Boldly Go Solo

The water bottle sitting on the table near me is labeled, “From the islands of Fiji, natural artesian water.” If I’m in the Fijian Islands, why am I drinking the water from a bottle, not the tap?

The outdoor breakfast in the hotel lobby (Fiji is warm enough all year round to not need all the usual walls and doors) includes fresh cut pineapple, papaya slices sprinkled with lime juice, watermelon slices. Eggs arrive with paler yellow yolks than I’m used to seeing. 

Mynah birds spoiled by guests’ crumbs and leftovers fly close, landing on some empty tables. Pests, I’m sure, but exotic to me. I don’t have birds join me for breakfast all that often.

The heat and humidity are a big change from a Washington, DC, spring.

Should I check my email one more time before going “off the grid,” to Bulou Eco Lodge, a “scenic 3-hour bumpy ride” away in Navala?

I am here at Raffles Gateway Hotel, where members of the Society of American Travel Writers have checked in for four hours for breakfast, a shower and some down time after a 10-hour flight from Los Angeles. It’s a walk away from Nadi Airport on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji’s largest.

Over breakfast, our guide Bruce explains a little about the Fijian tradition of firewalking. He says they do it over hot stones for entertainment purposes – but you have to be invited to do so by someone who will call on a spirit god to watch over you. Ahem. IF I understood that correctly.

He’s done it, he says. About five or six steps without burning his feet.

The rustic eco lodge that five of us are headed to today is one of the few remaining villages in the South Pacific that still feature traditional architecture. The single-room houses, called bures (boo-rays), have thatched roofs and walls woven of bamboo.

We’re told we will spend some time with the villagers. Maybe join them at church on Sunday. (Flying here, I “lost” a Friday due to the international dateline. We left Thursday night and arrived Saturday before dawn. Maybe I can pray to get the day back?)

I'm solo in that I've never met five of the six people in our group and I will be going off on my own once at the eco lodge. But I am with a group that's taking care of the details. This tends to be how I travel. It's a luxury to have someone else make the plans and get me to where I want to go. And have company for meals.

There are several options over the next three days. Tour a “medicinal and herbal garden” to discover Fijian remedies used long ago, as well as today. Get a cooking demonstration over an outside fire. Laze by the Navala River. Learn weaving, sewing and pottery making. Go waterfall trekking or horseback riding.

One thing I WON’T have is a computer connection. I’m looking forward to that…I think. I’ve gotten so used to checking in via some device or other every day. Perhaps this will be the most relaxing thing of all about the eco lodge.

Wake with the sun. Lose the watch. Be unable to check email. Except right now it feels like cold turkey. Like I have to get my last emails read and blog posts posted before I’m “cut off.”

Maybe it will be good for me. We’ll see… 

Update: May 21. We didn't get to do a lot of what was proposed but the visit to Navala was a highlight of my travels to the interior. The thatched-roof village provides a basic lifestyle for residents and it can't be an easy life. But the people were friendly and warm to us, shaking our hands and asking us where we were from. They're used to people visiting and taking their photos. It's the only village in the country where the "building code" is bures only. 

Unfortunately, we hit a very muddy time there – the rains hadn't stopped for weeks. Anyone visitng the area should plan on staying the night, It's a long drive in, by bus or car. And don't count on a nice warm shower at Bolou's!

Photo: Ellen Perlman. Village of Navala, Northeast interior of Viti Levu.