BUULAA!!!
Well... what to say about Fiji...other than blue water, white sands, green, green, green, everywhere...Kava, this list goes on.
When we arrived in the airport, we were greeted by singing and welcoming smiles. Oh and sea shell necklaces (Bonus... Jenna's always about the free stuff!!!) We spent our first night in Nadi Bay Resort. It was beautiful. Palm trees, pools, cocktails, live music, lounge chairs, traditional cuisine. After some of the places we stayed in, this backpacker resort felt like the Hilton.
We started our vacation (yes thats right the vacation from the vacation) the next day with the FeeJee Experience pass we bought before we left home. We wanted to be able to not only stay in paradise but experience the culture. And that is definetly what we got!!! We learnt that their government is still run by chiefs, that both men and women have to wear sorongs in the village, and that they were once cannibals (J.P. and let us know that they no longer practice that tradition, only on special occasions, LOL). Our first day we started out in Nadi, visiting the local markets bartering with the locals (well Kyle got suckered in by a good sales pitch: the local invited us in, sat us in the back, drank kava with us, taught us a bit about the history of Fiji, and then we left a few dollars in the hole!!!). We then headed to Natadola beach to have a picnic lunch. It was cloudy that day so we didn't get to do much sunbathing but the sandboarding at Sigatoka Sand dunes was interesting...in the rain!!! We then headed to Mango Bay Resort where we had local fish for dinner and joined in some happy hour and kava drinking.
Our second day we took a 3 hour trek through the Namosi Highlands, experienceing how the fijian ancestors used to have to trek their goods down to the local markts to sell. We stopped for a quick bit to eat and then tubed dow the Navua River, swam in a waterfall and then took a longboat ride back to the coast, once again in the rain (funny I thought Fiji was suppose to be sunny). We headed out to dinner and then to a local bar in Suva, the capital of the South Pacific. We rested our heads that night at Raintree Lodge.
The third day we headed to a remote village to join in a traditional sevu-sevu ceremony and then to a traditional Fijian school. All the children put on a traditional war dance for us. It was an amazing experience. The children kept asking to have their picture taken and then to see it. After that we headed to Wainibuka River to do some bilibili rafting and water fun with the locals from the village. That night we stayed at a remote resort called VoliVoli where we did some crab racing, limbo, and kava.
The next morning we got up to go kayaking to the outer reef. The colours were so beautiful. Our first really sunny day and we had to spend it on the bus!!! But we did get to go in the hot pools and mud pools at the base of the Sabeto Valley. After our "natural" exfoliation, and a quick rinse down with freezing cold water, we headed back to Nadi Bay Resort, along with our new canadian friends, Marie and Pierre.
Over the rest of the week the four of us travelled together which was really nice. The two islands we visited ove rthe next couple of days were Beachcomber Island and Robinson Crusoe Island. We were greeted by singing locals and a complementary drink upon arrival. The islands were so beautiful, words can't describe. We definetly didn't feel like broke backpackers. We had buffet meals 3 times a day, slept in a massive 150 person bure and there was usually some kind of activity every couple of hours if you wanted to join in. The next several days were spent relaxing on the beach, snorkelling, drinking cocktails, lounge chairs, watching the sunset, games (Jenna and Marie tied for Limbo Champions, yah Canada), Bula dancing, sunset kava drinking, locals fire dancing and playing guitar on the beach, making coconut jewellery, reading, and just plain having fun. When that boat came to take us back to the main land, it was hard getting on. Our flight home left late that night, and it was definetly a bitter-sweet feeling.
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