I'm writing this at Bulou's Eco Lodge in the hills of Fiji near the village of Navala. This area is, IMHO, drop dead gorgeous. Very lush, hills of green with rocky outcrops, lots of flowers.
To get here, we were the only white people on a bus from the small city of Ba. It was an hour long, bone jarring ride on a dirt road in a bus that had seen a lot of miles. But the views along the way were spectacular.
Bulou's is a very simple place, run by Tui, a Fijian man, and Bulou, his mother. Tui does almost all of the work since the nother is quite old and had a stroke a couple years ago.
We are staying in a small cabin called a bure. It has running water but no electricity. The windows are louvered and without screens, so we sleep under a mosquito net. Unfortunately, some of the little buggers got to us anyway. That, the heat, and some very loud birds made it a bit hard to sleep sometimes.
Tui is a great host. He cooks all the food, and when the guidebook said it was offered in staggering quantities they were not exaggerating. The should call it the Eat More Lodge!
The nearby village of Navala is one of the last places where almost all of the houses are built as bures in the traditional manner. Tui is related to the village chief, so when we went there today we visited him and his wife in their bure. There were some other visitors there, and they had brought some kava, so we drank some in the traditional ceremonial manner. As guests of honor, Suzanne and I sat on each side of the chief. Three other men mixed the kava on a large wooden bowl.It was then served in coconut shell cups, and you are expected to down it in one gulp. There were three rounds of this, tho I noticed that each of our rounds was smaller than the one before it, probably to be nice to us newcomers. There was a lot of banter back and forth in Fijian.
I found the kava's effects to be fairly mild and relaxing; it probably helped us take a nap later on.
Tui said that it was time to go, so we said many goodbyes and Tui showed us around the village. Each family has two bures, a sleeping bure and a kitchen bure. Both are very simply furnished and decorated. There is a church (Catholic), and a school (also Catholic). Both are simple buildings of concrete block and corrugated metal.
The village is on the cusp of change. A hurricane blew down a number of bures last February, and some of them have been replaced with concrete houses. And electricity is being brought in; we saw poles waiting for wire. They say they may be on the grid by Christmas. So the place may be very different in a few years.
To get here, we were the only white people on a bus from the small city of Ba. It was an hour long, bone jarring ride on a dirt road in a bus that had seen a lot of miles. But the views along the way were spectacular.
Bulou's is a very simple place, run by Tui, a Fijian man, and Bulou, his mother. Tui does almost all of the work since the nother is quite old and had a stroke a couple years ago.
We are staying in a small cabin called a bure. It has running water but no electricity. The windows are louvered and without screens, so we sleep under a mosquito net. Unfortunately, some of the little buggers got to us anyway. That, the heat, and some very loud birds made it a bit hard to sleep sometimes.
Tui is a great host. He cooks all the food, and when the guidebook said it was offered in staggering quantities they were not exaggerating. The should call it the Eat More Lodge!
The nearby village of Navala is one of the last places where almost all of the houses are built as bures in the traditional manner. Tui is related to the village chief, so when we went there today we visited him and his wife in their bure. There were some other visitors there, and they had brought some kava, so we drank some in the traditional ceremonial manner. As guests of honor, Suzanne and I sat on each side of the chief. Three other men mixed the kava on a large wooden bowl.It was then served in coconut shell cups, and you are expected to down it in one gulp. There were three rounds of this, tho I noticed that each of our rounds was smaller than the one before it, probably to be nice to us newcomers. There was a lot of banter back and forth in Fijian.
I found the kava's effects to be fairly mild and relaxing; it probably helped us take a nap later on.
Tui said that it was time to go, so we said many goodbyes and Tui showed us around the village. Each family has two bures, a sleeping bure and a kitchen bure. Both are very simply furnished and decorated. There is a church (Catholic), and a school (also Catholic). Both are simple buildings of concrete block and corrugated metal.
The village is on the cusp of change. A hurricane blew down a number of bures last February, and some of them have been replaced with concrete houses. And electricity is being brought in; we saw poles waiting for wire. They say they may be on the grid by Christmas. So the place may be very different in a few years.
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