Returning to the villa after spending three days in the Namosi highland seems surreal. Life in the bush is much slower, yet time still seems to slip by unnoticed. I stayed in Nakavika Village, I place I have come to love.
ASIDE: There are fourteen different provinces in Fiji. Each has its own dialect, so they cant understand each other, but there is a common dialect that they all learn in school. The Namosi province, Namosi meaning "Valley of Pain" was know for its warriors. It was also the last province to stop cannibalism.
A lot of our guides are from this province. The chief of this village, Leo, is 73. He used to be a police officer and a rugby player until he was injured. He is now paralyzed and has sever nerve damage and cannot use most of his body. He is still of high spirits and is a joy to be around.
During the days we would wake up early and head off to put in. Bruce and I would split off from the guests and teach guide school, stopping every chance we got to practice rescue skills with the boys. This was the first time the boys experienced inflatable Kayaks so there were plenty of chances.
The evenings were down time. I spent most of the evenings near the rugby field playing with all the village children, of which there were a thousand. These kids are tough as nails and very interested. In the village, or just in Fiji for that matter, it is not unusual for a child to wander up to you and grab your hand and cling on to you.
Dinner was usually ready by the time I was out of steam from playing with the kids. We would all grub together, laughing and teasing each other about the days uff ups. From here we all wandered down to Chief Leo's Burre for Savusavu (kava). This time it was green Kava, much stronger and more mild tasting. I didn't drink so much this time, learned my lesson at Andre's house.
Wake up early the next day and do it all over again.
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