Fiji: Creatures, culture and creeps ( 1/1 )

I lived in Australia for five months while studying abroad. The experience there was like no other. However, as many people know, the plan ride between Australia and the United States takes forever. On the way there, I was with a group of college students and we were able to turn the plane into a party taking full advantage of the free drinks at the bar. On the way home, I decided to break up the trip with a trip to Fiji.

Fiji is not one island but 365 islands. One of the largest issues in going there was figuring out where to go. All large planes fly into Nadi (prounouced NAHNDEE). So, I decided that Nadi was to be my starting point.

When talking to people on the plane ride over, I heard about how wonderful Fiji was and how beautiful it was. However, I was not given much of an impression by their opinions. It sounded as though they had only been staying at resorts where you are so secluded and pulled away from locals that you could be absolutely anywhere and it just happens to be Fiji’s tropical islands instead of Hawaii’s.

So, to spare my pocket book and to experience real culture, I decided to get to the interior to spend some time in some small villages. It was late when I arrived and the buses weren’t running, so I had arranged to be picked up at the airport by a limo that cost about $10. It was actually a Mercedes Benz but I wasn’t complaining. They drove me to the bungalows on the south side of the island that I had made reservations at a few days prior.

When I got there, they pointed me toward the dormitory that I was staying in after they instructed me in how to get water from the well to flush the toilets when the water was turned off due to the drought that they had been having for months now. I brushed the small lizards off the screen door to get into my dorm and tried not to step on them as I passed through with them. A cockroach skittered across the kitchen floor.

Note to self: DO NOT LEAVE FOOD IN THE KITCHEN.

I set down my things and went to try to escape the heat. I turned on the kitchen sink to splash water on my face. The water was black at first and then a flood of cockroaches came out of the tap. I just laughed. It was like a movie. After wandering around for a bit, I came to the conclusion that it was coolest in my room so I went to bed at around 8pm.

I had a roommate from Amsterdam. She and I sat reading magazines and chatting a little and suddenly the lights went out. We both went to sleep. Then an hour later I woke up to her screaming, “Get out of here!” I was confused and slightly perturbed until I realized why she was yelling. “Open the door, I need to let someone in!” a male voice said outside our window. He had been shining a flashlight in and looking at us while we were sleeping. We were the only two people staying in the dorm building. He stood there for a while insisting that we let him in. Hours passed and the sun came up. I looked over at my roommate and laughed. Both of us had laid there all night with our flashlights clutched in our hands ready to blast this guy over the head.

The next day I went on a tour to a small village. I have since seen it on television travel shows. We went to this village because we wanted to go swim in their waterfalls. So, we had to first get permission. The people were wonderful there. They were very excited to share their Kava ritual with us. It is just a series of clapping and clicking the coconut shell bowl down after you drink the narcotic. But, it was a little nerve wracking because if you don’t do it right, you can be very insulting to them and they will refuse you entry onto their land.

The women of the tribe sell souvenirs to you if you like. It is easy to feel obligated to buy things from them with their beautiful round faces and smiles like none other. However, later on, the tour guides took us to a shop where I got very similar masks for about $1 instead of $3. Neither is expensive however, if you compare it to the fact that you would pay at least $20 outside of the country for such masks.

That night I walked about 6 miles down the road with my roommate to get dinner as that was the closest restaurant. You could take a cab for a lot of money but it was more interesting to watch the horses on the beach. The owner of the restaurant claimed to be from Holland but my friend just laughed the moment that he turned away and told me that he couldn’t speak a word of Dutch. But, the waitresses were wonderful.

I had noticed that they had a beauty salon in the front of the restaurant and I asked them about having all my hair braided. They offered to do it about 6am before I left for Suva but I didn’t feel like getting up that early. They did insist on letting us get a free cab ride home though. They waved to the cab outside and he drove us back without ever asking for any money.

Read Part 2

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