My husband's blog, www.wherenomadstravel.blogspot.com, will tell you all about the historic "need-to-know" stuff.
We spent three days on the tourist-centric Denaurau Island, off Viti Levu (one of Fiji's two "major" islands). Denaurau is near Tourist International Airport (Nadi). The Sheraton/Westin and Hilton chains pretty much own Denaurau Island, so when we were there, we got to see a lot of luxurious swimming pools, expensive shops, and shuttles that would take you from the golf course to the beach to shopping, to the the golf course to the beach, to shopping, etc. Our time there was very relaxing, though fairly unremarkable. Instead of learning about Fijian life, we met a lot of Australians, most of whom told us that the environment, rather than the economy, was the biggest political issue of the day.
The highlight of our Denaurau Island trip was our day spent aboard The Whale's Tail tall ship, where we sailed out to a deserted island in the Mamanuca Islands chain. We were first greeted by a blue starfish in the crystal clear water, and then the staff of the Whale's Tale hosted a Kava Ceremony for all of use passengers. Kava is a root that when ingested, is a mild narcotic. You can make Kava by grinding up the root, mixing it with water, and drinking it (most authentically out of half of a coconut shell). It tastes like "paper bag juice," and as far as I've experienced, it doesn't give you much more than a fuzzy feeling in your mouth. Still, the Fijians seem to enjoy it, and it's a real honor to attend such a ceremony. Kava is perfectly legal everywhere. (Though of course the U.S. has "warnings" against its use, as the U.S. warns everyone against anything fun that happens to be popular in a country that isn't the U.S.)
After our time at Denaurau, we flew in a tiny propeller plane to the other "large" island of Vanua Levu. Interesting to note about flying in Fiji - YOU are included in your baggage allowance. That's right - each person's ticket price entitles them to 300 pounds of "carriage" per person - regardless of where the weight comes from. Whether you're carrying a ton of suitcases or your own really fat ass, it all counts the same in Fiji. Can you imagine if we imposed such a (reasonable and logical) rule on U.S. airlines? Well, first, half of the passengers would exceed the weight limit and would not be permitted to fly (good riddance, I say - walk to your destination and maybe you'll lose some of the weight). Second, many American passengers just could not get used to the idea (and the fact) that their weight affects the amount of fuel used, which means that even though they paid the same price for the ticket, they're using more of the airline's resources and must pay for it.
I've run into this problem several times (most recently when traveling from Heathrow to Kennedy on Virgin Atlantic). I weigh less than 100 pounds. Yet, one rude ticket agent at the check-in counter asked me to weight my carry-on, saw that it was over their 7 kg limit, and told me that I had to remove items from my bag, because for "safety" reasons, each passenger could carry only 7 kg per person. This infuriated me. Yes, I may be carrying 9 kg of carry-on (expensive souvenirs that I refuse to entrust with the baggage "handlers"). However, I am NOT carrying an extra 50 kg in "fat ass." I am less of a safety hazard, and less of a fuel drain on an airplane than even almost anyone. So since putting the carry-on items in my suitcase was not an option, I decided to think (or not think) like a ticket agent: I added the weight to my person! My (125 lb) husband and I stuffed the heaviest items into our many jacket pockets until we had reduced the weight of our carry-on bags significantly. Then, looking like typical American fat-asses, we went to a DIFFERENT agent (who didn't seem to care how much weight we had in our carry-on), and checked in, no questions asked. We flew happily, souvenirs in tow.
But I digress. What I meant to say was that Fiji plane operators (Air Pacific is their national airline) have the right idea. Another cool thing about flying in a propeller plane in Fiji is that you can see the reef system from the air:
Savusavu is a great place because it is the authentic Fiji. It's not as popular of a tourist destination as Denaurau, but if you're a traveler rather than a tourist, you'll have a great time. During our eight days in Savusavu, we stayed at Tropic Splendor at Sekawa Beach. To this day, it's the best "hotel" in which we've ever stayed. First, Tropic Splendor is not a "hotel," so to speak, it's one cottage set off from the home of the owners, Susan and Jeff. They're a couple from New Mexico who scrimped and saved for years to live their dream - a beach front house in Fiji. They built a cottage to house guests and turned it into one of the best-run tourism operations we have ever experienced. They have been operating "ecotourism" and "green living" before those were even buzz words. It's hard to do the place justice with words. You must take a visit for yourself. Until you can make it out there, I took photos. You can also see the raves at: http://www.tropic-splendor-fiji.com/beach_rental_fiji.htm
Besides being able to build one heck of a gorgeous cottage, they are also immersed in the society of Savusavu. Jeff and Susan are content to let you have a tropical beach holiday, or really immerse you in the culutre of the unique island. They can arrange coconut demonstrations (it's amazing how much you can do with a coconut), fishing trips, hiking tours, boat rides (where you can see the fisherwomen and their families on "bilibili" rafts on the river), and the highlight of our tour, a live "meke," a variety show, performed by the students of the local school.
Fiji still ranks as our favorite vacation ever, and we've been plotting to go back there for a while. But I think we're afraid we might never leave.
The photos speak for themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment