First Time to Fiji: Day 2

We started the morning with a nice breakfast at Vale Ni Kana. After breakfast we decided to drive into the valley, along Singatoka River. The scenery reminded me of the more pristine parts of rural Hawaii. I imagine this is how our island looked 100 years ago. The taro farmers greeted us with enthusiastic waves. Some worked the fields with bull pulled plows. We passed locals on horseback and several groups of school children who were excited to pose for photos.

In the evening we attended an impressive firewalking ceremony. An introduction and history of the practice was presented by a gentlemen everyone refered to as Uncle Jim. He explained that the fire walkers start as young as 8 years old, and that it is part of a religious ceremony held by villagers on the island of Beqa. The ceremony was conducted by a Beqa high priest.

We made our way to Ivi, the resorts fine dining restaurant. It was a very pleasant experience. We were treated to an delicious appetizer made with mahimahi , fruit and spices. We ordered caesar salad, which was made in front of us with our choice of ten ingredients. This was followed by a palette cleansing orange sorbet and the main course. Mika had tuna and lobster. I had scampi linguini. Both were nicely presented and very tasty!

Before heading home we caught the end of a meke, which is a traditional dance roughly equivalent to hula, although the music and stories are distinctly Fijian. Men, women and children all participate in meke. After dinner we retired to our room where we were brought complimentary champagne followed by a sherry nightcap before going to bed.