Bula!

Fijians are a very welcoming people and always greet you with a smile and “Bula!” (hello) even when you’re just passing in the street or driving by in your car. We spent five days in Fiji staying in a “tree house” where we felt really in touch with nature among the tree tops. The tree house was actually more of a funny cabin on stilts (very comfortable but a bit haphazard and home-made in its construction) located in a lush garden in the town of Suva. It was open to the outside air, sounds and various biodiversity. It was a great experience although we definitely needed to sleep with a mosquito net and earplugs.

Although one of the largest cities in the South Pacific after Auckland, the town of Suva is really not very big. It’s possible to walk from one end of the center to the other in half hour and there is not all that much to do. On our first couple of days in Suva we went to the nearby rainforest and the Fiji museum where we learned, among other things, that nearly half of the country’s population is of Indian descent, having come as indentured servants, or later voluntarily, when Fiji was a British colony. Reflecting these 2 cultural influences, we enjoyed great fish and chips as well as some fantastic Indian food.

Alex in our tree house. Amenities included fast Wi-Fi

View from Suva port

The Suva square with Christmas tree

The Suva sea wall

There are a lot of roundabouts in Fiji. This one manned

Typical Fijian houses a little outside Suva

Surprise, it was raining in the rainforest

There were a lot of smaller waterfalls on our hike through the forest

And a swinging rope by one of the pools

These red flowered trees were all over the place

A funny permanent sign. We checked back in the evening and rightly so, BBQ’s were set up

Even McD’s greets you in Fijian (no we didn’t eat here)

We spent our second to last day boating out to Beqa Island where we had a lovely BBQ lunch and tried some local Kava, a powdered root steeped in cold water. It tastes exactly how it sounds, like powdered root in water. We didn’t notice much of the supposed relaxing effects, but did get a slightly numb tongue. The highlight of the day was snorkeling in the surrounding reefs where we observed different kinds of fish in countless colors and shapes as well as a sea cucumber, a shark (albeit small and harmless) and a giant clam.

Alex on the boat to Beqa

The beach where we had lunch

Landing on the beach

Beach

Music and kava

It is tradition to clap your hands twice before and after drinking the kava

Free drinks all day long

On our way back to Suva