The resort is simple, and has six beachside bures and a large communal bedroom and caters mainly to backpackers. Its beach is one of the best in Fiji – miles of white sand and wonderful coral.
The resort was built by Richard Evanson, but is now in the hands of a local tribe, and this has some effect on the quality of food and service – but everyone is very friendly and kind. Here are some photos of the staff during island night.
Sander loved the beach and the sea, and we let him play there in the mornings and evenings, as it was possible to find shade close to the water, and there were virtually no mosquitoes.
The snorkeling at the beach was excellent. The coral was quite damaged in the past from dynamite fishing, but the chief has forbidden it in the bay around Oarsman and the recovery was surprisingly quick and effective – the corals were already large and beautiful. They have attracted a lot of small fish. There was also some coral farming in the bay.
We visited the Nakula village, with its 200 inhabitants and 7 churches.
Breadfruit – the original cause for the Bounty expedition. Unlike the slaves in Jamaica, we though it tasted yummy.
We were invited to a sports day held at one of the four schools at the island. Boys played football and girls played handball. All very seriously, in the burning sunshine.
We climbed the hill above Oarsman in the early morning, and the views were unforgettable. Without Sander we would have gone on for much longer, it was so very beautiful, but we were worried about exposing him to too much sunshine and turned back well in time for breakfast.
Back in front of our bure (cottage), we spent much of the day in or by the hammock. Except when it was occupied by the staff members, which was quite often since there weren’t many hammocks or sun beds - by tradition all property is communal and they viewed all of this as a part of their extended village. But in fact this gave us opportunity for some nice chats and we made more friends this way.
Local wildlife.
Sometimes we ate lunch by the beach. Other times we ate on a large terrace. They used the big drum to call us when the food was ready.
Splash splash splash...
We visited the local sea caves, only a short boat ride away.
After the first cave, which had an opening to the sky, we squeezed in the next one, which was spacious but completely dark, and it had an opening to the next one, and the next one… there are hundreds of such caves on Nakula, and they are considered sacred. In the old days, they were used for “storage of enemies”, whatever that may mean…
Friends and fun. And ukulele...
In the arms of the big chief.
And with other friends.
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Silvija Seres, December 2007