Captain Cook's Footsteps - Part 2
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2008
1
27
44
Trip End
Jun 17, 2009
Suva,
Viti Levu,
Fiji
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Suva is an exotic city nonetheless; a blend of posh malls and small stands, government offices and private businesses, tourist places (not too many though) and places where the locals congregate
01 - Our means of transportation to Suva
. But the outskirts of the city, as we've seen them from the bus, offer a depressing view of gripping poverty, garbage dumped in rivers and pungent smells dominating the scenery. Not to mention a Dickensian looking jail, an incredibly sad view. However, the downtown, while lacking in trash bins, is relatively clean and, we found, quite safe (some people at the resorts try to "warn" the tourists about how bad personal security in Suva is; we suspect there is also a "stay-at-the-resort-and-spend-all-your-money-here" motive behind it).Our first "target" in Suva was the Fiji museum, where we expected to see the largest collection of Fijian and Polynesian artifacts in the Southern hemisphere (at least this is what the museum ad was saying). While located in a beautiful public garden (a reminiscence of the colonial times, we've been told), the museum itself resembled one of those communist museums that used to litter all of Eastern Europe; a sad-looking building, dusty artifacts and only a handful of information typed on aged, yellow paper. Hey, at least it had an original cannibal fork, an indispensable tool for when it comes to eating your fellow human! Otherwise, it contained a disorganized mixture of tongan war clubs, Fijian household tools, mata garments (traditionally, Fijians used the bark of a tree to make, through a laborious process, a fabric named mata) and posters detailing the lives of several of the folks that promoted its independence (by the way, although it's been an independent republic for several decades now, the Fijian banknotes show a smiling Queen Elisabeth II; very confusing for us, from a geopolitical viewpoint)
02 - The finest airport building ever :-)
. To take the similarity with the Communist museums further, the museum also had a gallery of modern Fijian paintings for sale and we would have really liked to buy one of those (supposedly for sale) painting. Well, bad luck, as no one in the museum knew what they need to do to actually sell us the painting, the person in charge was "missing in action" and, after a few phone calls and 30 minutes of waiting, we gave up. Luckily, the original artist will never know how close he/she came to making a sale. "Fiji time" defeated us again! On our way back to the city we've passed by the seat of the Fijian government, an eyesore of a building that, while beautiful in its heyday, has probably never been painted or renovated since the British build it (back in the 40's, judging by its architecture). We can't say the same thing about the luxury SUV from which a military officer was getting off right in front of the building (Fiji is currently ruled by a military junta that came to power two years ago by means of a coup. There have been so many coups in Fiji since its independence that some political commentators call it "the coup-coup land").
We wandered Suva's bustling streets for a couple of hours, browsed the produce market (really exotic place, see pics), the local artisans market, walked briefly along the harbor, had a yummy vegetarian curry dinner in the Indian village and then, by pure chance, we also got to see a fashion show at one of the downtown malls
03 - Beqa Island in the distance
. Again, it is such a strange feeling hearing Christmas music and seeing all the ads for Christmas sales and yet, all around you, the scenery screams "tropical paradise!" Oh, and did we mention that during our time in Suva the rain never stopped (admit it, you felt a little bit of schadefreude)? Therefore, after 4 hours or so of "enjoying" the soaking wet weather, we took the bus back to the resort, luckily, this time our bus having windows and real AC.The rain didn't stop for two days. However, on the third day, since we've promised Juta during our first day at the resort that we will be joining him on his jungle trek adventure (he is the guide for this hiking trip), it was time to finally do some real workout. The trek takes an hour and a half of hiking through really dense vegetation and ends up at a nice waterfall with a great pool at its base. On our way to the waterfall, Juta showed us all kind of medicinal plants the villagers still use as cold remedies, antiseptics or antidiarrheals (for Fijians, seeing a doctor can be very expensive and, most of the time, the nearest medical facility is hours away), the native bamboo trees, the silver ferns and many other species whose names we've already forgotten. The nice thing about Fiji's jungle is that there aren't any terrifying animals or insects lying around waiting to get you. Except maybe for one species of spider that can provide a rather nasty bite, all the rest are quite benign and this makes a walk in the jungle a rather pleasant experience even for guys like us who have never gone jungle trekking before
04 - General store by the road to Suva
. As the hike was quite demanding and outside was hot and steamy, we really enjoyed taking a dive into the cold water of the waterfall and it was quite a feeling to float in the pool under the waterfall and the tree canopy high above. After half an hour of cooling down into the pool (and Juta taking his afternoon nap) we headed back to the resort refreshed and ready for another day on the beach.Before parting our ways though, Juta invited us to have dinner with his family in the village and, although we would have liked to spend that evening at the resort and allow the impressions of the last few days to settle a little bit, we could not find a polite way to refuse him. Therefore, that evening we headed for Juta's house, quite hungry and curious (he promised us a dinner with real Fijian seafood). Well, when we got there we were in for a surprise: the doomsday preacher and a few other people from the Baptist church were also at his house and we've realized (admittedly, too late!) that in Fiji is good to be about an hour late for everything. Just as we feared, before getting to the dinner part we've had to listen to another hour of fiery preaching (in Fijian), while having to smile dumbly as the mosquitoes were having a real feast on us (we and, boy, they have a nasty bite!). When dinner finally arrived we were already mentally exhausted and, except from the prawns (boiled in coconut milk with chili peppers), everything else was quite tasteless and the fish was very, very fatty
05 - On the road to Suva
. Not to offend the host, we've taken the risk and tried a bit of everything (OK, we were also curious!) and, although we haven't got sick that night, we did not feel too well either. Luckily, the next day we've signed up for this great Fijian massage that rubbed out the discomfort we've experienced the previous night and, by the evening, we were back to our old self again. Talking about evenings: while at Beachouse, most evenings we borrowed a couple of sea kayaks from the resort (they are free) and went kayaking on the lagoon, watching the fantastic sunsets from the sea. It is an unforgettable experience, laying on your back on the kayak, drifting on the lagoon and hearing nothing but the waves breaking on the reef and the children playing in the nearby village. You have to try it if you ever get to Beachouse!We can't finish without mentioning that, while in Fiji, we've also made acquaintance with Malcolm and Janet, a retired Scottish couple living in France and now traveling around the world. The two of them were great conversation partners, with so many interesting stories about all the places in the world where they've lived (quite a few, we should add), or trivia about politics, music or films. We've spent quite a few evenings enjoying their company over a glass of wine (not to mention the great prawn dinner cooked by Janet one evening - see pic).
06 - Public gardens in front of the museum
All in all, these were our adventures in Fiji. We've enjoyed the scenery, the swimming and meeting the locals very much and we would definitely recommend Fiji and the Beachouse as your next holiday destination. Even though from time to time we were frustrated by the "Fiji time" and "good enough" attitude of the resort's staff (probably something you won't experience at a resort like Hilton or Sheraton), we did get to see the real Fiji lifestyle and meet some of the happiest people on Earth: Juta, the jungle trek guide and yaqona dealer; Rosa, the babysitter; Drew, the pastor/village chief; Susana & Taro, the masseuses; Sana, the activities manager. Not to mention L's new friends, Diesel and "amicul Bubitsa" (see pics).
