Rapturous!

We returned to the marina at Point Vuda to leave the boat and go hiking in the high country of Viti Levu, the biggest island in Fiji. Except for walks on the beach we have had no aerobic exercise for several weeks and we were desperate to stretch the legs. Greg found one tour company still in business who leads hikes into the mountains. We had no difficulty booking a tour; they told us that we were their first international clients of the year.

We had no idea what we were in for. In 2019, Fiji hosted Eco-challenge , the toughest race in the World. Teams from 30 countries competed against each other over 11 days swimming, running, climbing, using all sorts of non-motorized vehicles to cover 417 miles on the main island of Viti Levu. I'm telling you all this because we hiked a very small part of the route guided by the men who scouted the highland leg of the course for the race. Here's a link to find out more about it and if you want to see the landscape and see Bear Grylls who hosted the show, check out the 10 episodes on Amazon Prime Video.
Wikipedia eco challenge...


The first day of our adventure was spent in the car. First we had a 4 hour taxi ride to Savu. Then we met the group, locals and long-term ex-pats, and the ten of us transferred to 4 wheel drive SUVs to bump another 4 hours into the mountains ending up in a village where we would spend the night.

We emerged from the car into misty rain and thick, sticky mud to be greeted by the Village elder and his tribe of cute children. They led us to the village meeting hall which was totally devoid of furniture, roofed with correlated tin, the walls of woven bamboo strips and the floor covered by woven pandanas mats. Here we participated in the sevu sevu greeting ceremony where the chief would normally accept us into the village and we would drink kava. However, their chief had recently died so the ceremony was not very formal and anyway it was hard to hear over the rain drumming on the roof. Dinner was served later; dishes spread on a long cloth on the floor that we sat around cross-legged. Our group and the men from the village ate first, mostly varieties of carbohydrates- casava, breadfruit, yams, rice and cakes, plantains. The ladies who cooked the food and their children finished up what we didn't eat. The women cleared up all the dishes refusing our offer to help and foam mattresses were pulled out. We were given a blanket and a pillow and by eight o'clock it was lights out.


Susan with some of the village children


Sevu-Sevu Kava Ceremony

The rain had cleared somewhat the next morning but the trail was very muddy and slick. Uphill wasn't so bad but downhill was treacherous. Fortunately, we had our poles but Greg's hiking boots were totally inadequate, clogging the treads with mud and chewing up his toes. At the first river crossing he ditched the boots and went with his hiking sandals but he will lose a couple of toenails. I switched to Tevas as well but the rest of the group were just using old sneakers.

Cooling off in the river

There were three river crossings, deliciously cool and not very deep despite the rain. We had lunch at a pool where we swam. There was no need to change. The sun had come out and shorts and shirt were dry within half an hour. The highlight of the hike was during one of our breaks when our guide from the village sprang, machete in hand, into the river to kill in three sharp blows a 3 foot long, 50 pound fresh water eel. I had thought that the villagers were vegetarian but the joy and enthusiasm of the kill suggested that their food choices were opportunity driven.


Hunting freshwater eel

Now we had to climb out of the valley to another village high on the bluff. The slope faced west directly in the mid afternoon sun with not a breath of wind. Sweat was literally streaming down our faces and we were running short of water. We could see our destination, a single majestic mango tree but it didn't seem to be getting any closer. Slog, slog, slog and suddenly the trail leveled out and we forgot our distress. At the entrance to the village, this village's elder, Mr. Rocco, stood with a bowl of peeled sugar cane spears. It was just the thing to restore our energy.

This village is famous for having killed and eaten a Methodist missionary in 1869.The historical record is well preserved and in 2006 the village held a "sorry" ceremony which was attended by many family members of Reverent Baker. They still preserve the killing spot that is now planted with flowers, the axe that is occasionally produced during sevu sevu ceremonies and the sharing stone where the body was carved up. There is a plaque on the cliff face above the killing spot commemorating in English and Fijian the occasion and expressing apologies. Jack London wrote a short story based on this event called The Whale Tooth. It is a good short read.

The next day's hike was shorter but just as slippery and steep. The highlight of the hike was the water slide into a pool, gathering wild grapefruit (dry and not very sweet) in the old village site, a Cacao tree laden with pods, and the smell of ginger and turmeric as we bruised them under our feet. We returned to civilization and the boat that same day filthy dirty and aching in every muscle.


Susan inspecting the local flora


Greg's turn at the water slide