November 15 – Suva, Fiji

We spent today in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Fiji is actually an archipelago of 330 islands. Only a third of them are inhabited because most are sand and will not sustain life – just a bit of trivia.  Suva is much more sophisticated than the other islands we have visited and has a busy port and city area.

We however, did not stay in the city but opted to go on a boating excursion which turned out to be another great adventure. The group started out in buses for an hour long bus ride through the scenic countryside. We passed huts and small villages along the way, and our guide, Joe, kept up a running commentary of the history and culture of the area.  The average annual income per capita in Fiji is only $5ooo, but the soil is rich and families live on what they grow, raise or catch. According to Joe, the average number of children per family is 10 – 12, yikes! The new president of Fiji is attempting to establish free public education and to require all children attend school but this is not yet the law.  Joe was funny and interesting and explained what we would be seeing along the way. He talked about Kava – a plant that is grown for its roots from which they make a drink that is used in their tribal ceremonies.

Much of our trip was in long boats up the Nauva River. Another bit of information that Joe shared in his talk was that although Fiji has very few predatory animals, they do have anacondas (you know the enormous snakes that they make movies about). In fact the movie Anaconda was filmed on the river we were going to be on. I wasn’t real sure that Tom was going to get in the boat after hearing that bit of info (not a big snake fan or a small snake fan), but he did and away we went.

The trip up the river took about an hour and was pretty wet especially when we hit the rapids – that was exciting.

 The fact that it’s the rainy season and that it rained much of the way added to the dampness – but never-the-less we enjoyed the gorgeous, lush rainforest, flowers, and interesting sights along the ride.

Rather wet and windblown, we arrived at an inlet and walked along the narrow but pretty path to a large waterfall where many in the group got even wetter and the rest of us took pictures.

Back in the boats, we headed back down the river.

That trip was a lot faster since we were now headed down river. We were moving at a pretty good clip when we hit the rapids. Then it also got very rough and suddenly we began to take on a lot of water. The ladies at the front of the boat started yelling about a hole in the boat.  Our driver quickly headed toward the bank of the river and we all slogged ashore.

Our vessel had a definite problem and after using a river rock to try to hammer our boat back together, we realized that we had major issues. Other boats were coming down the river and our lady alarms started waving and yelling for help. Several boats came to our rescue. Our group clambered into other boats and we were off again.  While the whole thing sounds rather traumatic – almost drowning in anaconda infested waters – there was a lot of joking and laughing and we all decided that it had greatly enhanced our adventure.

We were soon at our next stop – a small village for a Kava ceremony and lunch.

We were herded into a large hut and seated on the mat floors – men at the front of the room and women in the back. It was rather reminiscent of Morocco.

Anyway after some history of the ceremony, chanting, dancing and sharing of the Kava – a bitter drink that made me a little dizzy and my lips numb – we were officially welcomed into the Fiji family. I think we now have dual citizenship. Well, maybe not.

Finally it was time for lunch which was a buffet of native dishes and delicious! Then back on the buses that were waiting for us and our home away from home. Goodbye Fiji and thanks for a fun and entertaining day.