We stopped for a day on another isolated island with stunningly beautiful beaches – this time, Yasawa, in the Fiji Islands. As before, it was home to a small village and nothing more. It turns out that both versions of the movie “Blue Lagoon” were filmed in the Yasawa Islands and it was easy to see why. The beaches here were even more beautiful than Dravuni, our previous favorite "island hideaway" stop.

We spent quite a bit of time snorkeling – coral was good, but not too many fish. It was very low tide, which complicated things a bit (the top of the coral heads were out of the water; we had to snorkel the edges of the reef).

We of course walked around the village and talked with people – the locals had small stalls of various tourist items to sell. They said they get a cruise ship coming by about once a month. It looked like a very laidback place – no one hassled us to buy, by afternoon many of the vendors were napping at their stand.

Interacting with the locals

According to the different villagers we talked to, many young people tend to leave the island and go to the big city to work, coming home over holidays. The older and retired people remained in the village. Sometimes the kids stayed behind with grandma and grandpa while their parents were away. There's a primary school on the island, but the kids have to go to the “mainland” once they go to secondary school.

Scott headed back to the ship to escape the frying sun, pausing a while longer to enjoy locals singing and dancing (2nd set of photos, below center), while Kathy stayed a bit longer, and soon found herself invited to the men's afternoon kava get-together. Kava is a drink made from the ground roots of a type of pepper tree, and it is very popular in many parts of the South Pacific. It has a tranquilizing effect – with enough, you go into a bit of a stupor; more like marijuana (we've heard...) than alcohol. Every afternoon, when their chores are done, the men get together under a shady tree and get buzzed on kava for a few hours. The kava is made and served in a communal bowl with shared cup, using village water. Despite the sanitation risks, Kathy, hoping to increase her knowledge of foreign cultures, decided to give it a try. It tasted like really bad tea, but you drink it down so quick you don't notice. Trying only a small amount, she found herself mellowed out, but fortunately still competent enough to find here way back to the ship. And, luck holding, she found that insides didn't have any complaints about the kava either.

More friends along the way: