Bula from Fiji!

Nadi, Fiji  
17.7765°S, 177.4356°E

Sarah and I worked with a company called Airtreks to book the flights for our trip. We originally planned for our first stop to be New Zealand but when our consultant Dan told us we could stop in Fiji along the way for no additional cost, we decided a week-long “layover” in Fiji would be a great way to start our trip.

Our Fiji Airways flight from LAX touched down at Nadi airport at 6:30 a.m. and we were greeted with an enthusiastic “bula!” as we exited the plane. Bula is the universal greeting used by Fijians …and they are not shy about using it. It’s a catch-all for hi, hello, what’s up, welcome, have a nice day, etc. and nearly every human encounter begins with exchanging a smile and a friendly bula.

Sarah and I were at first assuming this was a way to welcome tourists, but quickly realized that the traditional greeting is applied as generously and genuinely in tourist and non-tourist areas alike. It became infectious and Sarah and I found ourselves saying it to each other pretty regularly over the course of the week.

Denarau Island

We both were able to sleep on the overnight flight to Nadi, so we felt pretty energized as we arrived at our hotel, the Westin in Denarau Island. We hung out in the lobby for a few hours until our room was ready, which was definitely not the worst wait we’ve had in a hotel lobby….

The highlight of our stay in Denarau Island was a full day sailing trip we took from Port Denarau Marina to the Mamanuca Islands off the western coast of Fiji. We took an early morning ferry from the harbor out to Mana Island, where we were greeted by a group of singing Fijians before boarding our sailboat the Seaspray.

We sailed two hours to a small island where we jumped off the boat and snorkeled while the crew grilled us a lunch of fresh fish, lamb, and veggies, washed down with a few ice cold Fiji Gold beers.

Kava Time

After lunch we sailed west towards a smaller island to take a tour of a Fijian village and participate in a traditional kava ceremony. Kava is a plant popular in a number of Pacific cultures that when consumed acts as a mild sedative. Kava is a huge part of Fijian culture and kava ceremonies are common before important social and cultural events, such as weddings, funerals, and welcoming guests into a home or village.

As we arrived on the island, we were given strict instructions about how to participate in the kava ceremony. No shoes allowed, women should have their legs and shoulders covered, and every ceremony always begins with a friendly bula greeting (obviously).  Sarah didn’t have something to cover her shoulders so she had to improvise….

The village chief and a few others greeted us to perform the ceremony for our group and then one by one we were offered kava in small bowls. The kava ceremony starts with the kava recipient clapping their hands once, then saying bula before drinking the whole bowl (no sipping allowed). After the kava is gone, you give the bowl back to the chief and then clap three times and say “vinaka,” the Fijian word for thank you.

We had both read that many people don’t like the taste of the kava cocktail that is mixed in Fiji, but neither of us thought it tasted that bad. Kind of a chalky, murky water taste (but really not that bad!). Kava numbs your lips and tongue a bit, but beyond that the effects are pretty limited.

On our sail back to catch our ferry to the marina in Denarau the crew of the Seaspray pulled out ukuleles and guitars and entertained our group with songs that included “Isa Lei” a traditional Fijian farewell song. Here’s a short clip of them singing.

Our other days in Denarau were spent relaxing at the hotel, doing a bit of work, and exploring the city of Nadi, which is only about a 10 minute bus ride from Denarau Island.

One of our favorite things from Nadi was its open-air market, which sold everything from limes and bananas to cassava (a starchy potato-ish vegetable served with traditional Fiji meals) and kava root.

The highlight of the market was purchasing one of the mini pineapples and eating it like a popsicle on a stick. It was incredibly sweet and we were disappointed we didn’t get the opportunity to have another before we left!

After three days in Denarau Island, we were definitely ready to get outside of the resort area and see more of Fiji and its colorful landscape and culture. We rented this sweet ride at Nadi airport and headed south….

The Coral Coast

We know a few people who have been to Fiji before, but unlike most of our other destinations we didn’t have many friends who had spent time here and could offer up opinions on what to expect. Most of what I knew about Fiji before our trip could be summarized as 1) tropical paradise, 2) rugby and 3) those square, expensive bottles of water.

That all turned out to be accurate (including that to my surprise they sell those big square Fiji-brand bottles of water everywhere), but I’d have to add to that list now the incredible warmth and genuine friendliness of Fijians. We experienced this first hand during our stay in a small village called Olosara in the town of Sigatoka, which is on Viti Levu, the largest of Fiji’s 332 islands. The area is between the island’s major cities of Nadi and Suva and is referred to as the Coral Coast.

We rented a room in Olosara from our Airbnb hosts Tagi, Jackie and Danny. Tagi, a professional rugby player and surf instructor, was a great guide and showed us the area, took us out to surf, and told us more about the importance of kava and rugby to Fijians.

Rugby is by far the most popular sport in Fiji, and for a relatively small island they continue to produce some of the world’s best rugby players. In international competitions they have been particularly successful at Rugby Seven’s, a derivation of Rugby Union (15 players a side, 40 minute halves) that includes seven people on each team and two seven minute halves. Because this game is played on a regulation rugby field, those that play seven’s are very fast and in great shape.

Rugby sevens could be considered analogous to every NFL team taking its seven fastest running and defensive backs and letting them play against each other with no break in play. In other words, it’s a very fun sport to watch.

Fiji won the 2016 Olympic gold in seven’s, the country’s first Olympic medal. This was of course a big deal for all Fijians, but especially for those in the Sigatoka region. This particular area of Fiji is “rugby country” and produced five of the 13 players on the national team. Tagi was telling us how Fiji players are known for their conditioning and that teams from other countries will travel to Fiji to condition with the Fijians.

On our last day in Olosara Tagi had returned from training in the Sigatoka sand dunes with his team on a humid, 85 degree day. Some of the dunes are close to 200 feet high, so clearly these guys are in good shape!

We also had some great meals in Sigatoka, including a dinner at a restaurant called the Crows Nest, which overlooks the ocean atop a hill on the beach close to Olosara where we were staying. We were in Fiji outside of its major tourist season so many of its restaurants were not crowded at all. At the Crows Nest we were two of three customers for the evening, this guy being the other diner…

Our favorite breakfast on the Coral Coast was the morning after Tagi took us surfing. He recommended a place down the road called He-Ni-Uwa, which translated means “white caps.” The view was amazing:

Since we once again were the only customers, we ended up spending several hours at He-Ni-Uwa talking to its owner Apenisa.

He had recently opened the restaurant after a number of years building it with the help of his family. He told us his dream was to serve locals and tourists authentic and fresh Fijian food, and our breakfast didn’t disappoint! Apenisa made us Fijian donuts served with warm butter and apricot jam.

We both agreed these were the best fried donuts we’ve ever eaten, and were very happy we decided to have this heavy breakfast AFTER surfing!

Fiji Belly

The fishing off the Coral Coast is amazing and Tagi was also kind enough to set up a fishing trip for us during our stay. Unfortunately, I contracted what’s commonly referred to as “Fiji belly” (see “what worries me most” from our January 23^rd post) after making a poor choice of where to get my drinking water after we went surfing. We had to cancel our fishing trip while I spent our last full day in Olosara recovering from my adventure with unfiltered tap water. Lesson learned!

Our last morning in Fiji we woke up early, said goodbye to our hosts and headed to Nadi airport to catch our flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. We promised each other we would get back to Fiji one day!