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Published: April 16th 2008
Hello everyone, sorry we have been a bit slack in the blog department, but here it is... it's a long one...
(click on one of our beautiful photos to see them all in a slideshow!)
So... after our New Year's celebrations in Quito we took a trip down into the Bellavista Cloud forest in Ecuador for a few days, sleeping in a geodesic dome up in the canopy, spotting toucans, humming birds, and yellow breasted chat tyrants, all whilst trying to keep dry. We then went on to Otavalo to stay with neil's friend Michaela for a few days at her farm up in the highlands surrounding the town which is home to a world-renowned artisan market; selling handicrafts from all over Ecuador.
We then took some dubious bus journeys overland up into Colombia, the safety of which we were a little uncertain about anyway. The first bus took us along some of the steepest, narrowest roads we've ever seen, at speeds that can't have been legal, though it is doubtful whether or not that was even on our bus drivers mind as most of the oncoming traffic was sharing our lane and there was a tropical rainstorm situated
Humming birds
At the Bellavista cloud forest, Ecuadorabove us! We passed through some amazing landscape the next few days, travelling through Pasto, Popoyan, Cali (the Salsa capital of Colombia) and Medellin, before heading up to the beautiful colonial city of Cartagena, on Colombia's Caribbean coast.
The architecture was very similar to Havana's (Cuba), only this felt more like going back in time to the days of wealthy colonialism, as the buildings within the old town's walls have been protected from the harsher realities of pirates, revolution, communism, and trade embargoes. The walls were built by the Spanish to harbour the gold plundered and mined in the Americas, before loading their galleons and shipping it all back to Spain... well, most of it, the walls didn't keep everyone out including Francis Drake. The Caribbean heat was oppressive and made the air feel thick, on top of this the whole place had an air of oldie worldie buccaneers.
We continued along the coast to a small fishing village called Taganga, where we drank beer and ate fried fish from little huts on the beach, swam, hung in hammocks and generally soaked up the slow-paced atmosphere, before making the trek out to the Parque Nacional Tayrona - One
Weather
taken from the farm in Queroga, Ecuador of Colombia's most stunning national parks. We trekked through the jungle and over dunes and beaches for about an hour and a half before reaching the 'right' beach, and when we did we stayed there for a few days, sleeping in hammocks (expensive) and on the beach (free), snorkeling, reading on the white sand, getting sunburnt and playing the Israeli version of
Uno.
Having had our few days in paradise we headed south again, to Bogota, by bus, and back to the cold climbs of altitude. We had a few days to wander around the capital, get some chores done and visit some of the galleries and historic sites before taking one of the most informative taxi rides we've ever taken, to the air port to start our journey to Fiji.
First stop was Miami (airport) where we spent about 17hrs, waiting for a connecting flight. We thought we could use the time to get back into the habit of speaking English, but found it quite hard as almost all the conversations we heard were in Spanish, as well as all the announcements over the loudspeakers. This was due to the very large Latin American community which is
present, not only in Miami, but in many states of the USA, and which is still growing through both legal and illegal immigration. We observed some of the legal(?) side of this when we arrived in Miami airport on our flight from Colombia (one of the worlds major drug-trafficking routes!) and had to wait for hours whilst American security went through everybody with a fine-tooth comb, taking fingerprints and mugshots of each passenger.
From here we flew to Los Angeles for a 5 day stop-over, where we shacked up on Hollywood Boulevard (the one with all the stars on the pavement - or should we say sidewalk?). We thought we would hate the place, but ended up having an excellent week (we must have been craving some western comforts!) - we went to an excellent gig at the Knitting Factory (The Bedouin Soundclash), met up with Hayley's friend Steve Short to check out the old Mexican conclave, Chinatown and Little Tokyo (turns out he doesn't like sushi - sorry Steve!), frequented the famous Getty Centre, the not so famous 'Psychiatry - an industry of death!' Museum (sponsored by the Church of Scientology...), and went to see 'The Eye' in
Mann's Chinese Theatre, which is where all the 'stars' leave their hand and footprints in concrete outside. It's also where Keye Luke (Mr. Wing in Gremlins 1 & 2 and Master Po in the TV series Kung Fu) was brought in to design the foyer with a giant Chinese mural and several statues of Lao Tzu.
From L.A.'s winter/spring we flew to hot and humid Fiji, on our second free stopover on the way to New Zealand. We had decided to stay for a month without really doing any research, and discovered upon arrival that the accommodation in Fiji consisted of resorts, resorts and resorts. Even the "backpacker" places were pretty expensive, all in all our first few days were a very 'plastic' experience, with the majority of Fijians that we met simply viewing you as a walking (insert relevant currency) sign. Needless to say we were not enjoying it much.
We decided to hire a car so we could tour the main island (Viti Levu) cheaply, using the car to sleep in, or to find secluded beaches to sleep on, to save on paying out for resorts. Unfortunately the only car we could afford was smaller than
Otavalan man looking at pintings
in the Otavalo artisan market, Ecuador a Nissan Micra, so sleeping in it, though necessary because of the torrential rain, was not too comfy - even with Hayley's Valium to help!
One day we were accosted by a Fijian lady called Liti, who upon discovering we had nowhere to sleep, insisted that we come to stay with her family in their village near Sigatoka. We went (quite cautiously) and were introduced to her many children, mother, and husband and then given afternoon tea and a home-made roti and curry dinner, which we all ate cross legged on the floor of their one room house - we were then given the bed to sleep on and everyone else slept on the floor. Neil got a little bit paranoid at about 3am, in these strangers' house, no lights, people moving around in the dark, especially having just read about Fiji's cannibalistic history and having seen a variety of "Cannibal Forks", "Stomach Openers" and "Neck-breakers" in the craft shops! These were just silly half asleep thoughts, and it all went fine, however they later told us they believed God would reward them financially if they took us in, and they invited us to stay another night. We made
our excuses and left.
We headed for the capital Suva, where we ate another amazing curry, roti and dahl for about 50p. Due to the huge Indian population in Fiji (many indentured workers were brought over by the British when Fiji was under the crown's rule) curry and many aspects of Indian culture are very prolific, which has caused tensions between the Fijians and the Indian community, this is aggravated by the fact that most, if not all the land rights belong to the Fijians, making it difficult for the immigrant population to feel settled.
Although an interesting and diverse place we would have left Fiji at least 2 weeks early had it not been for the amazing 'Tribewanted' project that Hayley's mum had told us about, which was televised, during its early stages, in the UK in a documentary series called 'Paradise or Bust' on the BBC. Based on a small Island called Vorovoro, north of the second largest Island of Vanua Levu, it required that we take the inter-island ferry (12 hrs instead of a half hour flight, but half the cost) which turned out to be cockroach infested, and as it was an overnight
Parque Nacional Tyrona
Colombia, Carribean coast ride the idea was that you lie down and go to sleep! Yes, it was horrible - and we had already paid for a return ticket!
Upon arriving at Savusavu (on Vanua Levu) we got the bus (no windows) to Labasa, Where the next day we would meet Carol from Tribe-wanted and make the boat ride out to Vorovoro. We passed the evening with a trip to the local cinema to see a Bollywood production 'Jodhaa Akbar,' which was quite good, but they had more budget than they knew what to do with, which resulted in the film being 3hrs long, with some very hammy epic scenes, but excellent music.
Waiting to get out to the island affirmed the definition of 'fiji time' - an infuriating concept executed with a smile, which means no one is ever on time and everything takes hours, days or even years longer than predicted. But, having bought our yaqona (kava root) we eventually headed out to the island on Captain Api's boat.
Vorovoro is a small island, about 40 minutes boat ride from Labasa, and 15 minutes from the reef that skirts the north side of Vanua Levu. The beaches are
beautiful and varied; not just your typical white sandy resort ones, these were mostly desiccated coral, volcanic black sand or big boulders,as well as sheer cliffs and mangroves. The Tribewanted project was started as an alternative tourism venture, to try and build an Eco-community, based on this remote island, and on the Internet (http://www.tribewanted.com/). We lived in Bures (traditional Fijian thatched dwellings), washed in the waterfall and tried to build a sustainable, self sufficient village, working alongside, and learning from local Fijians, instead of them working/being exploited for you, as it is in many parts of Fiji. We were fed 5 times a day, which included Morning and afternoon tea - one of the more acceptable hangovers of colonialism!
We spent our first night sleeping in one of the communal Bures 'The Family Bure' but an old Irish man who snored to the extent that Hayley "might have killed him," meant we moved out the next day, down to the abandoned 'Sunflower hut', halfway along the beach between the village and the waterfall shower. It had only been abandoned by humans however, there were several ants nests, cockroaches and tarantulas, but we smoked them out (or so we
thought!) and were very kindly donated a double mattress and mosquito net that made our little pad complete. We were secluded, with our own personal camp fire, broken chairs and tables which Neil fixed, and only 4 meters from the waves lapping on the shore, a much nicer noise to go to sleep to! Now Hayley couldn't hear the snoring or the cockerels from camp, the only downside being we now couldn't hear the dinner bell either!
As well as living and eating Fijian style, we also had to abide by their local customs and traditions, and had to partake in a Sevusevu ceremony (asking permission to stay on the island) where we presented kava (a root which they pound to make a slightly narcotic drink for the ceremony) to the islands chief, Tui Mali.
We learnt some 'meke' (traditional Fijian dance), and performed it in front of over 1000 kids at the local school, drank copious amounts of Kava (AKA 'grog'), ate with the chief at one of his 6 houses, went spear fishing and snorkeling on the reef, hiked the 'four peaks' of the island, helped build bamboo showers, fed the pigs, listened to excellent Fijian
music, and helped with the preparations for the 'halfway party' (celebrating 18months of the project with Fijian officials, the chief and the local school teachers), for which a 'Lovo' (traditional earth oven) was built, and the pig that Neil had been feeding (and then saw slaughtered) was cooked. We watched the locals building the 'Eco-tricity hut', wielding chainsaws inches from their bare feet! Hayley made a Bilo (a cup to drink grog from, made out of half a coconut shell), and we both went to church on Sunday with Ratu Poasa - a very interesting experience which included members of the congregation speaking in tongues, and cherryade with rich tea biscuits for holy communion.
Our time on Vorovoro was amazing (we meant to stay for one week but extended to two - and will most likely go back again!). It was one of the best parts of our trip so far - we really felt a part of the community and experienced and learnt more than we thought possible in 2 weeks. The relationships we built with the Fijians (especially Va, Pu Pu and Crimestopper Api!) are incredible, and we feel like we have known them for ever. We
You know
Los Angeles left having taken tips from the medicinal plant garden (The 'farm-acy'), with the knowledge of how to make Meke outfits from foliage, and even being able to speak a bit of Fijian (sega na lega!), so now our day to day conversations are sometimes a weird mix of Spanish, answered in Fijian, then back into English! It was also great to learn about, and be a part of developing a sustainable touristic activity which could be a model for less invasive, disruptive tourism, everywhere.
The 'Isa Lei' (farewell ceremony) was a big part of life on Vorovoro, and is usually a very tearful event! Involving everyone (who is staying) lining up facing each other, making a pathway down to the sea, where the boat is waiting to take you away. Everybody then sings 'Isa Lei' whilst the departing make their way down the lines hugging each person and saying goodbye, when they reach the bottom, the threshold (two sticks of bamboo, positioned like a doorway) are lowered (ie. closed) behind them, and they get into the boat and go, at which point everybody shouts 'mocey' (which means goodbye, and is pronounced 'moth-ay') back and forth until the boat is
out of sight.
Back on the mainland Francis helped Hayley buy a Pandanus or 'grog' mat (so she didn't have to pay "white skin prices"), which made our return journey on the cockroach ferry more comfortable. After some last minute shopping in Nadi we headed back to the airport to finish our journey to New Zealand......
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