Sailing the Mamanucas - Night 154

I have a strange yearning for 7-Up. Seriously, this is what I thought when I woke up today. I had been fiending bacon as well, but the Bounty Island staff delivered in the form of an immense breakfast buffet. The only thing missing was the funny guy in a hat cooking made-to-order omelets. The two Dutch girls and I had a sailing trip planned for the today and our transfer catamaran arrived at 9:30 to take us to Mana Island for a transfer to the Seaspray, the supposedly legendary sailboat that no one outside of west Fiji has ever heard of.

Aboard the Seaspray

The boat was too packed for comfort and the trip started off poorly as I sat on some wet paint and stained the back of my new swim trunks. Good thing they were just a $20 pair from Target. The paint proved to be oil-based and won’t wash out, but at least it sort of matches the color on the shorts, so perhaps only an astute observer will notice my blunder.

The adventure slowly improved. Our first stop

The Mana Island Market

was at a little traditional Fijian village on some island who’s name I cannot pronounce nor remember. The guy chosen to be the chief of our group for the Kava welcome ceremony dropped the bowl of Kava, a very bad sign of gratitude. An impromptu market set up by the Fijian women plied numerous identical goods. The women in our group descended on the market like only women can; holding and examining trinkets, trying on bracelets, fingering the tapestries and in the end emptying their purses on such goods. The men, on the other hand, wallowed in the background occasionally swinging a war axe or eyeing one of the masks, though generally refraining from purchasing anything. I’m guessing they had already spent enough to get to this point…dating, marriage, houses, flights, hotels, boat trips….

We returned to the boat for a stunning lunch straight off the grill. Did I mention the free beer? Well, I guess it wasn’t free as we paid for the trip, I believe the word would be complimentary. After lunch the captain swung us over to the island from the movie Castaway. On one side was the perfect white sand beach and palm trees that kept Tom Hanks alive for all those weeks and on the other some of best snorkeling in the area. I

Tom Hanks' Castaway Island

walked in Tom’s footsteps for a while and then donned the snorkel and fins and dove in the water. It doesn’t take all too long to become entirely proficient with snorkeling gear and in no time I saw my first squid, who I chased about for a bit. He seemed as interested in me as I in him. Once we returned to the boat the drinking began. The couple next to me turned out to be from Sydney and the girl was studying to be a city planner. Good to see we are invading the minds of the youth. It rained on the trip back to the mainland as vicious August-like thunderstorms drenched the hills of Viti Levu and then cleared long enough for an absolutely amazing sunset. I wouldn’t classify it as beautiful, but rather as eerie. The sky had become twisted and shredded into shades and configurations of red and yellow that are generally reserved for abstract art or crime scenes.

Another Fiji Sunset

I spent the night back at the Aquarius resort. Most of the people from the boat were staying there upon my recommendation (I should have asked for a referral discount), so we dined and conversed by the pool until my energy gave out around 11pm.

What I Learned Today: Every girl thinks that they are an expert on how to pick-up all other girls.

written by

exumenius on March 12, 2008 from Suva, Fiji

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

Send a Compliment

comment on this...