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Naviti Island – Korovou Eco Tourist Resort
Our next stop was Naviti Island at a resort called Korovou Eco Tourist Resort. So far we have really had a chilled time and the two places we have stayed have had a really chilled, laid back and enjoy the feeling of nature and what’s around you. Korovou was none of this! When we arrived the Vengaboys were pumping loud on the speakers, the pool was surrounded by 20 women sunbathing and chattering. The beach wasn’t as nice here either, rocky and shallow. Our bure was nice though. We were shown to it by Sigi, one of the staff at the resort. He was a real hoot but very different from the Fijian staff we met at the more northern resorts. While we were on Naviti Island it was clear that tourism hasn’t affected their overall way of life and culture. Sigi’s awareness of Irish culture and his sense of humour was more similar to our own and he told us he was from Nadi (the main island and where more of the infrastructure is). He was able to tell us about Irish people he has met, their partying ways, economy issues and
at one stage on Nacula, one of the locals didn’t know what Guinness was or had never heard of U2! Very interesting to see the contrast just a few hours apart.
After this, I just decided to join the other ladies by the pool. If you can’t beat them, eh! John went on a walk along the shore and came back with a collection of cool shells! That night the staff put on a Meke dance show (Fijian dancing). It was pretty good but the last dance was more on the sleazy touristy trail with all the girls being dragged up to do some pretty embarrassing dancing to “Who let the dogs out”. Entertaining for us to watch though!
Drawqa Island – Barefoot Lodge
The next morning we hopped back on the boat bound for our final resort, hoping that it would be better than Korovou. Luckily we were not disappointed. We arrived to a warm welcome at Barefoot Lodge on Drawqa Island. The resort itself is in redevelopment and when we arrived we were given fresh coconuts to drink and a welcome tour of the whole island. There are three beaches here with one side
still in construction. One of the reasons we chose here was for the safari style open front tent bures but unfortunately they only have one ready and it’s in the middle of the building site. They look amazing though (I kindly got a tour!) and I have a feeling Barefoot will be a very pricy resort when all is complete.
We are shown to our bure. It is more basic and rustic than we previously had, basically a wooden hut with tin roof. We barely have time to settle in and we are offered a guided snorkelling trip! So off we go. And boy was it worth it. The snorkelling just off the beach is the best we have seen and it’s hard to keep up with all the marine life there. There is also lots of coral garden and a large wall that drops off into the deep. We roam around the bay for about an hour. We are only out of the water and about to get changed when we hear a commotion from the other beach. There is word that a manta ray may be out in the bay. The rays are here every year from
May to October and they draw big crowds right in the channel off the island. The staff here are on look out each day as they want to find the first of the season. They come through the channel in a mating ritual where one female is followed by a train of males trying to impress her to final win her over! When we look out in the bay there is something pretty big breaching the surface every so often so somehow, John, one of the staff and I end up going out to find out what it is! We snorkel out trying to be quiet in our movements. All of a sudden a blue speckled ray shoots off away from us along the bottom of the sand; John and I are impressed cos we haven’t seen a big ray yet. Then the staff member says he thinks the large fish is a wrasse. We swim towards it for a while (they are shy seemingly) and then ahead of us is this really big fish. It was a napoleon wrasse, no manta but still striking!
After all that exciting snorkelling we dry off and have some beers and yummy
dinner. Then we are introduced to another cava night. This time we really join in and drink from the early evening for a good few hours. The routine is the same, cava, singing, cava but it’s clear that the staff here (all male bar one Aussie girl and two Fijian ladies) get on very well and the slagging is hilarious (this is something we have noticed all over Fiji!). Eventually the cava catches up with us and we head back to our wooden hut for a worry free sleep…. That is apart from the scariest storm at 5.30am!! We woke up to loud rain and thunder before the storm basically landed overhead. Then all we could hear was the craziest, closest lightening. The crackle of it was terrifying and let’s just say there were plenty of nerves in our wooden tin roofed hut! I was busting for the loo but managed to hold it til the morning ha-ha.
The next morning was to be our last on the islands and it was raining constantly L So when we got up and had breakfast we watched a documentary on the manta rays. After a while the weather cleared and John,
Nelson (American guy) and I headed out for another snorkel with hopes that the manta rays would come in and it would be our lucky day. We did give it a shot but alas we will have to revisit Fiji or another place (ahem, Maldives maybe?) for a view of them! We were both sad to leave Barefoot and really would have liked more time there cos the atmosphere was really rustic and the snorkelling was impressive. So we went back in the crappy weather to Nadi, spent our final day there doing research for NZ and the like…
To all you reading this, if you can scrimp a few cents/pennies together, this is the place to come! The long flight will be worth it. The people, atmosphere, views, marine life, activities, hammocks, nature will wow you!
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