A Real Fiji Experience

Jeff and I decided to try an excursion that would give us the true experience of riding in a longboat in the rainforest, hopefully to swim in a pond into which a gentle waterfall fell, and then end the day with a traditional Fiji Kava Ceremony.  (This was a very wet excursion, shot with Jeff’s underwater point and shoot camera, so please excuse the water drops in some of the photos.)

The weather did not cooperate with us, but that didn’t stop the excursion from happening!  We later found out this was the “wet” side of the island – I think we would have guessed!!  The longboat is, as expected, very long.  However, what we didn’t expect is how low it rode in the water, and how we had to sit in the boat.  Think about how you used to sit, or your kids or grandkids still sit in that sort of squatting stance.  Yes, we had a bench seat to perch on, but our legs were like pretzels during the entire ride!

Along the way, we did see some really nice scenery, as we peeked out from our rain ponchos.  It wasn’t what I expected from a rain forest at first, with the growth so low to the ground, but it was still very cool.

And, here’s something we definitely didn’t expect at all – Fijian cows grazing in the rainforest!  But, as you can see from one of the shots, the terrain is beginning to rise and look more forest like.

We did see some other water vehicles on the river.  It’s clearly a main transportation route thru this area.  A man was either loading or unloading his longboat.  We were by much too quickly for me to figure out.  And, in the second shot, I put in an arrow, so you could see a very common type of travel craft on the roadway – a bamboo raft.  Of course, without a motor, it can only go downriver, so what occurs is that the first person at the headwaters of the river builds the raft.  He takes it down river to wherever he needs to get off, and then leaves it there for the next person to use, and so on.  Apparently, bamboo is so plentiful here, there’s no concern about running out.  But, I never did find out how these folks got back up river when they were done with whatever brought them downriver.  Hire a ride in a longboat??  Maybe!

At one point in our ride, the rapids were so rough that we had to off-load the longboats, and walk about 5 minutes to re-load onto the boats.  (We definitely appreciated the chance to stretch out our legs!) The boats couldn’t make the trip going against the current with all of us in them.  I incorrectly assumed the same would happen on the return.  Instead, however, we just rode the rapids on the way back downriver!  Let me tell you, this water ride is something Disney or Great America should look into!!

We saw several different waterfalls along the way and each one seemed to get prettier and prettier.  They also got higher and higher, and seemed to pour out more and more water.

And, alas, that was true.  We found when we got to the spot where we were to get off the longboats and walk to the pond with the gentle waterfall, that the waterfall wasn’t at all gentle and, due to the rains over the past few weeks, was a raging torrent and was just pummeling the entire pond.  It was not at all safe for us to try to swim in that, so we were forced to continue on to the Fijian village where we were to participate in a Kava Ceremony.

The Kava Ceremony (welcoming ceremony) first began with some instructions to the two “chiefs” of our group.  We had traveled to the longboats in 2 buses and each bus had a designated “chief”.  We weren’t sure what would be involved with that, so both Jeff and I sat on our hands when they asked for volunteers to be “chief” – LOL!  After the instructions, the lead person began some sort of chant or prayer or something in Fijian.

After that, there was the preparing and offering of the kava drink to the “chiefs”.  They drank it representing the rest of us on the buses, their tribes, I guess!  After watching it get prepared fairly up close, I was very glad I wasn’t a “chief”.  They said you could refuse to drink it, but, somehow, I don’t think the “chiefs” really felt that was an option!

After the drinking of the kava, came some singing, and even tho I think this was meant to be a somewhat serious ceremony, kids will be kids, and they seemed as curious (or shy) about us as we were about them!

After that, there was a dancing ceremony – first the men and then the women.  It just didn’t seem like there was any mixing of the roles in this ceremony!  Still, it was a lovely glimpse into what life may have been like in a rainforest village many years ago.

Enjoy!