I arrived in Nadi, Fiji around 5 am after a long flight from Los Angeles. I don’t know about you but I struggle to sleep on planes so I was ‘cream-crackered’!
It’s standard practise in Nadi (pronouced Nan-Dee) to offer airport transfer, which I found to be very helpful as I would have otherwise been stuck in a random airport at 5 in the morning. However I was picked up from the airport and was able to check into my room straight away. I then slepted for the entire day!!!
At night I went to an incredible Fijian Fire, sword and dance show. The traditional dancing was brilliant; each song told a story through movement. However the fire-dancing was the best; sometimes all the men danced together in a choreographed routine with sticks of fire, while other times they danced alone, breakdancing with fire! They would throw the sticks in the air and catch them, balance on eachothers backs and even twirl them with there feet.
Towards the end of the show they started dancing with machete’s. To prove they were real and very sharp they would cut a coconut in half with one slice. The men then went on to dance with it like with the fire, into the air and with their feet. One guy even danced with it blind folded!!!The show ended in a huge conga line with the audience all dancing together on the beach as the music changed from traditional Fijian beats to reggae and other club mixes. It was an incredible show and a spectacular welcome to Fiji.
The next morning I started a 7days/6nights tour around the Yasawa Islands visiting 4 different islands and resorts. The first resort was ‘Nabua Lodge’ where we visited the Sawailau Caves made famous in the film ‘Blue Lagoon’. At night we participated in a traditional kava ceremony, a Fijian ceremony where you sit cross-legged in a circle on the floor, play instruments, sing and drink kava. Kava comes from the roots of the yaqona plant, but it is ground up and mixed with water before you drink it. It looks and tastes like mud, and makes your mouth and tongue tingle. If you can get past the taste of the kava itself, the ceremony is very nice. Every time you are given a cup you clap your hands once, say "bula" (which means hello), and drink it. When you drink from your shallow cup the rest of the circle claps three times in succession. Everyone is happy during a kava ceremony. It is a chance to enjoy time with friends, sort out any tribal differences, mend relationships, and learn from one another.
In resorts around the world there tends to be a distance kept between the local peoples and the tourists they serve. In Fiji this is not the case. In both Nabua Lodge and our next resort Waya Lalai we've met Fijian men, women and children excited to be our friends and to teach us about their culture. They welcome us in with enthusiasm and sincerity. Fiji doesn't feel like any other generic tropical paradise, it feels like Fiji, and it is definitely the Fijians and their willing openness that make it feel so special.
Last was Beachcomber Island, also known as the party island. We had a great evening here with ‘Happy Hour’ every hour! Fiji is fairly cheap anyway! The next morning we went on a Seaspray sailing trip. However most of my group were unable to go due to having too much fun the night before!!! We sailed all day and had a BBQ lunch. We visited the Island were Tom Hanks filmed ‘Castaway’ and we visited another village. This time the village didn’t have a resort near it so again this was real fijians!!
