Many cruisers go out of their way to avoid Suva because it is a busy city and port with a certain amount of trash in the water and the anchor-holding in the main bay is not particularly good. However, it is the capital city of Fiji and we looked forward to exploring some of the government buildings, the national museum, and other sights that are associated with a nation's primary city. We also knew that the rainforest was not far away so on Wednesday morning (July 4th), we set-off on an expedition to the Colo-I-Suva (pronounced Tholo-eee-Suva) Forest Park.



L to R: Vandy, Judy, Randall, Steve, and Eric ready to explore the forest

We met Eric and Vandy from Scoots and Judy and Steve from Code Blue at the bus station, having been shown the previous afternoon which bus we should catch. We either just missed this bus and another was not going to appear for a while, someone just did not want to deal with us on their bus, or we had been misinformed, but after some confusion, I found a minibus that was going in the right direction on the road outside the bus station.

We were dropped-off at the Park Headquarters where we each paid a modest fee to the charming Elise in exchange for a color-photocopy of a stylized park map. Our birding guidebook had suggested walking in along the park road and back via one of the trails but Elise warned us that the trails had not been cleared recently so we stuck to the road. The park was not very busy so few vehicles passed us as we wandered slowly down the gravel road, making many stops to search for birds in the tall trees.



Elise and a poster showing a scarlet robin

The Forest Park is a small section, along the Princess Road that heads north out of Suva, of the Colo-I-Suva Reserve. Much of the Reserve is an overgrown mahogany plantation so the vegetation is not pristine but for these three crews who had been on a boat or near the city for the last several weeks, it made a very peaceful, lush, and much-needed walk in the woods.



Starting out along the roadway into the Colo-I-Suva Forest Park

Observing forest birds is always a bit challenging and we heard several calls from birds that we never saw. However, we were lucky enough to have excellent sightings of a bright and dainty scarlet robin bobbing along the roadside and of a masked shining parrot. The latter bird is not only endemic to Fiji but to the Island of Viti Levu although it is fairly common in the forests there. It was quite high in a tree but not particularly restless so we could move around and find good views of it which was particularly satisfying for everyone. The masked shining parrot (closely related to the red shining parrots that we saw on Fafa Island in Tonga) is also called the yellow-breasted musk parrot because they are found to have a musky goat-like smell or, at least, they do when kept in captivity.



Masked shining parrot

While we may have glimpsed a Fiji goshawk coasting overhead, none of us had a long-enough look to be sure. I was certain that I caught sight of the red crown of another Fiji endemic, the tiny orange-breasted myzomela but it was just a brief view as it hopped energetically around in the dense vegetation. Our third confident sighting of endemic species was of a noisy flock of slaty monarchs. These are a type of flycatcher that in its outline and behavior initially reminded us of the New Zealand fantails but was distinguishable from the Fijian streaked fantail by its slaty grey color (the fantail is predominantly brown).

Our final endemic bird was the barking pigeon which teased us all day with its highly distinctive "woof" calls from high in the canopy. Their tendency to sit in the treetops made them very difficult to see from the ground within the forest. We only had a good sighting when we returned to the road and had a more open view to the top of the canopy. These are large pigeons (40 cm long compared to feral/rock pigeons which are 30 cm) and similar to the New Zealand/Pacific pigeon except that the barking pigeon has a brown back and wings compared to the emerald green of the Pacific pigeon.



Part of narrow trail between pools in the rainforest

We were particularly taunted by the woofing calls once we left the park's entrance road and walked along the narrow, trails that led to the many pools for which the park is particularly popular. These cool, clear-water pools have been dammed along a small stream and are joined by narrow and sometimes rough but fairly well-maintained paths. The main pools, at the upper and lower ends, have various picnic tables, benches, and shelters nearby.



Randall takes at dip in the uppermost pool

Randall and Steve braved the waters in the upper pools but I was planning to wait and cool-off in the lowest pool. Waterfalls and cascades of various sizes exited some of the pools and these might be quite a bit more impressive after a heavy rainfall. The area was quite charming but it required some concentration not to slip in some of the slightly muddy or rocky places.



Falls between some of the upper pools

We saw about a dozen other visitors along the upper part of the pools walkway but, as we approached the end, we could hear the squeals and shouts of teenagers in the lower pools. They appeared to be having a fun after-school gathering and when we reached the final level, several young adults were doing some impressive acrobatics using a rope to swing over the large pool. Their somersaults and dives off the end of the rope were sufficiently exciting that we stood and watched for a while, and I quietly decided not to get in their way. It is not often that Randall ends up taking an aquatic opportunity and I do not...he did not, however, miss the opportunity to tease me about my apparent wimpishness.



A local lad swings across the lower pool before somersaulting into the water