The Real Fiji
Fiji. The very word invokes images of sun-kissed beaches, cobalt-blue waters and five-star resorts oozing tropical cool. Yet there’s a whole lot more to this South Pacific idyll than what can be seen from the edge of an oasis-themed swimming pool. And there’s no better place to see it than on the main island of Viti Levu – a hyper-fertile cornucopia of towering mountains, old-growth rainforests, raging rivers, waterfalls and bat-filled caves and karsts – the bulk of which are easily accessible but still very much off the beaten path. For it is only on visiting the highlands that one comes to understand that the ‘real Fiji’ lies not on a map, but in the generous hearts and open minds of its rural people. From the stern yet welcoming handshake of a village headman, to the open-door policy of Hindu festivals and Sunday mass, to the deep philosophical discussions reserved for the small number of foreigners who venture into Viti Levu’s spiritual heartland, Fiji remains an adventurist’s dream.
Text and photos by Ian Lloyd Neubauer
The Sleeping Giant
Nowhere in Fiji is the contrast between the interior and the coast more starkly manifest than in the Sabeto Valley. Perched beneath The Sleeping Giant, a thickly forested saw-tooth ridge, which, when viewed from a southerly vector, resembles a prostrated human form, this velvet-green basin lies but a 10-minute drive from Viti Levu’s bustling ring road.
The Sabeto Valley makes for an ideal introduction to the slow, wholesome way of life enjoyed by the friendly villagers and farmers who live and die in the highlands. Comprised of an eclectic mix of Melanesians and the descendents of Girmitiyas – indentured Indian labourers shipped here to cut sugar cane in the 1870’s – they love nothing more than to kill time drinking kava, a mildly narcotic pepper-plant around which all Fijians bond.
The highlanders are also kings of hospitality. When I went to see the rainforest at the village of Nagado – an hour-long, 50-cent bus ride up Sabeto Road – I ended up at a traditional Indian wedding, where I was afforded the dual title of official photographer and special guest. A similar thing happened to Paul Mueller, a retired school teacher from Hamburg and the only other Westerner I met during my weekend there. He’d planned to visit the nearby geothermal hot springs, where mud wraps and Fijian bobo massages are offered for a nominal fee, but was instead roped into a game of touch rugby and a swim in the Sabeto River with a group of local village kids.
“The villages here are nothing like the pretentious touristy ones where they come out singing and dancing. They have nothing to sell but the organic fruits and vegetables they grow, everything from eggplant to wild bananas to green chilies, spinach and pawpaw,” says Michelle Khan, co-owner and manager of Stoney Creek Resort, a budget-priced eco-lodge and mini-golf course listed among the world’s top-ten “Coolest Hostels” by UK newspaper The Guardian in August 2010. The Sabeto Valley is also renown for it’s plump juicy mangos. Michelle’s 22-acre property is carpeted in mango trees; she boasts that she once sold two boxes of individually wrapped fruits to Tom Cruise’s personal chef when he stayed at a private Fijian Island in 2003. Equatorial orchids are also found in the valley and can be seen in abundance at the Garden of the Sleeping Giant on Wailoko Road. Established in 1977 by the late US actor Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame, the garden is home to 1,500 varieties and 160 species of orchids, as well as a jungle boardwalk showcasing indigenous flowering plants and trees.
Other attractions include the Lomolomo Gun Battery, built by US Marines during WWII to defend Nadi Bay from a Japanese landing that never happened; a whitewashed mosque; and the Shri Ganesh Hindu temple and Masimasi Primary School. The principal, Ravinesh Narayan, welcomes foreigners to sit in on classes anytime, while Ilisoni Galaga, the headman of neighbouring Nambotini Village, is in the process of establishing a homestay program.
“Our plan is to have foreigners stay with local families, go fishing with them and to do some work in the gardens,” he says. “They will eat whatever we eat and on their final night we’ll cook them a lovo,” – a traditional Fijian banquet where meat and vegetables wrapped in banana leaves are slow-baked using hot stones packed in a hole underground.
Up in the Clouds
There are two entry points into the Nasouri Highlands, both offering spectacular ascents into an otherworldly landscape reminiscent of the lower Himalayas or the north of Laos. The first and most dramatic is the aforementioned Sabeto Road. This rocky thoroughfare climbs 1,500 metres to a summit named Heaven’s Edge, from where one can see the distant Mamanuca island chain to the west and Vatura Dam in the east. The second route begins in Ba, a laidback Indo-Fijian town on Viti Levu’s north coast. Surrounded by sugar-cane plantations, Ba comes to life in September of every year when thousands rock up for the annual bougainvillea and horse racing carnival.
A two-hour journey from Ba takes travellers through rolling green countryside enveloped in mist to the village on Navala on the banks of the Ba River. Navala is unique in that it’s purported to be the last village in Viti Levu where all the houses are built in the traditional bure palm-thatch style. But the people of Navala have caught onto the 21st century and a bure-themed B&B has been set up across the road. Foreigners are also charged a $10 entry fee to walk around the village, with reports of touts charging unsuspecting visitors three times more.
For a less picturesque but more authentic experience, try the village of Bukuya about an hour up road. Housing in Bukuya consists of both bures and corrugated iron boxes, but the views of nearby Mount Mangodro will take your breath away. On arrival, visitors must pay respects to Chief Jo Ratusimiome, whose home sits on the highest apex in town.
“Sabeto Valley makes for an ideal introduction to the slow, wholesome way of life.”
A former South Pacific middleweight boxing champion, the chief now spends his time play fighting with his grandchildren and ruling his dominion via his mobile phone. It’s nice to bring a gift of kava or cigarettes but it’s in no way required. The villagers of Bukuya are equally generous and go out of their way to befriend strangers from abroad. It’s hard to believe that a little more than a century ago the Nasourians were ravenous cannibals who at times dismembered their victims in stages or tossed them into the pot – alive! But the introduction of Christianity in the late nineteenth century put an end to the gruesome spectacle and today Fijians are devout believers in the karmic code. “We changed our life from darkness to light by embracing Jesus Christ and then by going to school to learn and understand everything that is happening in the world,” says Rupeni Namau-ba, a cassava farmer who generously hosted me for two nights in his family home.
Nectar of the Gods
What really impresses in Viti Levu from an ecological perspective is the abundance and quality of water. The Sigatoka River is its second second-largest source – a flood-prone vessel that winds its way down the Nasouri Highlands into the Sigatoka Valley like a heavily coiled snake. Hundreds of archeological sites showing evidence of cannibalism and ancient drumbeat communication systems have been found along its banks, though many of these have been disturbed by agriculture.
To experience Fijian water at its purest, follow the coastal road 30km east from Sigatoka city to the village of Biausevu. There you’ll find Boro Finau, a lifelong Biausevu resident who lives in a stilt house ringed by a crystal clear stream. Boro and his family offer horseback tours to the Savu Na Mete waterfall – a 10-metre-high cascade that empties into an Edenesque lagoon. It was here that Boro met his Australian wife in 2008, and where they were married on a shallow bank in front of the waterfall. Boro has since organised four other weddings at this magical spot, complete with lovo feasts and impromptu village choirs. ”When people come here they say they know they are in the real Fiji,” Boro says. “The Fiji of my ancestors … the Fiji I know my children will enjoy.”
TRAVEL FACTS:
Getting There
(From Australia)
Air Pacific: visit www.airpacific.com
V Australia: www.vaustralia.com.au
Qantas: www.qantas.com.au
Getting Around
Avis Car Rental offers 4WDs, phone +67 9672 2333 or visit www.avis.com.fj
Westside Motorbike Rentals offers dirtbikes and scooters. Tel: +67 9672 6402 or visit www.motorbikerentalsfiji.com
Where to Stay
Stoney Creek Resort in the Sabeto Valley offers dorm accommodation (FJ$33), love shacks (FJ$75), king-size rooms (FJ$125) and jacuzzi bure-style suites (FJ$145) including continental breakfast and airport transfers for guests staying three nights or more. Tel: +67 9672 2206 or visit www.stoneycreekfiji.net
Buluo’s Eco Lodge in Navala offers dormitories (FJ$65) and bures (FJ$75) including three meals and daily village tours. Tel: +67 9628 1224
What to do
Stoney Creek Resort rents mountain bikes and can organise hiking tours in and around the Sabeto Valley. Boro Finau in Biausevu Village offers tailor-made horse riding trips to the Savu Na Mete waterfall and surrounds. Tel: +67 9834 4164 or email thewildboarfiji@yahoo.com
Tips
At the time of writing FJ$1 = AU$0.60
Fiji experiences persistent daily rainfall from November until April
Further Information
Fiji Tourism: www.fijime.com
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