Village visit

One of the highlights while staying at Oarsman's Bay was a trip to Nacula Village.  The only village on the island is home to nearly all of the staff there and the residents were as friendly as the kind people we had gotten to know at the lodge. 

The kids especially loved having their picture taken as long as you showed them the results of the photo shoot.

The village is about a 15 minute boat ride away and the boat captain's family came out to say hello.

His daughter was shy but incredibly adorable.

This house wins the best decorated category and the woman who lived here greeted us with big smiles and very hearty laughter.

Almost everyone had laundry hanging out in the bright Fijian morning sun.

The last stop was the best - the village school.

It's a boarding school with up to 150 children attending during the school week.  

The kids assembled in the auditorium to sing for us and boy can they sing.  Not only do they sing on key with lovely voices, but they belt out the songs in full volume and with four part harmonies.

On the way back to the boat we passed by the outdoor gym.

I know we're just tourists but I'm glad we got to see a bit of real life in Fiji other than the guest lodges and resorts.  Our hosts at Oarsmans took delight in telling us all about the cannibalism that was a part of Fijian culture, a practice continued until just 80 years ago.  From the open kindness we've received from everyone here, it's hard to imagine that until recently, visitors were eaten instead of warmly greeted.