Probably the best time I’ve had since I started my travels has been at an eco-tourism resort on Wayalailai Island in the Yasawas Island chain west of Nadi. The resort was owned and run by three indigenous Fijian villages on the island. They were very warm and hospitable, great cooks, and took us on a variety of adventure tours in the area — including lots of spectacular snorkeling and hiking over mountain tops overlooking the sea. Many of the older men on the island wore the traditional Fiji outfit of a sulu (or skirt) with a red hibiscus flower in their hair.
The accommodation was quite rustic (with no power for most of the day and only fresh local spring water to drink), but all the people staying there seemed to really be enjoying themselves (and the traditional food). Three meals a day were included in the very reasonable prices (FJ$30-50 a day). The villagers would serenade us with traditional Fijian music all evening while were sat around talking. It was really wonderful.
The best thing was that the money we paid them went directly to making improvements in the villages on the island (which reminded me of the villages I encountered in Venezuela with chickens running around back in the early 1970’s) instead of some guy’s Lexus payments. It warmed our hearts to go on tour over mountain tops through the island’s villages on the last day I was there to see these things. Parts of the movie Castaway happened to be filmed on some closely neighboring islands that we visited. I ended up spending four nights there, hiking, swimming, snorkeling, playing volleyball, and socializing with the others.
After spending the past nine weeks racing around Australia and New Zealand, it was nice to just chill out and relax for a change.