Fiji is made up of 322 islands, 110 of which are inhabited. Extended family is deeply valued in this traditional Polynesian culture and multigenerational families are tightly bound together by shared property because land in Fiji can be leased but never sold. The people are warm, friendly, and generous.
Our first port was on the island of Fiji but we didn’t stay there long. Instead we took a short boat ride to our private paradise for the day, Savala Island.
Unfortunately, it was a bit windy and the water wasn’t terribly clear so while the snorkeling was good, it was not as amazing as what we saw in New Caledonia.
The coolest underwater encounter was with a group of black-tipped reef shark pups. They were about half a metre long and too small to be dangerous. Our island hosts also regularly fed them so they were quite used to being around humans.
The next day we visited Savusavu on Vanua Levu Island where we spent a few hours in the Waisali Rainforest Reserve. Unfortunately, the excursion was poorly organized and our guides did not speak enough English to tell us anything about the rainforest. I did get a few nice pictures, however.
Rainforested mountain with tree ferns in the foreground
Wild orchid
Orb spider
The sunsets were gorgeous in Fiji.
Noordam wake as we sailed away from Fiji
I've been fascinated by the South Pacific ever since reading Cook's journals. What an adventure! One wonders what in tropical New Caledonia reminded him of rocky, peaty Scotland (I guess the rocks and ocean...). Also interesting is the similarities and differences in reef fauna. A butterfly fish in the South Pacific looks pretty much like a butterfly fish in the Caribbean on the other side of the world. Each reef is an evolutionary experiment in island biogeography.
ReplyDeleteI wondered that same thing about what Cook saw in New Caledonia that reminded him of Scotland. Maybe the shade of green was like Scotland on a sunny day. Anyway, it's an odd name for an island in the South Pacific and it's interesting that it stuck all this time as other islands kept or reverted to their more local or traditional name after Europeans had been there.
ReplyDelete