Chiefs Bure
What an amazing day. Up early for breakfast before heading off on the Sigatoka River Safari. This involved some brief shopping in the village of Sigatoka followed by a bus trip into the hills of Fiji where we ventured up the river in a jet boat. 10% of the cost goes to the actual village. You can check out their website at www.sigatokariver.com.
The scenery as we headed up stream was breathtaking and the villagers that were on the edges of the river fishing or cooling off were extremely friendly. They always had big smiles and waved happily as we flew past.
Our tour guide, Josh or Jack Sparrow the Black Pearl as he referred to himself – was extremely knowledgeable about the history of Fiji and in particular the history of the villagers and their chiefs and rituals. He was also quite funny and full of – as he called it – Bulla shit....
Our main focus of the Safari was to stop at a Fijian village and learn about their culture, way of life and share in some of their rituals. The village we stopped at is called Tuvu – a village of approximately 100 people. This was a very moving experience as the warmth and friendship that they extended to us strangers was amazing.
When we arrived, we could hear drums playing followed by the men’s choir singing. They had beautiful voices. We were invited to join in on a Kava ceremony where they crushed the root of the Kava plant and then washed water through it to turn it into a drink. We all had a chance of having a big bowl full of Kava. Not what I would recommend from a taste perspective but certainly helped to loosen us up.
We then were invited to mingle with the villagers of Tuvu and ask questions. Whilst doing this the music kept playing and soon we were all up joining in on traditional Fijian dances. This was great fun. After some dancing we were invited to eat some traditional village food for lunch. Although some of it was not exactly aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the taste was phenomenal.
After lunch there was more dancing followed by the villagers thanking us for coming to their village and a farewell song. We shook as many hands as possible on the way out to say thanks.
The villagers who are all farmers were so open, happy and caring it was an honour to have been able to share the experience with them. I do not understand how anyone can come to a place as beautiful as this and not go on this safari. To have the chance to meet the villagers in their environment and see how they live and what it means to them to have tourists share in their little part of paradise is a memory that will stay with us forever.
It is hard to portray in words the feelings that we felt whilst on this tour so hopefully the words above are an indication and the photos show the beauty and joy.
I have dedicated a page of photos purely based on this experience so I hope you enjoy.
