In Part 1 we travelled along the Sigatokan rural roads throughout the morning and visited a small rural village and cave. The history and perspective from this visit was unexpected and thought provoking. How is it the Fijian’s are so positive after all that has happened to them? This afternoon’s adventure took us to a larger village, with more energy, colour and more of that friendly Fijian hospitality. This hospitality is worth so much more when it comes from a place so different to your own.
Part 2 – You don’t need millions to be rich. Our afternoon in the Sigatokan countryside
As we left off in part 1, we are back at the river to join the group who opted for the afternoon river safari and village visit. We again had to choose our Chief for the afternoon. Dai was not so lucky, he was probably fourth or fifth in line for the auspicious honour at the village this afternoon. I was secretly relieved, life as Mrs Chief in the morning was also more fame than I really was interested in partaking in during our excursion!
Chief Aldo was named and this time, our larger group split in 2 and boarded our boats. This was not the river safari picture I had in my head when I booked this, our boats were jet boats, you know the type…the ones that go super fast and are built for speed more than gentle sightseeing! Our guide and boat captain for the afternoon was Freddie. We could call him Fantastic Freddie he tells us as he also jokes (we hoped) that it was his second day so “everything should be fine”. After a few nervous laughs, we set off along the river.
As was the case earlier in the day, the locals going about their business along the river were equally friendly. Freddie warned us to smile and wave as we passed so that the “friendly locals” would not throw sticks and rocks at us on the way back later that day. More nervous laughs and I was beginning to realise most of Freddie’s banter was much like Tia Maria and Moses earlier in the day…funny, but to be taken with a grain of salt.
Freddie’s tone did become more serious when he was telling us about life in the area. Kids crossing the river morning and afternoon to get to school. By crossing I mean swimming, given only a very small minority of villages have access to a boat meaning the kids will swim across, change into their school clothes and then walk to school or the bus. Already appreciating my childhood where I was driven to school and dropped at the front gates!
We arrived at the village after more smiles and waves from riverside locals along the way. The “pier” we clambered onto was fashioned from planks of wood and was much like everything we had seen so far that day, home made and made from things they found in their surroundings. The good thing about this pier is that it would be super easy to dismantle and move to higher ground during the wet season. Being here in the dry season meant the river was a smaller version of itself and we had a bit of a walk across the rocky foreshore that would be a riverbed in the wet season. Then through a paddock where they had recently planted watermelons and tobacco.
The village this afternoon was a lot larger than the one with the cave priest from part 1. There were close to 100 family members living in this one. Their chickens were free-range as well as many of their pet dogs who came up to check out the visitors on their turf. Sounds of children laughing and playing greeted us on our arrival into the village as the women donned our sarongs and we all removed our hats (signs of respect required as we entered the village – not just inside). Wallee our village guide told us about life in the village and how everyone had their role. The village spokesperson had a role to organise the families and let everyone know their roles for the day and week each Monday especially. He would walk through the village shouting out what was required to be done throughout the village or in the fields as well as any news.
After this briefing Chief Aldo led the men and then women tourists inside the much larger community centre and addressed the chief of the village and offered him the Kava root as a thank you for hosting us. Then what followed was a longer version of this mornings exchange in Fijian between the chief and our spokesperson Wallee with his infectious smile. The group of local men this afternoon was a lot larger and so was the kava pot which they then mixed up the ground kava and some water, ready for the kava ceremony which all were to participate in….even the young kids, which made me think we were on the tourist blend which wasn’t as potent as what the locals would tuck into on a Friday night!
We then moved to the next room where they had laid out an incredible spread of food and some local lemon drink. There were all sorts of Fijian specialties for us to try. My favourite being a banana pancake/fritter, Dai tried some local FFC (Fijian Fried Chicken) which he said was quite boney, he thinks he picked a rib piece, he also had a vegie curry wrap which he liked. The pineapple was delicious and their bananas were not as tasty as some we’ve had at home. This is only a small portion of what we were offered as you can see from the picture, however by the time we got to the room and all sat down, it was well after 3pm and we had already had lunch after our cave visit.
Then came the dancing and singing! The Fijian Beatles had quite the repertoire for us and those not in the band led us on some dances to work off some of the feast. It was thoroughly enjoyable and the Fijian smiles were infectious as the visitors and locals all blended into one big dancing and singing group. This dancing went on for some time before the village chief tells us the next song will be the last and it’s a song called “See you again soon”. With many Vinakas from all of us, we were on our way across the fields, back to the river and our jet boat captain Freddie the fabulous!
As the day drew to a close, Freddie tells us we’ll be doing some 360’s on the way back. As Dai and I were in the second back row, we’d been advised we were likely to get a little wet. Not as wet as our new friends Brooke and Zara from Sydney who ended up saturated after a few spins and then one more for good measure to be photographed back at the start. With big smiles and plenty of laughing recounting our afternoon in the Sigatoka, we made our way back up the hill to hand back our life jackets and board the bus back to our resorts.
The riches of life in the Sigatoka valley are so wholesome and the smiles are some of the widest I’ve seen. Whilst they are now starting to get some of the conveniences we in Australia take for granted. It makes me wonder what their lives will be like in years to come as the divide between their simple, uncomplicated and self-fulfilling lives in their villages where they make/grow/build all that they need and the lives of us tourists with all our mod-cons and busy lifestyles merge closer and closer together. I hope they remain as they are today, happy, fulfilled and surrounded by family, as these are the riches which gave us all that warm fuzzy feeling as we shared our afternoon with them.
Thanks Sigatoka, we are richer for having spent the day in your surroundings and with your locals!
