Going Native in Fiji

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18 years...

What did we do today - unsurprising start, with breakfast and a slow morning at the pool. We had planned a celebratory brekkie of pancakes (today is our 18th wedding anniversary), but we were told they’d run out. Ho hum! Ellie seems to have grown webbed feet and Jack has spent most of his time running around tormenting crabs, lizards and coconuts with the rest of the herd of small boys on the resort.

Mid afternoon came and we all assembled for a trek off to the nearby village, to meet the locals who comprise most of the staff at the Octopus resort. Our guide, Lai (that’s probably not how he spells it), was the mayor of the village for five years. He led us up a steep set of steps, the top of which opened up to a beautiful view of the far side of the island, and from there we descended to the village via a dirt track (Annabel slipped on the steep slope and had to continue with a nasty graze). Various types of wild boar type furry pigs and piglets looked at us from their pens as we approached the village, and we all removed our hats and covered up various body parts when we entered the village itself. The village was at the edge of the shore, comprising traditional palm bures mixed in with cinderblock bungalows with tin roofs. Large breadfruit trees grew here and there, washing lines were out and locals of all ages were pottering or reclining in and around the shade of the trees and buildings. We sat on a tarpaulin and took kava with the elders of the village (Lai helping us out with the etiquette of the ceremony), which took a little while since there were 30 of us!

After kava, we were taken around the rest of the village, shown the village’s church and meeting hall, and had the significance of Octopus resort explained to us - how the village would be much poorer without it, how it paid for their children’s schooling, and how grateful they were that we should choose Octopus.

This was followed by a rendition of their traditional meke (dance) and boy did they show off, the men seemed to be really enjoying it, with their palm leaf skirts and anklets, pouting and shimmying, stamping and waving their war clubs. It looked exhausting. The ladies’ performance was much more graceful and shy - flashing their eyes, waving their fans and shuffling coyly. They were definitely two complementary performances. The only trouble was, after they had done their bit, they dragged all of the visitors into taking part in a dance - first backwards and forwards in pairs, and then in a conga type procession. Lai seemed to be taking great delight in calling the changes.

When all of this fun had finished the ladies of the village laid out their crafts in an impromptu market and we wandered about buying a few trinkets, choosing some bracelets, necklaces, war masks and clubs from the jewellery, shells, mats and so forth that were on offer. It was nice to contribute and we walked back to the resort with a little more understanding about island life. Tourism had really benefitted these people, who would otherwise be earning a pittance smoking locally caught fish for a living.

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Photos

Village Church
Note the huge satellite dish.

Typical Fijian Village
One washing machine for 387 people

Mr Snorkelly Jack
It only took 10 days to squeeze him into his wetsuit

Comments

[jean]

Interesting experience
Hi, satellite dish in a trekked village is interesting. Have you experienced any good Fiji tour guides that you would like to recommend? We have a new site OurExplorer.com with tour guides online. Many travelers have inquired about Fiji guides, but we've not yet got any good ones. Thanks. : )