Empty Resorts and Dancing Crabs
I am now in the Fiji Airport waiting for my flight to Rarotonga, sittting in a chair that I “borrowed” from a restaurant, as this Internet kiosk is stand only. Last Sunday, I went to church in a small stone and wood Catholic Church in Levuka. Much to my surprise, the mass was in English and I was once again the palest person in the room. I then caught a very small boat to Calaiq and got very wet in the process. Once on the island, I found my dorm which I was sharing with the only other guest on the island (a Greek waiter named Ilias). The two days I spent on the island were spent trying to stay out of the rain and wind. Between rainstorms, I explored the island and saw various wildlife including a sea snake which Ilias poked with a stick until it finally got irritated and went back into the water. I also, climbed my first coconut tree and had a fresh coconut for the first time. The first night on the island, I participated in a kava ceremony which lasted over three hours. I probably drank 20-30 coconut shells full of kava. The ceremony was being given by the family as a thank you to a minister for preaching on the island, which is owned by the Methodist church. While I didn’t feel any effects then except a slight numbness, I woke up later that night unable to walk straight. Ilias was already wobbling before going to bed. The next morning I found the need to evacuate my stomach contents on a private area of the beach and ate very little breakfast. I felt better by midday. Monday night’s entertainment consisted of listening to the island inhabitants who are all one big extended family sing and play music. I even participated in one or two dances with one of the girls who showed me some traditional dance. While this was going on, a rather large crab came into the room and started bobbing up and down to the music. He left when I think he realized we were watching. This didn’t surprise me, as during the kava ceremony, I rather unexpectedly had a crab run up under my legs while I was sitting causing me to jump.
I went to Leluvia (also run by a large family from the village of Motoriki, near the island of Ovalau) the next day. I spent the next three days being the only guest on the island. As I was the only guest, they upgraded me to a single bure for the dorm price. The rain finally cleared up. I rented some snorkeling equipment. As this was my first time snorkeling alone and my second time snorkeling in my life, I was a bit timid at first. I had read that coral could be very sharp and cut you very easily. I soon realized that I wasn’t swimming among razorblades and started to enjoy myself. On Thursday, I went snorkeling and spear fishing with one of the younger workers on the island. We took a large boat out with kayaks and was dropped off at the reef. We spent the next few hours snorkeling. The reef was full of fish ranging from the very small to the large parrotfish. The parrotfish was the prey of my guide who mangaged to spear four of them during our trip.
Nights on Leluvia was spent watching TV or movies with the staff. The food on both islands was unique, plentiful, and good. It included such things as parrotfish caught very fresh, and a dish consisting of raw fish soaked in lime and coconut milk. I was a little hesitant about this one at first, but it was very good.
Friday, I began a very long and tiring journey back to Nadi. It consisted of a one hour boat ride. I then flagged down a passing bus to Latoka. This actually involved me and all the local people at the boat landing running and screaming at the bus. The bus trip was 5.5 hours on some very bad roads as the dirt roads were damaged in all the rain. The road was full of small bridges made of planks which I didn’t look at too closely as we crossed the rivers. In Latoka, I caught a local bus to Nadi. I had to put my bag under the bus this time as the bus was absolutely packed. I wasn’t too happy about this, as the compartment was open and my bag was the only one there. It didn’t get stolen though. I made it to the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel and spent the night. I was shocked to see all the tourist there, as they were the first tourist I had seen besides Ilias in nearly a week. I took a cab to the airport this morning, as I don’t want to ride another stifling bus for a few days.
Despite the bad weather, I enjoyed my stay in Fiji. I found the Fijians to be some of the friendliest people I have ever met. They truly seem to enjoy showing people their country. On the outer islands, I was truly treated as one of the family. I don’t have as many pictures of Fiji as I would like, as it rained a lot and my camera case is cracked. I don’t want it to get wet. Also, as I was usually the only tourist, amongst at times some very poor – yet happy people, I didn’t feel comfortable pulling out the camera. I guess I could have just pulled it out, pointed at people, started taking pictures and saying things like “Work that flowered mumu” which all of the women seem to wear and see what happened. Maybe next time! When I had a lot of time alone to think, I realized that being around these large families would make me homesick. I am hoping my next stop will be somewhat busier.
Tags: Fiji, Travel
cjun
April 2nd, 2007 at 7:17 am
Was the area you’re in affected at all by the tsunami? Can you let us know so we stop worrying? You know how we are… :o)nrnr
April 5th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Love your words, do you mind if we use some of your stories on our blog? Thanks. Bob the travel guy with my view of the world of travel. http://www.bobstravel.com
April 10th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
I don’t mind if you use my stories. All I ask is that you sight the source if you use them. I am trying to attract traffic to my blog.