SEPTEMBER 2024 FIJI STORY

Capsicum. What a great word. It’s not one that one usually uses as a greeting. No. One must build up to this one. As a matter of fact, it’s quite prominent on Fijian menus. Yes. We arrived in Fiji, more specifically, the Koro Sun resort, which is in a suburb of Savu Savu, which is a suburb of the island of Vanua Levu. How’s that for specificity? Meanwhile, back to capsicum. It simply is the word most widely used on the Fijian Islands for red, yellow, or green bell peppers. Now, the usual question at this point is, “Why is it necessary to know this word?” Because. If you want to know what vegetables to have in the salad that you’re ordering, you must tell the waiter/waitress, or things can get out of hand pretty fast. Next question I guess would be, “What are we doing in Fiji?” Naomi decided it would be a great place to celebrate my birthday. And how right she was.

It’s a ten-and-a-half-hour flight from LAX to Nadi, Fiji, and then a short flight to Savu Savu, on the island of Vanua Levu, the laid-back capital of the world. There is no TV. It was a two-hour wait for our bungalow, made less boring by some local style cocktails, and snacks. Yes. When in doubt, get the liquor out. THERE IS NO TV. However, once ensconced in our “crib,” we did tune in on our I-Phone to our local radio station in Central Texas. It was great to hear the traffic reports, along with the weather reports, a bit of news, and some pop music. After the flight to arrive, and the wait for our bungalow, it was great to hear the traffic travails, as we laid back and said, “No way. Not today.” Real relaxation can be quite contagious. Yes. We fell victim to the reigning attitude of the island. “Relax Dummy! You’re in a totally relaxed environment. Don’t make waves.”

This is the path to our bungalow.

This is our bungalow yard.

Yes. These people take their relaxation seriously. They also have their own take on foods that we take for granted, such as Eggs Benedict. Instead of Canadian bacon on the muffin, under the poached eggs, they put boiled spinach, with some perfectly prepared rashers of bacon on the side. Of course, the Hollandaise Sauce was just right.

These are some of the bungalows in the lagoon next to us. Nice neighborhood if you like this sort of stuff.

This was our first hint of the beauty that was to greet us as we flew in to Fiji. Up close, it just got better, and better.

Following breakfast one morning, we came upon what looked like a hollowed out log that the Fijians and other island natives used for communication during WW II, when the Japanese armies were wreaking havoc with them on a grand scale. We had heard about this method that the islanders used to elude the Japanese onslaught, as well as to organize resistance groups. The only people who were aware of the significance of the hollowed out log that we found were two waiters with whom we had struck up a friendship.

This is us with “Big Joe.” An appropriate name for such a diminutive individual, and helpful waiter. A gentle soul, who was quite helpful throughout our stay.

Yes. That’s a skirt that he is sporting. Appropriately enough, it’s called a Sulu, pronounced Soo Loo.

I guess this would be a good place to mention some of the vocabulary, of the Island Patois.

ENGLISH	FIJIAN	PRONOUNCIATION
HELLO	BulaRe	BOOLAHRAY
THANK YOU	Vinaka	VEENAHCAR
PLEASE	Kerekere	CARRY-CARRY
YES	Io	E-yow
NO	Sega	Sang-gah
DELICIOUS	Maleka	Mah-Lay-car
GOOD-BYE/GOODNIGHT	Moce	Mow-they (softthsound)
YOU	Oiko	Oh-ee-ko
ME	OAu	Oh-ee-yau
BUNGALOW	Bure	BooRay

This stuff, along with some cash for tips, et cetera kept us in the good graces of our hosts and hostesses. Yes. Most islanders speak passable English. But showing a willingness to try to speak their language is usually taken as a sign of respect, along with a bit of cash.

Speaking of cash, and downtown, no visit to Fiji would be complete without a visit to their Savusavu Municipal Market. You name it. They’ve got it and then some. The produce, as well as the meats and fish were all on display, and easily accessible. There weren’t too many food freezers. This was a study in fresh to the extreme. Yes. They have capsicums.

LET THERE BE SNAILS!!

The sign says it all.

It seemed that no matter what the problem was that we encountered, one fellow, Sake, pronounced Sah-Kay, came to our rescue immediately to fix whatever was the problem. Regardless of whether it was something in our bungalow, a meal order, or just trying to figure out how to get downtown and back.

He was our “Go to guy.” This is Sake with us.

Fiji does not want for history. For example: in 1789, the year that George Washington was elected president of the United States, the French stormed the Bastille, and Captain William Bligh dropped anchor here. Billy wasn’t very popular here, nor with his crew, which led to the “Mutiny on the Bounty,” which was immortalized by Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, along with other re-issues of the story. Perhaps Captain Billy was just a bit too “stuffed shirt” for the locals.

The flora here is like a perfectly constructed and orchestrated symphony of symbiotic plants and trees, along with the accompaniment of the local fauna, all of which combines to create a mostly undisturbed environment of unbridled beauty, and relaxation, with an all-too-rare marriage of Man and Nature. The little hamlets and resorts are carved out of the beautiful bastions of nature without creating the all-too-regular goofing-up of the delicate balances of nature. These people truly love and respect the place that they call home.

This is an example of some of the resorts’ employees’ homes, Bures. Yes. They live in the midst of this “Nature-Wonderland.”

With all of this in mind, we joined a group of international, like-minded stalwarts who sought the usual silly goodies that they could plunder with the coin of the realm to bring back home and show off to their friends and family…refrigerator magnets, tee-shirts, et cetera. Did we join in with this madness? Yes.

What stay at a South Pacific resort would be complete without a “Meet and Greet Show?” Lots of Bula Re.

Yes. It was “Fire Dance Season!” And a good time was had by all.

For my birthday, we took a trip to the “Coral Garden,” for some very hip snorkeling. The crew of the boat even sang three choruses of “Happy Birthday” to me. The snorkeling was rather terrific also.

This is a Fijian Sea Snake.

This is a Blue Starfish that could do stand-in work for Gumby.

Well, it had to happen eventually. Yes. The gambling bug bit us, along with some of the other guests at the resort. What better to bet on than the Fijian Hermit Crab races? No. I am not kidding. One of the employees of the resort drew circles on the top, or bottom, depending on how you look at the trash can being used as the “track.” He then unleashed the HCs who were the participants in the competition. Here are some highlights of the heart-stopping action. Our HCs must have been the best of the bunch, because it took all of the other HCs to beat them, which they did with great aplomb, and to the delight of their “backers.” Did we take this outrage gracefully? Yes. And we left the area shortly thereafter.

This was the starting point of the grueling track. No preheat rubdowns or anything. These HCs went into the race “cold.”

Here is our stout-hearted team snatching defeat from the mouth of victory. As you can see, it was a gut-wrenching experience.

As you may imagine, like other South Pacific islands, there are quite a bit of other “lesser” islands nearby. This little spate of land with a lone palm tree is called, appropriately, “Lone Island.” The one next to it seems to have a natural human profile. We never got the name of it.

Here they are in their pre-sunset splendor.

As you may have gathered, we enjoy snorkeling in an effort to see the denizens of the not-so-deep in their natural habitat. Sometimes it can be a bit daunting, due to the underwater rocks, to get into the surf. In an all-too-rare beach maintenance program, the natives have built little stairways from the top of the beach to the water. It’s great for getting in and out of the surf with a minimum of slipping, sliding, and falling.

Here is an example of one of the Stone Stairs.

Sometimes the tide was so low, we would walk approximately 100 yards from the Stone Stairs before entering the surf. This was a lucky day…High Tide!

Like any culture, the Fijians have their own customs and rituals. One of the rituals involves the community drinking of a beverage that they create called Kava. It supposedly creates a mystic high for the imbiber. This was too good to pass up. Thus we joined the rest of the group for a group guzzle of the magic elixir. Rather than making us high, it was more like a topical anesthetic. Thus, while being totally sober, and in control of our minds and bodies, we all developed a bit of a lisp, quite similar to the natives of Barcelona. Here is a jug of the “juice,” along with a couple of the natives who were about to pour out portions of this lively liquid for those of us who figured, “Hey. I’m not driving. So why not give it a whirl?”

The next day, we attended a basket-weaving class, which turned into a total fiasco for both of us. Oh well. Not everyone can be super artsy-crafsty. And we proved our standing at the bottom of the list of those who qualified at the top with their very own hand-made basket. Sadly, there was no Kava with which to drown our sorrow and embarrassment.

For those travelers who preferred the total safety of a swimming pool for water sports, rather than ocean dipping, here is the swimming pool, which is located next to one of the bars. When I asked if they served adult beverages, I was told, “We don’t carry Glucerna.” Not true. But it hopefully put a bit of a smile on your face.

Each evening, after dinner, we would take a walk back to our Bure.

This was one of the sights that greeted us on our evening trek.

While we were walking around the resort, we encountered what looked like a fish, but walked out of the sea, and walked around the rocks and grass that lined our pathway. We found out that it is called a “Mud Skipper.” Apparently it is at home both on land and sea. Sadly, we didn’t have any of our cameras with us to memorialize this creature.

Just like almost every other place that we visit, or inhabit, Fiji has its share of “out-of-towners.” We met and hung out with people from such disparate climes as Scotland, Bilbao, England, Japan, Canoga Park, New Zealand, and Australia. These encounters led me to wonder, “When is big business going to invade this nearly pristine bit of paradise, and build its skyscrapers and parking lots?” Hopefully not for quite a while. I’d like for our grand-children to experience this Wonderland of Nature in its present state.

Of course, no story of a South Sea Island would be complete without a picture of its sunset. Like so many other things on Fiji, the sunsets are very graceful, not mind-shattering like some other islands, and inlands we have visited. Here’s one example.

It was now time to head back to our bure, pack, sleep and then bid a fond farewell to Sake, Big Joe, the other islanders with whom we shared time and stories, and, of course the omnipresent Capsicums.