Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

San Diego, California

Los Angeles, California

Fiji Islands

On the 21st of May I flew to Nadi, in Fiji, from Auckland. I was expecting what everybody had told me, that the island was full of resorts and tourists, so I was a bit shocked when I took the taxi to the hostel, the road was awful. That was my first impression on Fiji, a third world country with first world prices. Now I have been so long here that I have forgotten my first impressions and I have nothing to say but good things about the Fijians, although I have discovered that yes, the roads are still awful and the government is doing nothing to solve this problem, and as a mather of fact, any other problems. Probably they are planning another coup... A taxi driver told me that Fiji is a great place to come on holidays if you stay out of the politics, but funny enough I have found many people very keen to discuss them. Many people for the regime, and many people against it and most of the people agree with what is happening apparently in the rest of the world, prices for basic food are going up the roof. That is terrible and more terrible so for countries where people struggle to get paid only 1 Fijian dollar an hour...
I only stayed a couple of nights in the hostel because I found a couchsurfer more than willing to host me, Eddie at El Rancho. What a cool place to chill out and relax, and he really knows how to cook. The very first night I had my taste of traditional Fijian cuisine: fish in coconut sauce with taro leaves and kasava... delicious! and as Eddie says... Have some more!!! that is his mantra, and that is why I am piling on the kilos... Embarrisingly enough, my bikini gave up on me one day on the beach and snapped. Well, at least I am happy. Always happy as a bunny. As a fat bunny.
After a few relaxing days at El Rancho where I had a glimpse of the Fijian way of life, the friends I met in Auckland came over and we went together to the Yasawas, which are a group of tiny islands spread on the east coast of the main island, Viti Levu.
We bought a Bula Pass, which is a ticket that enables you to travel non stop for one week from island to island. I only stayed with my friends for the first night in a island known as Beachcomber which is the famous party island of Fiji, and although is like the image of some paradisiac island, tiny, white sandy beaches, coconut trees and so on, I didn't really enjoyed the ambience there. Too many drunken 18 year old British young guys, so I moved on to the next island. I stayed in little islands with the most amazing beaches, maybe not as nice as Thai beaches but the water was so clear you could see hundreds of colourful fish, coral, starfish,... I have never seen anything like that before, maybe at an aquarium, but not in real life so I was extremely excited, like a kid, any time I was wearing a snorkle.
When you are in the island though, you don't have a choice but to stay in resorts. It sounds grand but most of them are made of little bures (bungalows) and not so comfy, but in the price the meals are included. There are no shops or markets or proper towns so you are stuck in the resort. In any case I only went to the cheap ones and I love it! Sometimes in the island there was no more than 10 people! I was at the Blue Lagoon beach one afternoon and I was on my own! and that beach was something else, so so so beautiful!
After one week on the Yasawas I went back to Nadi, to El Rancho. There are always other couchsurfers staying there, so it's very interesting listening at all the travel stories we tell each other. Eddie has a cousin in Pacific Harbour, which is a town on the Coral Coast (south of Viti Levu) so I stayed there a couple of days. The weather had totally changed. In the Yasawas it was sunny and hot and in Viti Levu it has been raining almost every day and the nights are chilly. Because of the bad weather I left Pacific Harbour, which was not so exciting, a very new town and headed off to Suva, the capital of Fiji. Suva is busy but very spread out so the town centre is easy to walk. Went to the Fiji Museum because I was so interested in the past. All Fijians are very proud of their past and they always say "in the old days..." It's so interesting when they talk about the clans, and chiefly families, and cannibalism, and of the first missionaries. Now in Fiji the people are very mixed. There is 50-50 Fijians and Indians, and even the Fijians are very different: some are really dark with curly hair, other are fairer, some taller some smaller... Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian all mixed, and also depending of which island are you from: Tavouni, Kadavu, Lau group, etc.
In Suva I stayed with Eta, which is Eddie's partner. She is great and so it's her family. I had such a good time staying with them. Fiji families are just incredible, so many children, cousins, brothers, sisters, relatives and no relatives coming in and out, staying with us or not, eating with us, I just couldn't keep track of all their names! Eta's mum and dad where staying there too. And they both had so many stories to tell me about the old days. On day it's was one of the nieces' kids birthday and the celebration went on and on. We ate cake and drank kava (typical drink), beer and Fijian rum (wich is 60%! luckily they mixed with water...). It was a great evening!

(I have to go now, I will update this post soon! Molts petons per a tothom, mama tradueix!! jeje)