this place to everyone, but we really enjoyed it!! We felt like we really got to share in the Fijian Island lifestyle …if only for a brief time.

Paradise does come at a cost…in the form of mosquitoes, land crabs, large spiders, mice, and roaches (but that's mostly at night). For some reason, insects seem to fall on ME from out of nowhere. And, of course, the mosquitoes prefer ME to Lon. Usually it's after dinner, when we're playing cards in the dining area…when bugs will drop from the ceiling and get lost in my hair. For that reason, most of the photos you see of me, my hair is in a tight bun on the top of my head. I've gotten pretty good about killing things. After the first few days, I stopped screaming and started killing them myself. But, I still can't get used to the land crabs…they are mean and ugly…and you DON'T want to cross paths with one of them on the way to the toilet at night!

After 2 weeks at Nabua Lodge, we transferred over to Otto and Fanny's Lodge on Tavewa island - just to try another spot. The food there was GREAT!! The bures were much larger and had their own bathroom and shower. It was more expensive ($32.90/person per night - also includes all food), but was a really nice treat! Lon worked really hard in that hammock ...builds up the appetite! The best part about Otto and Fanny's was that they sold CAKE and ICE CREAM! After having been starved of sugar for 2 weeks, you can imagine the feeding frenzy that followed. All the backpackers would come by Otto and Fanny's around 4 pm for a sugar-fix.

There were the most adorable kittens at Otto and Fanny's. These are some of my favorite pictures!! If you're a cat lover, then you'll like these.

We met another Yankee couple (Lisa and Tim) at Otto and Fanny's. They were from Colorado and were just finishing up their year-long RTW trip…Fiji was their last stop before heading home. Va, manager at Otto and Fanny's, took us on a great hike on the island. We had to go through some pretty high brush, but the views were fantastic. At the top of the hill, we saw hundreds of birds flying around …but when we got a closer look at them, they turned out to be fruit bats! They were the size of large ravens. Va says they eat them on the island …and, of course, they taste like chicken! Because the wind was so good at the top of the hill, there were also swift-type birds that would hover up there.

On Tavewa island, we did more snorkeling, reading, and lounged in the hammock. It was hard to leave! One thing that did freak me out a bit was the "coconut minefield". To get to our bure, we had to walk through this dense area of tall coconut trees. Let me tell you, coconuts are falling ALL the time. I kept having horrible thoughts about getting our skulls cracked open by a falling coconut …end of trip…"death by coconut".

We hope you didn't find this summary too long or too boring. I'm not the best writer, but I hope to improve with time. We're looking forward to our next adventure in New Zealand!

- Martha (and Lon)

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Fiji	Saweni Beach	$21.62		poor location, but the accomodations were acceptable
	Nabua Lodge	$36.19*		great location. the accomodations were primitive
	Otto and Fanny's	$75.01*		great all around. best food in the Yasawa group
	Sunseeker	$18.1		basic backpacker