It's Friday 15th in Fiji and our time here has been incredible. My back is slowly but surely healing so we've had to take it a bit easier than we would have liked but we've still had the opportunity to see and do a lot! On Tuesday we hired a boat to take us to an island about 15 minutes across from our resort where there is some fantastic snorkeling. The boat ride was intense, it's been very windy this week so we were catching some air in our little boat on the way over and back. It is incredible snorkeling here, we saw dozens of different fish and gorgeous colourful corals. We've also had the chance to do a bunch of snorkeling right off the resort, it's not nearly as good but still lots of fish to check out! Yesterday we took the afternoon to go on a Bamboo river ride with a lovely pair of newly weds from Italy. The rafting itself wasn't all that exciting, the bamboo raft was really neat and floated well enough our feet got wet but our bums stayed dry. A local ended up dragging us down the river up to his waist in water, he was afraid if he was on-board with the pole we would sink. It was beautiful seeing some of the local scenery and farm land as we slowly made our way down the river. Our guide from Wananavu Resort, also on board the raft with us, had some somber stories to tell as we made our way down the river. He recounted what it was like during the February Cyclone that wiped out the homes of 10's of thousands and killed 42 people. The damage was visible everywhere we looked when we drove to the river and back. Massive trees snapped in half, homes destroyed and debris scattered everywhere including the river we were heading down. Despite the damage spirits are high! Relief efforts we're easy to spot with blue tents donated from China found at nearly every home, unicef and red cross tents were also common sight. As we drove to and from the river people on the road stopped to smile and wave as we passed. The guide from the resort explained they though the cyclone in February was the worst in recent history they have cyclones every year and they always get through it together.
The resort staff have been incredibly warm and welcoming, excited at any chance to share their culture with us. At lunch and dinner they serenade us with live music including casual favorites from around the world and a good mix of local Fijian music. At night they also offer guests to participate in a Kava Ceremony. It involves a lot of clapping and drinking ground up Kava Root in water, I've included a video in Travel Vids. Tastes like dirty sock water and makes your mouth numb but was a really fun experience, definitely recommend it if in FIji! It's been a fantastic week so far with 4 more days to enjoy Fiji before we head to New Zealand! Vinaka, Thank you, be in touch soon with more stories next week!
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