Fiji – “BULA”
With much anticipation, we boarded Air Pacific March 13th to fly to Fiji. It was a rough take off and landing due to the low ceiling and rain. We had spoken to many fellow travellers along the way who had been to Fiji since the coup, and they had no problems. We hoped it would be the same for us. We had booked only our first night in Fiji, as we never have an itinerary, and have learned it is not beneficial to the pocketbook to book tours. So, we planned to book/plan everything when we arrived. How and where were details to later deal with.
Later came much sooner however, as we were bombarded at the airport by people welcoming us, “Bula”, and asking where we were staying. We told them, and each person we came upon pointed in the same direction for us to go to get our ride. The airport lies a fair distance from town (Nadi, pronounced ‘Nandi’) and any accomodations, so most places do a free pick up. So, we waited. And waited….and waited. We watched all the people that were on our flight leave the airport in one way or another – herded like sheep by their tour group, in a taxi, or in the hands of a teary relative. All of this was done in a downpour of rain. We later heard that it had been raining straight for a month, and even the locals were getting sick of it.
One of the ladies who had approached us earlier came to ask why our ride had not come. Of course, we had no answer for her. She asked what our plans were for the next couple of days, and when we told her we wanted to go to the Yasawa Islands (a group of islands west of the main island) she immediately reported that she could get us ‘deals’, including a free night accomodation in Nadi. The hairs on the back of our necks went up, and we tried brushing her off with no luck. She decided she’d try to call our hotel and see what was going on. So, off she went. A few minutes later she came back and reported that they did not book us in. Hmmmmmm….she said, “you know it costs $80.00 there to stay?” Funny, because we were told it was $60.00. She thought she’d try the hotel again, using just our last name this time instead of our full names (??). Miraculously, she came back and said “oh yes, you are booked, and they will send your taxi”. Now knowing that at least we’d have a bed to sleep in, we decided to give her a chance to tell us about the Yasawa Islands. Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt, Jim went up to her office in the airport (once finding out she was indeed a travel agent) while I waited for our ride. I watched the last of the luggage carts being put away by a couple of young rambunctious locals, while wondering how the airport can afford to pay the number of people working there.
When Jim returned, he still did not appear to have a clear idea of what the travel agent was trying to say (nor do I think she understood us well), so we thanked her with plans to contact her the next day, when she’d have a price for us. Now off to the hotel. Feeling somewhat safe in the cab from further harrassment, we relaxed. We wanted to get settled, then give things a good going over before doing anything drastic.
At the hotel we checked in and were surprised to find that the night would cost us $58.00FJ (about $40CAD)…better than the $80 or $60 we previously were told. Strange, but good. Anyways, the hotel was more than adequate for us – a small restaurant, shop, pool, and we had a private room with our own toilet and shower. Luxury accomodations!! We didn’t even mind the springs that stuck out of the mattress, nor the ants that followed a path from the window to behind the bathroom mirror…
Once settled, we left our room to investigate – bought a phone card at the shop and found a lady at a desk who books the Yasawa Islands. What seems to have happened to these islands is that a foreign company has created packages and group prices for the accomodations and getting to the islands. It does appear to make it way more convenient (booking wise) but one pays for convenience. The lady at the desk could offer us no less than what the brochures could, so we left with the knowledge that there has to be another way to get around the ‘package’ thing.
We ate a meal at the restaurant – Chicken Schnitzel for both of us and 2 Fiji beers, then headed for our room. Jim had a bit of a buzz going because he had already drank Fiji Rum earlier that he had bought at the airport ($17.50FJ for 40oz of 50% Rum – he saw some Fiji rugby guys buing it so figured it must be good) and he fell into bed and immediately started snoring and doing this funky leg twitch thing. I read for a bit, until my eyelids fell heavy, mentally exhausted from the day.
We woke up early, 1st to my alarm, second to the birds, and third to the builders working on a development next door. We decided we’d try to contact the woman we spoke with at the airport to find out what price she had come up with for us. Knowing full well not to use a hotel phone (due to outrageous charges) we walked to a public phone down the street. This was all done in the pouring rain while dodging puddles, as the amount of rain had now formed somewhat of a flood around us. We eventually found the phone, only to find it dead. Hmmmmm…okay, we’d go see her at teh airport, but first we’d visit the visitors centre that was there as well.
We made our way back through the puddles and rain to the hotel – I’m sure we looked a sorry sight as we were on our way to being completely drenched -and asked at the desk how much a taxi is and could we call for one. Here in Fiji one has to negotiate the price for a cab before you get in. We had learned earlier that a cab from the airport to our hotel was $4FJ, but if you get a taxi outside the hotel, you generally pay more. So, $6.00 it was, once again back to the airport.
Having learned from the day before, we made our way through the arrival welcoming people with no eye contact, lessening the amount of harrassment we got from agents. The lady was no where in sight, and the office was closed. As we were wondering aimlessly, another travel agent approached us. We got pulled into his office, but he turned out to be a nice helpful fellow, who did save us a fair amount of cash since we did not book through the foreign company. He warned us not to use credit cards on the islands, as most places charge 5% more for this luxury. We left “Tomu the travel agent” feeling good that we paid less than expected for our trip to the Yasawas.
Tags: Travel
Kristin
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