The weather and tide schedule finally aligned for us so that we were able to walk out and snorkel around the reef that lies about 330 meters (about 1000 feet for you Imperial systemers) from the shore. We awoke at sunrise, grabbed our snorkel gear, put on our reef shoes, and strode out across the reef flat. When the tide is low, the water is only ankle deep almost all the way out to the snorkeling area. Reef shoes are a must. Your feet would be cut to pieces without them.
The water began to deepen and we swam out over the live reef to a deeper area for some pretty great underwater viewing. We had to contend with the tide a bit but we were able to see some schools of fish languidly making their way in and around the reef system. The water is pretty deep, which can be a little disconcerting. The strap to one of my flippers came loose, and after nearly losing it, we decided to head back inland.
I know, blah blah blah, you were snorkeling, whatever. The important question is, what was TukTuk doing? She followed us all the way out to the deep water, hunting little black and white striped fish along the way. They are way too fast for her but she loves splashing through the water trying to get them. We were afraid she would try to swim out with us but she is smarter than that. She was napping on our lounge chairs when we got back.
Hunting things she will never catch.
Having learned some pink-skinned lessons about the South Pacific sun, we set out on another short bike ride a little before sunset. We went as far as the Savusavu airport runway, which runs parallel to the highway. The airport itself is little more than a covered car port with some benches. The view from there is quite nice though.
The very small runway for the very small airport.
A family of Fijians lives at Siga Siga Sands. Subash, the handy man, his wife Sunita, the chef and housekeeper, Arvin, Subash’s brother-in-law who works down the street at the Koro Sun resort, and a few others. They are incredibly nice and we’ll write more about them in another post. Arvin took us for a visit to a local village where we paid tribute to the chief by presenting a gift of Kava root and then bought some of their handmade jewelry. I am now the proud owner of a Fijian made shark tooth and carved bone necklace. A guide walked us around the village and politely answered any questions we had. We tried some Kava, which definitely makes your mouth numb (and maybe tastes like cocaine if I even knew what that tasted like), and visited the local waterfall.
Our guide shows us how to swing on the Baka tree.
Nestled amongst rocky cliffs about a kilometer walk into the jungle, the shower-like falls were quite lovely. I took a refreshing dip in it, though Melissa declined. When we first arrived at the waterfall, there were a couple people there. We chatted with them for a bit and Melissa learned that one of the women is from Greenwood in Seattle and works in Georgetown not far from our former residence. She is here visiting her mother who has lived in Fiji for six years. It really is incredible how small the world is while simultaneously being so large that you could never see all of the wonders it has to offer.
