Whales in Mokagai Fiji
28 September 2010 | Mokagai, Fiji
Rebecca, Patrick Childress
Later that afternoon, we hiked up "heart attack hill", as some call it. It is really just a steep incline of a trail which eventually leads to the other side of the island where another village is situated. For an out of shape cruiser the incline will get your heart pumping and lungs working. We weren't going to the other village but would continue the mostly vertical way to the highest point. Here a new trail and clearing at the top was recently made for the whale watchers. The chief, as well as 3 researchers were there, binoculars in hand, watching for whales. The platform was manned for 10 hours each day and would operate for a total of 3 weeks.
From the deck of Brick House sailing these waters, we never saw whales. Looking from this mountain top whales were seen nearly every day. When they would spot one, a cell phone call was made to someone down in the village. Directions were given so they could zoom out in the power boat and take close up pictures of the whales dorsal and tail fin for identification purposes. Notes were made about how many and what type and age whales they were seeing. It was a festive atmosphere that gave the villagers something to do other than tend their gardens. But some of the village men were cheerfully and constantly involved at the spotting platform due to the pretty researchers - Amanda, Sabrina and Saras. Amanda is from Australia, Sabrina is from Spain and Saras from Suva. There are some very attractive local ladies but they are not slender or worldly like the foreigners. Sabrina later said she had turned down at least 4 marriage proposals. I would be sure Amanda had done the same.