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FIJI
NADI
Pronounced nandi is not considered a city but a town with an airport. It is attracts tourists that from the looks of it, would prefer to see fiji from the comfort of their air-conditioned Coaches and hotel rooms. We ventured onto a public bus and sat down on one of the benches. The bus was open on the sides but had tarps that could be untied and pulled down in case of rain (quite frequent on the main land). We wondered around a bit and got harassed by every other person on the street. We even ventured into a shop with one of these people and experienced a very cheesy Kava ceremony which was only intended to guilt us into buying one of their "hand made" souvenirs (identical to the one made in China). We joined the other tourist and retreated back to our hotel to await our 12 day island hopping tour...
NANUYA LAILAI ISLAND
We traveled from island to island on a large catamaran style boat called the Yasawa Flyer. Our first stop was the furthest away so it took four hours to get there giving us plenty of time to mingle on the way. We were shuttled from the boat to the island by a smaller boat with no seats. The crew hurdled our bags onto the new vessel as if they were bags of trash occasionally laughing as they fumbled with the larger ones. Our first stop was Sunrise Lagoon Resort. Upon our arrival we were seated, filled out a small amount of paperwork and had a formal greeting...BULA! We were served lunch by a seemingly harsh gay man with big hair named "Queen". He slammed our plates down infront of us and left us to eat with the rest of the new arrivals. Turns out Queen was quite nice and very friendly.
Our room was a traditional fijian Bure with a mosquito net and a bathroom. We spent most of our time wandering around the island or catching up on some reading. We met a few locals who climbed a tree and cut down a coconut for us. We walked with them for while and talked about their home and how it has changed with tourism. They claim to be happy because now they don't have to worry how they will get things like rice or sugar that they do not grow themselves.
We went snorkeling in a cave that was reachable by a 45 minute boat trip. The boat was small, the waves were large and the life jackets were non-existent. We did actually make it there and got the chance to swim under water for a few seconds to reach a large cave filled with other tourist! At this point I was pretty sure that they brought us in there to kill us but then I remembered that Fijians are the nicest people you will ever come across and my evil thoughts disappeared.
WANNA TAKI BOAT
Despite what the Germans thought, the Wanna Taki was fun, had good food, comfortable beds, no bugs, air-conditioning and an awesome staff... what more could you ask for! During the day we went snorkeling and it started to rain. The sun was still out and a rainbow formed, it was crazy. We played games where the loosing team had to participate in some inappropriate display of dancing involving either a pole or a lap. On one game we came out victoriously on we got to drink out of four straws connected to the same a cocktail called "fuck me up". We also did crab racing and my crab named "Io" (yes in fijian) won first place and the prize of a shot glass.
KOROVOU
This was one of the nicest places we stayed in. It had a pool, a large patio over looking the sea where all of our meal were enjoyed. We went to a bonfire on the beach, it was perfect. Larry played his guitar and sang Oasis, Bob Marley and many others. When he was finished with a song he would prompt his much deserved break by yelling "DeeJay" and almost instantly a CD would start booming through the speakers.
Larry also told us a story about a seemingly ordinary man who came to the village 23 years ago before there was a resort there. He stayed in the village and was fed and sheltered by the people. He left only to return one in a helicopter, turns out he was a millionaire. He and the chief headed for the main land. He had enjoyed his time there and wanted to thank the village so he purchased them a boat. Later he gave money to help the village start their resort. This year, the rich man was flying the chief to Australia. This would be his first flight and he would be one of the first in his family to see Australia, everyone was very excited for him.
I do believe we take things for granted. The ability to travel is not a luxury that everyone is capable of. I hope that I can recognize these things in my life and be aware that they may seem normal to me, but they are luxuries in other parts of the world.
KUATA
Kuata was nice. Apparently, part of the Castaway movie was filmed here. I think it must have been the parts were the island appeared to have a tall rocky summit because there was no such thing on the real island that the movie was filmed on. Basic accommodation and food. We went out to the reef and snorkeled with one of the locals. There were many white tip reef sharks there. the biggest being 5 or 6 feet long. Our guide speared fish and fed them to the sharks and even wrestled the sharks a little. It was pretty cool; the sharks were swimming right next to us. What was not so nice, however, was that in several places, people had scratched their names into large coral structures. It was quite sickening. We also walked through the bush up to the top of the tallest summit on the island. from there we saw great views of the area. Our last night there just happened to be on "fiji night" on the island. they cooked a lot of good local food and we ate with out fingers. then they danced for us (including a fire dance). The guests even tried to learn one of their dances. After that there was a Kava ceremony and everyone was invited to try some Kava. Ryan and matt ended up staying up until about 2am drinking Kava with the locals. He even played a hand drum for a while along with a local guitar player. Unfortunately, Kava makes you dehydrated and makes you feel like shit the next day! So that was fun. I'm pretty sure it gives you diarrhea too! Happy Days! ... But it was a fun thing to do (once).
BEACHCOMBER
We spent christmas at Beachcomber resort. It was on an island that you could literally walk all the way around in 10 minutes or less. there were many more people there than at the other resorts, more of a party island. They cooked a whole pig and a bunch of other food in a big pit on the beach. everything turned out great. We drank lots of beer with our English friends Erin and Matt, and floated in the water all day.
TREASURE ISLAND
For our last island, we were upgraded to one of the more upscale places around. The rooms had air conditioning and all the food was fancy and expensive. We didn't really fit in at this resort. Luckily, we didn't have to pay any extra for food and things because we had an all-inclusive tour. It was okay there. we spent one whole day lying inside in the air con. It was a nice break after all that heat and sun.
Comments
I hope I don't have to see you for a while, cause that just means more time for you to explore the world, just don't forget to come back some day. I'm looking forward to staying up on your escapdes more closely..........ENJOY!!!