Here we are

In Fiji, sitting outside early in the morning. It's still cool enough to be comfortable in long pants. the sun is shining on the hills across the valley. It touched the tops first, and now covers the hillsides and is starting to shine on me. Birds are singing, though not especially melodiously. Buses and trucks rumble by on the road in the valley once every few minutes. Many trucks carrying sugar cane; it's harvest season. On the way out here from the airport we saw a sugar cane train. The engine and cars were small, almost like a backyard railway. The rails are only 2 feet apart. But the train was plenty long!

We're staying at a hillside resort a little ways outside of Nadi. We just got here yesterday but it feels like a week ago. The flight was long - almost 11 hours - but we did manage to sleep.

Yesterday we went on a hike in a rainforest. It was great but totally exhausting! First, we had to get there, about 4km away. We started walking down the hot dusty road, in the sun, and without sunscreen because we'd forgotten it.  I said "this is going to be too much, let's go back" but just then a bus came by. We hopped on and rattled down the road. They dropped us at a side road and we started down it. It was pretty far, maybe a mile, and we weren't sure just where this place was, but we did find it. They wanted 20 Fiji dollars each for the hike, but only 10 more for a guide, so we hired a guide, who was a woman in her 30s. She brought along 3 sisters, or maybe nieces, and an impressive machete.

Our goal was a waterfall up in the hills somewhere. She led us up via the "short cut", which was a narrow and arduous track, often clambering over rocks. But, as Suzanne pointed out later,  those women moved like dancers, placing their feet in just the right spots with no hesitation, and giving us a hand up when we could use it. Sometimes the sun shone, and it was hot. Sometimes it was cloudy, which was a relief. And a few time it rained, but never hard enough to be unpleasant.
All the while we talked about all kinds of things, and learned about each others lives. I feel grateful to have opportunities to connect across cultures like this.

The waterfall was nice, tho nothing to awe someone from the finger lakes. The three young women jumped into the pool and swam. They knocked some fruit off a tree that looked like mangoes but tasted more like apples.

We did not take the short cut back, but walked on a broader path and then a road. Much easier but less interesting. They found a mango tree and managed to knock down some fruit, which were ripe and very welcome.

Heading back to the main road, the people in the houses would wave to us and shout "Bula" (hello) as we passed. At one house, three small boys and their mother came out and we shook hands.

At the end we were so exhausted that we called for a taxi rather than wait for a bus. Next time I will try to have more water, some food, and sunscreen. But we were only a little sunburned, and we had an experience we will not soon forget.

Steve