Suva, Fiji

After crossing the International Date Line, we lost Saturday, so that means we had an alcohol-free, fasting day!! Woohoo!!

Today we are in Suva, Fiji, an unscheduled stop for us since we are dodging the Coronavirus and this was an island that would let us visit. It is certainly becoming more challenging each day.
I’m sure we will need to make some sort of a decision soon about whether or not to continue our cruise.

We did have a nice, but rainy day here in Fiji as this is the start of their rainy season. We visited a spice farm which was quite interesting. I know I take for granted the packaged spices I buy, never thinking back to the actual plant that they came from. The Fijians did a Kava welcoming ceremony, served lunch that was cooked in an underground oven, toured us through the spice trees and bushes, and shared their traditional dance and stories. They are a warrior culture, often fighting other tribes on their own island. They were also a cannibalistic culture, sometimes killing and then eating their enemies.

Suva is a large, bustling city with modern stores and people and vehicles everywhere! The fruit and vegetable market was one of the prettiest and cleanest we’ve ever seen. Hundreds of watermelons, peppers, taro, eggplant, tomatoes, coconuts and long beans were all on beautiful display. The vendors were full of smiles and saying “bula” as a greeting.

Many of the men here where a type of wrap-around skirt with a formal shirt and sandals.
It was an interesting stop and a nice contrast to a very small town we’ll visit tomorrow on a neighboring island.Read more