After disembarking from the plane, we went through immigration, waited for our luggage, procured some Fiji dollars and went through customs. On the other side of customs was an information desk which we utilized to find out where our rental car driver was located.
Our driver Manoj welcomed us with a hearty “Bula” and excitedly showed us to our van. We were a little confused because on expedia, it had said that the “car” would only fit three people, so my parents had arranged for separate transportation. Turns out, we were in a ten passenger van that would have easily accommodated all of us and then some.
The ride to Pacific Harbor was very interesting. We were basically driving from the west coast down to the south shore of Viti Levu, the largest of the Fijian islands. The first part of the drive revealed the aftermath of the big flood they had in the west just a few weeks ago. Roads had been washed out, the first floors of many buildings had been filled with water. Even a country that is used to the rainy season cannot easily accommodate 42 inches of water in less than five days. It was the worse flood in Fiji in 50 years. To put it into perspective, Boise receives just under 11 inches of rainfall a year.
A lot of people were walking and waiting for buses on the sides of the road. There were many schoolchildren dressed up in their school uniforms waiting for buses and/or walking alongside the road. There were also many animals wandering near the road unaccompanied including horses, dogs, roosters, cows and cats. Everyone including the animals appeared very laid back.
Our driver, Manoj, talked a lot and told us a lot about Fiji. He is actually Indian so we heard much about the plight of the Indian-Fijian as well. Apparently Indians were brought as indentured servants from India by the British in the late 1800s and early 1900s to help with on the sugar cane plantations. Despite at one point being over 50% of the population, to this day, they do not have the right to own property and basically have very little means of enhancing their economic or social status. Manoj would really like to come to the US with his family (wife and two sets of twin girls) because he feels that there is more opportunity for everyone here. He asked us a lot of questions about Idaho, the US and what our lives are like. He thinks he would like to drive a taxi in the US.
Fiji is made up of over 300 islands and houses 800,000 people. As I mentioned, the Indian population was once over 50% of the inhabitants, but due to the lack of rights, they have been leaving in droves and today encompass only 38%. There is a mixture of religions in Fiji but Methodists seem to have been the dominant missionary at some point and many of the locals follow that religion. We also saw Hindu temples, Catholic churches, a mosque and some other nondescript churches.
The main things that are grown in Fiji are sugar cane, tapioca, mangos, pineapples, papaya, pine trees and mahogany. The pine and mahogany trees are not native but both are harvested for export. The mahogany trees are actually like weeds here and they cannot get rid of them. With all of this amazing fruit, you would think our driver would brag about the tropical fruit variety but guess what he most wishes he could eat every day…grapes. Apparently they are really expensive in Fiji and he loves them. He also wanted to know more about Andy’s hunting and asked us if we could bring him some deer antlers. He would use them for medicinal purposes. Apparently herbal medicine is still very commonly used.
Fiji is still run by tribes which appear to be more important than the government. Every little town is really a different tribe and if you wish to stay in the town, you best be consulting the chief. Cava is the drink of choice and cava ceremonies are common for any event of importance including the building of a building, road, etc.
One final note about our driver…apparently his wife is big and mean and she beats him with the ubiquitous broom made from a coconut tree. He asked me if I wanted to purchase such a broom and I declined. Instead I found some beautiful red coral earrings at the bathroom/tourist gift shop along the way. I probably overpaid for them but they are a really unique, beautiful design.
Around three hours after departing the airport, we arrived at our hotel, The Pearl. Anna and Derik were walking into the lobby looking relaxed, tanned and sipping coffee. They were bouncing with energy and I felt like I was a zombie after the nearly 24 hours of travel to get to the hotel. We checked in and went to our rooms. They are nice and thank goodness they have AC.
Next we met up with my parents and walked the two kilometers to Anna and Derik’s hotel, the Uprising. The walk was absolutely beautiful and it literally feels like you are walking on a deserted beach with random palm trees peaking their tops out onto the beach to catch a glimpse of the beautiful ocean. You cannot see any hotels or buildings at all on the beach. Instead everything is tucked back away from the beach leaving it difficult to even know what other establishments call the beach home. You can see three other Fijian islands from our beach. One large one sits directly in front of ours. Another small one in the distance looks like a small ship but never moves. Another small one is clearly an island and is even further in the distance to the west. Everywhere you look it could nearly take your breath away. It is so naturally beautiful and raw!
Anna and Derik are staying in a nice “bure” (rather than a traditional hotel room, it is more like a hut) that is very spacious and more native-looking than our hotel. The Uprising Hotel has a central area that serves as a congregating room, restaurant and bar that is very functional and encourages the visitors of the hotel to spend time together rather than hanging out by themselves in their bures. Anna and Derik really like this aspect of the Uprising and were literally introducing us to a new person every ten minutes while we were sitting there having a drink and appetizer. The Uprising was designed with more of the backpacking crowd in mind and is very neat and social. The one downside and the second reason why we didn’t stay there was that there is no AC. The main reason why we didn’t stay there was because it was sold out this Friday and Saturday night except for the bunk bed rooms. It wasn’t in the cards for us this trip.
Sitting in the common area at the Uprising, I felt a little light-headed and unintentionally but quickly became the high maintenance member of the group. This is the part of being pregnant that I really don’t like. I really couldn’t cool down though as the air was very humid and stagnant since they did not have any fans or anything blowing. I used all of my tricks to counter such a situation including using the bathroom, drinking some water, eating a bit and then swam in the pool. All of those things coupled with the massive downpour that occurred and subsequently cooled the air a bit eventually led me to feel better. The downpour was a lot like the ones we used to experience in Guadalajara during the rainy season.
After the rain subsided, Andy and I walked back to The Pearl collecting these large seeds which I would like to make some jewelry out of and enjoying a few minutes alone. Once back at the hotel, I showered and took a much needed nap and then we had dinner at the Pearl. The majority of us had curry of some sort which was amazing. The only bummer of the dinner was the mosquito raid that I am learning is common here at the Pearl at night. They have some standing water out front that escalates the natural occurrence of the bug and they do not seem to burn anything to keep them away.
We passed out by 8 PM. It has been a long but wonderful first day in Fiji.
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