Viti levu, Fiji

Islands on the edge of Islands


back to the big coral
Speedboat skirts a coral bank near Plantation Island.
mandovi shopping center
Indo-Fijian women from a roadside shop in northern Viti Levu.
bathing playground
Plantation Island guests enjoy themselves on a sandbar provided by the low tide.
The typical Fijian face
Teresia, one of the many Melanesian workers at the island's resorts.
Fiji vegetable animal
Vaca cebu next to a sugar cane plantation in Viti Levu.
even by the sea
Small storage of aquatic equipment at the resort.
To Mataso, to fly
Bus runs along a stretch of old Kings Road.
stretching the rope
Plantation Island worker holds the anchor rope of a speedboat while one of the island's heirs kitesurfs.
On fire
A Fijian native exhibits piro-acrobatics by the poolside of a Nadi hotel.
towards land
Boat approaches Plantation Island at sunset.
A substantial part of Fiji preserves the agricultural expansions of the British colonial era. In the north and off the large island of Viti Levu, we also came across plantations that have only been named for a long time.

The baptism of the villages that we were passing through would never help us to conclude the main ethnic genesis of Fiji.

Miles of curves and curves followed one another on the mountainous and verdant east coast.

As we walked through them, we were confronted by an unbelievable cast of hamlets and hamlets with repeated syllables: Rakiraki, Lomolomo, Kulukulu, Sanasana, Malolo, Malololailai, Namuamua, Tabutautau, Navala and so on.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, bus

Bus runs along a stretch of old Kings Road.

The farther we drove north, the more examples we could list, sandwiched between Kings Road and the Koro Sea or between that island's royal semi-circular road and the forested ranges or yellowish-green plant lining that towered over the west.

In any case, the conclusion would never prove either easy or unambiguous.

The Ethnic and Political Peculiarities of the Melanesian Archipelago of Fiji

Lost to the west of the South Pacific, the Fijian archipelago has been shaped over 3500 years by diverse Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian cultures since the Lapita people arrived there from the neighboring archipelagos of the Solomon Islands quality Vanuatu, devoted himself to agriculture and multiplied immeasurably, which gave rise to recurring tribal confrontations.

Today, the most frequent conflicts take place, above all, between the generals of the armed forces and the politicians who fight for power in the archipelago, resorting to frequent coups d'état and even kidnappings.

Agriculture, on the other hand, remains vigorous, stimulated by Indo-Fijian community that the British settlers took from the India to the archipelago from 1879 to 1916 and established there forever.

Among the roadside villages, we confirmed that the sugar cane that the British condemned their new workers is still sovereign.

It fills in most of the Viti Levu that natives and settlers managed to steal from the jungle, original in the days when the great plantations they guaranteed even greater fortunes.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, cow, sugar cane

Vaca cebu next to a sugar cane plantation in Viti Levu.

Sugarcane, however, never became a monopolist. Off the north coast, owners of islands too small to house the plant protected from the salty sea breeze, opted for an obvious alternative. Upon arrival, many of these islands were already surrounded by coconut trees.

Coconut has always had its own value, both that of the husk, used for a series of fibers, fabrics and materials, and that of the pulp, when not preserved for direct feeding, delivered to the copra industry (from the Tamil dialect malayalam: koppara) which produces the prized coconut oil from it.

We had been exploring Viti Levu for some time. Suddenly, the idea of ​​taking a look at some of the secondary islands off the coast comes to mind, as we were approaching Lautoka and Nadi, from where ferry connections to several of them departed.

We stopped in Lautoka in order to recover energy. We took the opportunity to make some calls from a local telephone booth, lost in a square with Muslim shops on one side, Hindu on the other.

These calls resulted in an invitation to spend a few days in a Plantation Island. In need of some rest from the bath, we gladly accepted it and hurried to deliver the rental car and move there.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, Plantation Island

Small storage of aquatic equipment at the resort.

Plantation Island that Reaps Tourism Profits

Hannah and Brian Kirsch, a young Australian couple who ran the island's resorts, welcome us.

Hannah made sure we were settled in and pampered as best as possible. "I'm sure you'll love it!" assured us. “I only leave here for long trips. I don't like Nadi at all and it's too much work for me to reach deep Viti Levu.”

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, Mandovi shopping center

Indo-Fijian women from a roadside shop in northern Viti Levu.

We did our best to show appreciation for his seclusion from the real Fiji, apparently with success.

Hannah seemed pleased to unburden herself with visitors she considered more or less her type: “I go to Australia a lot more often than Viti Levu. They know I had family in Port Arthur, Tasmania.

But there was that serial killer problem, I don't know if you've heard. My aunt got away from the list of victims. Still, she was forced to sell the hotel and everything else because of the massacre's negative reputation.”

The world is not exactly small but, by coincidence, we were aware of what the hostess was telling us. A few months earlier, we had passed the crime scene.

We learned about the killing perpetrated by Martin Bryant, in 1996, in the local museum penal colony, the deadliest ever caused by single-person shots until the Norwegian Anders Breivik, which set a record four years ago, on the island of Utoya .

It didn't take long for us to realize that while her aunt had sold her Tasmanian hotel, Hannah and the three siblings who seemed to be living on obvious financial relief had just inherited this entire incredible island from their late father, Reginald Raffe.

Reginal has become respected in Fiji for his pioneering contribution to the development of the Mamanucas, an archipelago full of chalk-sand beaches, crystal-clear seas.

Sometimes turquoise, sometimes emerald with photogenic sandbars and coral reefs submerged at the whim of the tides.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, coral reef

Speedboat skirts a coral bank near Plantation Island.

Plantation Island – also known as Malolo Lailai – was the second largest and the island with the most infrastructure in this archipelago. Until 1966, it had been owned by a Chinese family named Wong Ket who took an irregular profit from the thousands of coconut trees planted.

Australian wealthy Raffe and other partners bought it and built the current airstrip. Gradually, they also endowed it with bures (Fijian huts) refined and prepared it to welcome the wave of Aussies and kiwis (later Asians) visitors that started to sail to Fiji and made this island nation the most touristic in the South Pacific.

Plantation Island or Malolo Lailai: from Coqueiral to Fiji Providential Island-Resort

Hundreds of natives found themselves trapped in the jobs created by investors. At Plantation Island, it was mostly women and mahus (Thus is called the third kind of Polynesia) those responsible for customer service and treatment.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, Melanesian woman

Teresia, one of the many Melanesian workers at the island's resorts.

"How are you finding the island so far?" officials such as Teresia and Api – the latter with very strong effeminate gestures – who were more than faithful to their role and the tradition of welcoming their land, questioned us too often: “They've already gone to take a look at the view of Uluisolo, the highest point on the island ?

From there you can even see the Yasawas. Go, however, who catch the sunset! "

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, kite surfing, 2

Boat approaches Plantation Island at sunset.

We still walked there but we didn't get there in time.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, fire charmer

A Fijian native exhibits piro-acrobatics by the poolside of a Nadi hotel.

Incursion to the Divine Sand Bank of Malolo

To compensate, the next day, early in the morning, we went straight out on a speedboat and snorkeling itinerary through the barrier reef of malolo with a last bathing stop on the sand banks in front of the island.

The helmsman and the assistant on board had the tide's evolution controlled almost to the second and made the passengers disembark at the precise moment when the water was beginning to discover the shallows.

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, Sand Tongue, Plantation Island

Plantation Island guests enjoy themselves on a sandbar provided by the low tide.

At a glance, small, almost private beaches were discovered, which all guests enjoyed without ceremony, some simply delighted in simultaneous baths in the sea and sun, others in a flurry of much more physical activities.

The motorboat's entourage was at this assorted playground when, out of nowhere, like a superhero hanging from the clouds, a young man appeared at full speed kite surfer who entertained himself by showing off his mastery on the board. One of the boat's crew did not resist the gossip:

Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, kite surfing

Plantation Island worker holds the anchor rope of a speedboat while one of the island's heirs kitesurfs.

“It's Jason Raffe, one of Hannah's brothers. When he's here, he spends his days either diving or doing that. There are lives like that!”

Viti levu, Fiji

Cannibalism and Hair, Fiji Islands' Old Pastimes

For 2500 years, anthropophagy has been part of everyday life in Fiji. In more recent centuries, the practice has been adorned by a fascinating hair cult. Luckily, only vestiges of the latest fashion remain.
Viti levu, Fiji

The Unlikely Sharing of Viti Levu Island

In the heart of the South Pacific, a large community of Indian descendants recruited by former British settlers and the Melanesian indigenous population have long divided the chief island of Fiji.
Navala, Fiji

Fiji's Tribal Urbanism

Fiji has adapted to the invasion of travelers with westernized hotels and resorts. But in the highlands of Viti Levu, Navala keeps its huts carefully aligned.
Efate, Vanuatu

The Island That Survived "Survivor"

Much of Vanuatu lives in a blessed post-savage state. Maybe for this, reality shows in which aspirants compete Robinson Crusoes they settled one after the other on their most accessible and notorious island. Already somewhat stunned by the phenomenon of conventional tourism, Efate also had to resist them.
Upolu, Samoa  

The Broken Heart of Polynesia

The imagery of the paradisiacal South Pacific is unquestionable in Samoa, but its tropical beauty does not pay the bills for either the nation or the inhabitants. Anyone who visits this archipelago finds a people divided between subjecting themselves to tradition and the financial stagnation or uprooting themselves in countries with broader horizons.
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Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Apia, Western Samoa

The Host of the South Pacific

She sold burguês to GI's in World War II and opened a hotel that hosted Marlon Brando and Gary Cooper. Aggie Gray passed away in 2. Her legacy lives on in the South Pacific.
Samoa  

In Search of the Lost Time

For 121 years, it was the last nation on Earth to change the day. But Samoa realized that his finances were behind him and, in late 2012, he decided to move back west on the LID - International Date Line.
Tongatapu, Tonga

The Last Polynesian Monarchy

From New Zealand to Easter Island and Hawaii, no other monarchy has resisted the arrival of European discoverers and modernity. For Tonga, for several decades, the challenge was to resist the monarchy.
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
LifouLoyalty Islands

The Greatest of the Loyalties

Lifou is the island in the middle of the three that make up the semi-francophone archipelago off New Caledonia. In time, the Kanak natives will decide if they want their paradise independent of the distant metropolis.
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Okavango Delta, Not all rivers reach the sea, Mokoros
safari
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Not all rivers reach the sea

Third longest river in southern Africa, the Okavango rises in the Angolan Bié plateau and runs 1600km to the southeast. It gets lost in the Kalahari Desert where it irrigates a dazzling wetland teeming with wildlife.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Bertie in jalopy, Napier, New Zealand
Architecture & Design
Napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s

Devastated by an earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in an almost ground-floor Art Deco and lives pretending to stop in the Thirties. Its visitors surrender to the Great Gatsby atmosphere that the city enacts.
Aventura
Boat Trips

For Those Becoming Internet Sick

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knights of the divine, faith in the divine holy spirit, Pirenopolis, Brazil
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pirenópolis, Brazil

A Ride of Faith

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fastened by several wires
Cities
Curitiba, Brazil

The High-Quality Life of Curitiba

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Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Lunch time
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

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Tabatô, Guinea Bissau, tabanca Mandingo musicians. Baidi
Culture
Tabato, Guinea Bissau

The Tabanca of Mandinga Poets Musicians

In 1870, a community of traveling Mandingo musicians settled next to the current city of Bafatá. From the Tabatô they founded, their culture and, in particular, their prodigious balaphonists, dazzle the world.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

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Ross Bridge, Tasmania, Australia
Traveling
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Passage, Tanna, Vanuatu to the West, Meet the Natives
Ethnic
Tanna, Vanuatu

From where Vanuatu Conquered the Western World

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View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

Ulugh Beg, Astronomer, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, A Space Marriage
History
Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The Astronomer Sultan

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Guest, Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Islands
Michaelmas Cay, Australia

Miles from Christmas (Part XNUMX)

In Australia, we live the most uncharacteristic of the 24th of December. We set sail for the Coral Sea and disembark on an idyllic islet that we share with orange-billed terns and other birds.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

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Almada Negreiros, Roça Saudade, Sao Tome
Literature
Saudade, São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe

Almada Negreiros: From Saudade to Eternity

Almada Negreiros was born in April 1893, on a farm in the interior of São Tomé. Upon discovering his origins, we believe that the luxuriant exuberance in which he began to grow oxygenated his fruitful creativity.
The Gran Sabana
Nature

Gran Sabana, Venezuela

A Real Jurassic Park

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Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

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female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Natural Parks
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

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Saida Ksar Ouled Soltane, festival of the ksour, tataouine, tunisia
UNESCO World Heritage
Tataouine, Tunisia

Festival of the Ksour: Sand Castles That Don't Collapse

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Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Characters
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

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Coconut picker in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka
Beaches
Unawatuna to Tongalle, Sri Lanka

Along the Tropical South of Old Ceylon

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Motorcyclist in Sela Gorge, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Religion
Guwahati a Saddle Pass, India

A Worldly Journey to the Sacred Canyon of Sela

For 25 hours, we traveled the NH13, one of the highest and most dangerous roads in India. We traveled from the Brahmaputra river basin to the disputed Himalayas of the province of Arunachal Pradesh. In this article, we describe the stretch up to 4170 m of altitude of the Sela Pass that pointed us to the Tibetan Buddhist city of Tawang.
End of the World Train, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
On Rails
Ushuaia, Argentina

Last Station: End of the World

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Street Bar, Fremont Street, Las Vegas, United States
Society
Las Vegas, USA

The Sin City Cradle

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the projectionist
Daily life
Sainte-Luce, Martinique

The Nostalgic Projectionist

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Cape cross seal colony, cape cross seals, Namibia
Wildlife
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.