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Published: August 27th 2007
Fiji.......
It's hot.
The people are extremely friendly.
The beaches are beautiful.
The water is crystal clear.
It's pretty amazing!!
We've been here and ten days so far and we been on the move a bit. After a night in Nadi we got away from the town as quickly as possible. It's not the best of places. There's nothing to see and the town is hectic with lots of people trying their best to get us to part with our ever decreasing pot of money. Plus, the beach is, for want of a better word, shite. So we headed off to first island.
Mana - part of the Mamanucas, the closest group of islands on the west coast of the mainland. Most of them are home to the ludicrously priced 'honeymoon' resorts. However, Mana is one of the few in our price range. It's a pretty strange island. It too has one of the overpriced, luxury resort which surrounds itself with nice, barbed wire fences. And on the other side of that you find the backpacker resorts. Odd huts and building scattered amongst the trees and the village huts, it was confusing finding you way around. The
staff were so nice, and the guests had none of the snobbery we would find just across the way. And we were on the same beach! We were treated to a rendition of the welcome song by the staff on arrival and then we hit the beach for some snorkelling and lazing in the sun under the coconut palms. And that was the running theme for a few days on Mana.
After there began a 7 day stint island hopping around the Yasawas. Another group islands, further away from the mainland and therefore less developed. Meaning no huge resorts, only basic accomodation. Perfect for us. Over the course of the week we visited four islands, Nacula, Naviti, Waya, and Manta Ray Island. All slightly different, and all with perfect ingredients of white sand, crystal clear waters, great snorkelling (coral reefs just metres from the beaches) and the friendliest people yet.
We also took a walk around one of the villages and met the 'chief'. The village was home to around 400 and every single person we came across was so happy. Cries of "Bula" as we passed, and the children eager to show off the English skills. It was
a real eye opener.
The other travellers we met along the way were brilliant fun as well and we had such a good time.
Our only complaints along the way were over food. Food packages are part of the accomodation as there is no other way of getting food on the islands, and it consisted of anything that filled a hole - bread, rice, pasta, tinned veg and some fruit. By the end of the week were in desperate need of some food with actual taste and we got lucky. Manta Ray Island resort gave us the best food we've had in a long time. A huge buffet of 'proper food' - Caroline and I really made up for the last week and a half! It also made up for the fact that the only reason we'd gone to the place was to swim with manta rays the feed nearby - and there were none!
So now we are back on the mainland planned a trip along the south coast. 5 days to go until we leave for the Cook Islands.
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David Gibbons
non-member comment
luckyyy
looks amazing over there!. looksl ike you two have been having the time of your life out there for nearly a year ... back here soon ... im sure the nice freezing cold wheather will be lovly to get back to! and who knows you might even have a little party to come back to!