My new friend
The beauty of the Fijian rainforests
I really do love to experience as much of a country as I can while I’m away. The R&R is great, but I’ll be darned if I’m in Fiji and going to lounge on a resort the whole time. Bearing this in mind, we hired a local guy to drive us around in a rickety old car for a day. He took us to various places, one of which was a nature preserve where we saw some caged animals, including a vibrant parrot who said, “Hi Baby,” to me. I’ve never been hit on by a parrot before- what a self esteem builder. We could have done without the caged animal part, though there were some cool looking exotic birds. The lushness of the ecosystem on this preserve was once again breath-taking. It was vast and open and we quickly forgot that we were on some sort of nature preserve as we marvelled at the beauty of the terrain. Even the tree roots are noteworthy out here. I only wish I had a better camera because there’s no way I’m close to capturing the beauty of what I’m seeing.
Cool tree roots
The most noteworthy event of the day was a visit to see how the locals lived. A lady showed us around their poor village, complete with stray dogs, roosters and beautiful children with jack-o-lantern grins calling out “bula!” to us.
A village woman at work
Local children partake in the ceremony
After the brief “tour”, she lead us into a large, open building and we weere asked to remove our shoes. We obeyed and sat cross legged across from some women who explained to us that they bring income into the village by making pottery. They gave us a pottery making demonstration, showing us various techniques, including kneading the clay with their heels. It was neat to see them mold a vase so deftly. They shellac the pottery with tree sap. The only problem was that the end result was quite a few gaudy looking things. I think if they understood the minimalist ways in which we North Americans decorate our homes, they might increase their sales. For instance, a simple mug was no where to be found (bummer, eh Megs?). I only went away with a pencil holder, bought purely out of obligation.
Local women make pottery
The locals perform a cermony for us
Anyway, during the demonstration, the village people wanted to do a little ceremony for us. They put leis around our necks, real ones made from flowers. They sang a boisterous song and their beautiful, black voices resonated in the large room as they harmonized a cappella, accompanied by various percussion instruments. Man, black people can sing and move!
Close up of an exotic owl
They informed Zeek and I that we were to partake in a dance. Two teenage girls came up to us at the front, asked us to stand, put their arms around us and lead us in a simple dance in a circle to a new song being heartily belted out by the village people. I must say that the image of Zeek prancing around in this room with a lei around his neck was priceless. Zeek, who never danced before this trip, got hit up twice in one week. Classic.
A hike through the rainforests to a waterfall
I do have a few observations about the Fijian people. While a few of them whif of “exploiting tourists”, on the whole I have been impressed. They are not near as pushy or assuming as other countries I have visited, Jamaica and Cambodia being on the forefront of my mind. They are very friendly and I’m not afraid that if I strike up a conversation with them that they will guilt trip me into buying something. I can have a real conversation with them and they simply enjoy it- no ulterior motives. This is very refreshing as I do enjoy engaging with the locals. The first few times I met some locals on the beach and they asked my name and where I was from, I was immediately put on guard as if I was a Beefeater. However, it quickly became apparent to me that they were genuinely interested and nothing more. This has made my experience in Fiji all that more enjoyable, because I do not appreciate getting harrassed when I travel.
Bamboo abounds
A gorgeous hike
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I love reading these….I’ll likely never see these places but I feel like I’ve seen it through your eyes!! Thanks Denise! Can you go on another trip soon? I’ll look forward to following you around!