92. Village Life

I have spent the past few weeks exploring some extremely remote Fijian atolls. Quite literally uncharted territories with a few scattered villages, each with no more than a hundred or so inhabitants. With the exception of the monthly supply ship from the capitol Suva, many of these villages only get visits from cruisers. And we are more than welcome provided that we present the village chief with a Kava root at a welcoming ceremony known as Sevusevu.

Kava roots for Sevusevu
Sevusevu at Vulaga
Kava. Supposedly intoxicating but not my cup of tea.
Miji, my assigned host at Vulaga. Head Man of the Village and a highly skilled wood carver
I bought a Kava bowl and a paddle from Miji
Sevusevu at Matuku . Same but less
The local kids loved soap bubbles
Cannibalism was widespread here. They used to eat their enemies in order to humiliate them and gain their powers
Spot the rugby goal!
We were invited to a cricket game between the Vulaga villages
The bench
The umpire
The Matuku reef entrance according to the Navionics charts. Green means above water at low tide
Satellite Image of the same
Drone picture of the Matuku reef pass
Matuku Bay. Saoirse is the second boat from the right. Anchored in 13 meters
Matuku reef
Matuku reef
Street art comes to Vulaga
Visit from the Fijian navy and police. Making sure that I am in the country legally
One of these guys actually dropped his gun off the back of Saoirse. It was clear that they weren’t that keen on coming home and report a missing gun but it was equally clear that none of them would be able to dive down and retrieve it. At the end of the day, yours truly had to save the day
As if losing a gun wasn’t enough. This was the result of the Fijian navy’s last visit to Vulaga. This brand new vessel was a gift from Australia and was in full display at the Vulaga reef entrance

Discover more from Saoirse

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Unknown's avatar

Published by

sysaoirse

2 thoughts on “92. Village Life”

Leave a comment