Fijian Culture (from Jan. 9)

On Monday, we took in a day of Fijian Culture at the Arts Village. They constructed a facility almost 30 years ago to interpret their culture to tourists. The day began with firewalkers, followed by some local dances, a mock battle between two villages, a boat ride around an island with stops demonstrating various village functions, a tour of a temple, and a visit with the Chief, who warned us sternly that he was the boss in this here town and our lives were in his hands. Their past history was quite violent and primitive. Life was cheap, with human sacrifice being quite common.

The ride was air conditioned for a change, but still underpowered. We frequently crawled up hills in low gear. Between that and the speed bumps, it takes about twice as long to travel as you would guess based on distance and speed limit.

We passed the “height of land” on the way there and there was a noticeable change in vegetation. The guide explained that the east side of the island gets about 100 inches of rain per year, while the west side gets only about 60 inches. While the west side has some plants that we would consider indoor, tropical plants at home, it was mostly grasses, bushes, and trees that wouldn’t be out of place in well watered parts of Canada. On the east side though, it was far more forested and jungle-like.

That’s it for Fiji. Our bus departs 6:15 AM tomorrow for a 10:25 AM flight to Auckland.

Vinaka (Thank you) Fiji.