Beginning of Island Hopping!

Well my friend Mary finally made it to Fiji!

We took a day tour out to their mountain area and it was a beautiful ride, everything looks so healthy and green despite the fact that they have not had any rain in 7 months. Of course the waterfall was nonexistent at this place so that was kind of a bummer. The staff were really friendly, which is about the only pro that I personally found about this trip. If you are used to zip lines this place is only 5 lines and they are not very high or long. Not really a good deal for the money they charge you, although it is good for people whom have never gone. If I were telling people what not to do in Fiji it would probably be this place unfortunately (Sleeping Giant Ziplines).

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On a funny note…I decided to dye some of my hair before I left and put some purple in it. I had some mixed reviews of it before I left but people here in Fiji LOVE it! I get so many compliments on it from people from all different countries. One of the staff members at the Sleeping Giant was so incredibly funny about the people hair. He said I LOVE the purple in your hair, I said haha thank you! A lot of people seem to like it, and he said do you know what it means in the gay Fijian community? I said nope…he said the purple means that you are sexually frustrated. Hahaha I said well then, ain’t that the truth!! Everyone had a good laugh. Although in the Fijian culture, purple is a sign of royalty ;)

People here in Fiji are SO nice!!! A lot of countries that I have been to, the staff are usually really nice, but here it is very different. They welcome you onto islands with songs and wish you goodbye the same way as well. They are all more than willing to say Bula (hello) to you and make sure that you are enjoying your day and are accommodating to fix things for you if need be. I have had some great conversations with a few of them and learned a lot about their culture so far. I swear they laugh more than any other culture that I have come across yet in any of my travels.

Last night we had the pleasure of checking out a dancing show which then included fire dancing at our resort. Poor Mary didn’t make it to the fire dancing part she was so exhausted from her flights in. It was nice to talk to one of the staff about the dances themselves and get more of an understanding of what the dances meant, and in doing so it really gave more meaning to watching them.

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Today we got up early, grabbed a really quick breakfast and made our way to Port Denanaru to catch the high speed catamaran to the Beachcomber. This is supposed to be the “party island” yet so far it is calm as can be. The island is a coral island which means it is made up of all the coral from thousands of years of it being broken down. The other islands we are going to visit are volcanic islands which are obviously made from volcanic lava. The food was OK for lunch, a lot of food here is served with curry which I am not a huge fan of but I survive. So far the islands are wonderful, although a little run down in some areas which is understandable.

Till next time

XO