Heather and I arrived in Fiji early on Feb 5th and headed straight for a ferry to the Yasewa island chain. First stop was Tavewa island, which is situated on the Blue Lagoon (as in THE blue lagoon from the Brook Shields movie). Although we were technically at a "resort" our accomodations were traditional Fijian huts called bures with communal bathrooms, electricity is only available between 7pm and 11pm and there are no phones or internet. Awesome. Since Tavewa (and most of the islands in the Yasewa group) 
is fairly small (you can easily walk around most islands in less than 1/2 a day), the local villagers are very involved in the resorts and prepared the traditional Fijian dishes we ate at most meals. We stayed in
is fairly small (you can easily walk around most islands in less than 1/2 a day), the local villagers are very involved in the resorts and prepared the traditional Fijian dishes we ate at most meals. We stayed in Tavewa for 2 nights and spent our days hiking, scuba diving
(we saw whitetip reef sharks) and relaxing on the beach.
Then we hopped back on the ferry and headed to Waya, which we heard was a good island for hiking and getting a glimpse at village life (it's the largest island in the chain and home to 3 villages). We came to the island for the culture, but most of the other people where kids from the UK passing through Fiji on around-the-world tickets whose only interests (as far as we could tell) were laying on the beach all day, getting smashed at night and complaining non-stop about how expensive Fiji is compared to Thailand. That coupled with the fact a dog snuck into the dorm at night and ate part of my backpack was all the incentive I
needed to move out of the resort. I met an Aussie named Mark who was camping in the closest village (Natawa) and hiked 30 minutes up and over the hills to check it out. I knew the minute I stepped into the village that this was the real Fijian experience I was looking for. Mark introduced me to Semi and Lena (the couple who's property he was camping on) and chatted with them for a couple of hours. Fijians are taught Fijian, English and Hindi in school so nearly everyone can speak English fluently. Fijians are very inquisitive (I got the 3rd degree about where I'm from, what I do, where I'm going, etc.) , friendly and hosptiable. They offered to let Heather and I camp next to their house (a one room hut where 7 kids and 2 adults sleep) for $10/night and that included all meals. Sold. The next day Heather and I packed up our gear and hiked over to Natawa. See next post for a detailed description of life in Natawa.
Then we hopped back on the ferry and headed to Waya, which we heard was a good island for hiking and getting a glimpse at village life (it's the largest island in the chain and home to 3 villages). We came to the island for the culture, but most of the other people where kids from the UK passing through Fiji on around-the-world tickets whose only interests (as far as we could tell) were laying on the beach all day, getting smashed at night and complaining non-stop about how expensive Fiji is compared to Thailand. That coupled with the fact a dog snuck into the dorm at night and ate part of my backpack was all the incentive I
needed to move out of the resort. I met an Aussie named Mark who was camping in the closest village (Natawa) and hiked 30 minutes up and over the hills to check it out. I knew the minute I stepped into the village that this was the real Fijian experience I was looking for. Mark introduced me to Semi and Lena (the couple who's property he was camping on) and chatted with them for a couple of hours. Fijians are taught Fijian, English and Hindi in school so nearly everyone can speak English fluently. Fijians are very inquisitive (I got the 3rd degree about where I'm from, what I do, where I'm going, etc.) , friendly and hosptiable. They offered to let Heather and I camp next to their house (a one room hut where 7 kids and 2 adults sleep) for $10/night and that included all meals. Sold. The next day Heather and I packed up our gear and hiked over to Natawa. See next post for a detailed description of life in Natawa.
No comments:
Post a Comment