Day 34 – Mar 4 – Wednesday – Suva, Fiji–Our first stop In Melanesia
Fiji, unlike most of the countries we visit on this trip is in Melanesia, as opposed to Polynesia. This designation has to do with which peoples settled the island group, more than its geographical location. Melanesians are darker skinned and they occupy New Guinea, the Solomons, and Fiji.
Prior to getting off the ship in Suva, we learned that our scheduled stops in Tonga had been cancelled due to local fear of the spreading corona virus. An ominous occurrence.
Suva is the capital of Fiji, and while not the most scenic spot, it is an interesting port. We are docked at a container wharf. The standard greeting here is “Bula” which I understand means hello, goodbye, how are you.
Directly across from the dock was the main market of Suva.
Zaga took some great pictures of the various vendor’s displays – very colorful.
After the market we discovered a McDonalds for some coffee and “brekkie”.
Our intended target was the museum. We knew the general direction, from previous visits, but found out it was still quite a distance. Zaga hailed a cab, who was discharging passengers and asked him how much to take us to the museum. He refused to quote a price, even as we were getting in to the van. It turns out he was not a cab driver, just a guy dropping off his family. As we looked closer at his van, it was not a cab sign on the door – it was a sign for the telecom company he worked for. Embarrassed, we tried to get out but he insisted on driving us to the front door of the Museum. What a nice man. As Zaga said “jump in a van with a strange man in a foreign country – what could go wrong?”
The museum was under repair and not as complete as when we previously visited, but still worth while.
This is a fishing catamaran, including living quarters on the deck.
Doesnt look very comfortable does it?
The one item, in the gift shop, that we remembered from our previous visit was the cannibal fork. Supposedly a replica of the instrument used by cannibals to “pick” the brains of their victims.
Exiting the museum, we decided to walk back to the ship. Halfway back, we split up with Dan launching out through downtown Suva, and Zaga heading into an interesting colonial era hotel on the beachfront for coffee, while Sally and I continued along the shoreside toward the ship.
Zaga’s coffee turned into a beer, and she had this lovely view from the hotel verandah.
We reconvened in the ship and set sail for our next port, Suvasuvu, Fiji.