Swim to the top of Fiji

Mountain Foliage

Yoga at Fiji's highest point

The carrier ride to the interior

Yesterday Leslie and I completed one of our major goals while in Fiji: Climbing Mount Tomanivi (aka Victoria Peak), the highest peak in Fiji. This may not seem like such a major accomplishment since the height of the peak is just over 4000 feet, making it more of a hill in continental terms. However, the weather during the trek made the climb a major undertaking. Rain was pouring literally the entire time we were hiking. The trail to the summit became not so much a trail as a rapidly flowing stream leading Nuper to quip that we "swam to the top of Fiji". Additionally, the second half of the climb up was more rock/mud scrambling than hiking so we really put the upper-body muscles to work. While the hike was difficult, spirits were high the entire time. The view from the top was basically of clouds and rain so we only hung around long enough to take a few pictures. On the way down, Leslie was the only volunteer who hadn't given herself "mud butt" (a term we created for the resulting muddy stain left after falling on one's backside). The three streams we crossed on the way up were rivers on the way down.

Overall the most difficult part of the hike was the organization of it. The mountain is located 2 hours interior of Tavua so you have to hire a carrier (truck with tarps over the bed, passengers sit under the tarps) to drive you inside (there are no buses). Once there we stayed at the Emperor Guesthouse owned by the Vatukoula Mining Company. The house had plenty of beds for the nine of us and even had a fireplace. It was definitely not the typical Fiji experience to be bundled up in a jacket sitting by a roaring fire, but it was a nice change of scenery. They told us the price was $50FJ but when we got there they tried to charge us an additional $10 per person for electricity. We got them down to a flat $5 total, which is good seeing the electricity only worked for about an hour. We had to go through the village to hike Mt. Victoria so first we were required to seek permission from the chief. We bargained with the Turaga ni Koro (village head-man) for a group rate as none of us brought enough cash to cover the $20FJ they originally asked. We were fortunate to have two Fijian boys with us, friends of ours, so we didn't need to hire guides, that would have been an additional charge. An elderly man from Navai village was a bit hesitant to let us do the hike without guides from his village. To impress upon us the danger of getting lost in the forest he told us a story of a policeman who went hiking solo and turned up two weeks later, almost dead, and in nothing but his tighty-whities. " His shoes were gone, his shirt was ripped, and his pants were gone. All he had left was his sapota (underwear)." I have no idea how this guy lost his clothes but a few other people told us the story as well, and they all were very impressed by the man's near nudity. Obviously we felt a bit "nickel and dimed" by the locals in the interior, but overall it was a great experience.

To the subject of work, Leslie and John C. just completed their last beekeeping training with the Nagoro Women's Group, an Indian Women's Group near Rakiraki town. Within the last year they have managed to increase their hives from 3 to 19. One of the women in the group now has four of her own hives. These women are a success-story for beekeeping in Ra. Next week, Leslie and Judy are preparing to do a Gingerbread-cooking workshop in the village with the women. The women in the village have really enjoyed Leslie's baking lessons so far.

We just received a cyclone warning for Ra. Cyclone Mick is expected to hit Northern Viti Levu in the next 24 hours. We are on Stand-fast and cannot leave our site until directed by Peace Corps. Needless to say, I will not be doing any fishing for the next few days. Since I will be stuck inside my goal is to complete my GEF grant and get this MPA moving (financially speaking).

Let the Hoildays begin

It has been over a month since our last post....oops! The past few months have been relatively eventful for me and Choney. After our Kayaking trip with John and Natalie went straight to work in the village.

John C. and I had four weeks of beekeeping technical trainings that we starting right after the trip. We worked three days a week. Some days in more than three apiaries. That is a lot of bees. I can say without much hesitation that I am glad that that string of trainings is over. Beekeeping work is exhausting...much more so for John and the local trainers than me as the men don't let me do any of the heavy lifting. I work the smoker for the most part. In the third week of training I had an "ah ha" moment: I realized that I understand beekeeping well enough that I can split a hive on my own. Doesn't sound like much but I was pretty proud of myself.

Since the beekeeping trainings I have been trying to spend as much time as possible in the village. I spend the majority of my time with three women: Ruci, Milika and Sai. They and Judy (John C.'s wife) helped me organize a Pumpkin pie making training for the sogosogo vaka marama (women's group). Before we started with the mixing and baking I talked a bit about Thanksgiving and why it is celebrated in the US (goal 2 of PC!). The training was a success, not just because a good number of women attended but more so because women are now making the pies on their own and asking for more cooking trainings. It is great to see Fijian women excited about trying new things with the foods they grow and I love helping them find their creative sides. Recently Ruci started a small business in the village selling "fudge". I taught her to make peanut butter-chocolate-oatmeal, no-bake cookies....a personal favorite...and no need for an oven. About a week into making and selling the "fudge" Ruci said to me, "Hey Leslie, you know what I have realized? I have realized, that business is just about being creative." I think I will always remember that moment.

Pumpkin Pie training group (minus a few women)

John's Donu (Salmon Cod)

John has been spending the majority of his time fishing with his friend Utom. Utom is married to the women's group president, Sai. He is the only Indo-Fijian living in the village. He is a great fisherman and he is teaching John a lot. They usually go out to fish early in the morning and come back at mid-day. John almost always comes back with a bag of fish....he takes the ones Utom cannot sell. Fish was John's contribution to the Peace Corps Thanksgiving. He has also been spending a lot of time in the Dadaculaci, exploring the reefs (always with his life jacket). It is usually one of the village youth who accompanies him but sometimes I get to go too. We found a great little beach really close to the village that we paddle to sometimes. It is great to have an escape when things get to loud or rowdy in the village (or when there is a church function!) John has also started building smokeless stoves for the women in the village. Joe (third year PCV) taught John to make the stoves. They are great because they use less wood and produce a lot less smoke, making cooking with wood healthier and easier for women. The women who have started using them love them, we hope the new design will catch on and spread through the village.

At the end of November we went down to Suva for Thanksgiving. Julie (a first year PCV) hosted an awesome Thanksgiving dinner at her amazing house. I made two pumpkin pies with Nuper....they were a hit! I also made Tara's broccoli/cheese casserole....it was the first dish finished at dinner! Almost every volunteer on Viti Levu was present and it was great to see everyone. There was so much food that we ate leftovers for lunch the next day....even after that there was still food left! We went dancing every night too.....keeping those holiday pounds off :)

December and January should be equally busy months (if we can help it) so that we don't miss our families too much.