I considered this to be our un-official honeymoon. Fiji was nice. The natives were very laid back, almost too much so. But in the end everything seems to work out there. We stayed at three different places when we were there. The first place was called Tokoriki. Tokoriki is a luxury island resort in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji. The island is so small that it only has 34 bures. Bures are the Fijian equivalent of Bungalows. There is no air conditioning and no TV. To get out to Tokoriki you have 2 options. You can take the ferry that goes out to the islands which takes 3 or 4 hours or you can take a helicopter. We took the Ferry.
After a couple nights at Tokoriki, we hopped on the ferry bound for our next destination, Castaway Island (Qalito Island). Castaway is also in the Mamanucas. Castaway was much larger than Tokoriki but not so much larger that you didn't feel like you were anywhere other than a beautiful little island in the South Pacific. Castaway was my favorite place in Fiji, despite its lack of air conditioning in the bures which in my opinion was much needed.
After a couple of nights at Castaway, we changed things up and booked a helicopter to get us to our next destination The Outrigger Fiji. While not my favorite, the Outrigger was still pretty darn nice. After 4 nights in the heat and humidity, AC and TV in the rooms made me happy. The Outrigger Fiji is on the main Fijian Island of Viti Levu. While we were here we went on a driving tour of our part of the island and joined the Navua River Village & Kava Ceremony Tour by boat. The tour consisted of riding in these boats that were makeshift canoes with motors on them up to a village that is totally secluded from the outside world. No roads in there. When we got to the village, we partook in a ritual Kava ceremony. Kava is a plant used in Fiji and other South Pacific islands. The roots of the plant are ground or pounded releasing a moist starchy product that is mixed with water and consumed. The kava is supposed to have sedative properties and causes a relaxed feeling. When I tried it, all I experienced was a slight tingly numbness of my tongue and throat. On the way back from visiting the village, the boat pulled over beside a waterfall coming off the cliff side. There was a short little walk uphill to a natural pool below the falls and we were all invited to come take a swim. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. The water was surprisingly very cold and it was quite invigorating!
The rest of our vacation was uneventful. We finished our time at the Outrigger and flew home the next day.
