Finally, it’s Friday. Best day of the week.
Saturday we had reservations to go snorkeling out in Bega Lagoon and Friday night it rained. And did it rain! But early Saturday it had stopped so off we went. We drove out to Pacific Harbor and to The Pearl Resort, where we met our boat and crew and were off. And by then the clouds were back and it was sprinkling.
Dew used his new snorkel gear and said it was amazing to see the reef and all the colors and fish. I stayed with the boat – I’m more of a “bright sunny day” type of person. They snorkeled around for a while and then we went back in, and as we left the parking lot the rain began in earnest again. Great timing
We decided to drive out towards Sigatoka Town and visit the big gift shop there. It was much farther than we remembered but finally we made it. And they had some lovely things, but we aren’t ready to commit just yet, so we didn’t buy anything. But a big tour bus arrived just as we were ready to leave and suddenly the store was filled and we left.
We drove into Sigatoka and walked around and visited the market and visited a few stores and then decided to find the Sand Dune National Park they have here. We had to ask for instructions, but we found it. We paid our money and started on the trail. As we got to the top we discovered a huge burned area and the strong smell of fire. We walked out far enough to see the breakers coming into the shore, one of the few places it actually does. As you get out farther the trail turns to sand and on the steep hills it was hard slogging
As we returned back to the main area we passed through a mahogany forest, never seen mahogany trees before. And someone had made figures with coconut heads and made them look like Fijian Warriors as you walked along the trail. Fun!
As the office I asked if the fire was of natural cause or man made and the kid told me it was set by someone, and that they lost a lot of plants and that it happened just two days ago. Sad!
As we drove back to Pacific Harbor we passed a lot of huge pots filled with boiling water steaming away. They were filled with corn and you could buy 4 pieces for $1. We just had to try some as we have been going through corn withdrawals. Well it wasn’t anything near to our corn, just short cobs of field corn and they were tough from being boiled so long. But they added salt to ours and we ate it.
It was best not to look at the bucket of cold water that they put it in to cool it down so they could take off the husks. Yes they cooked it in the husks! And He used his hands to take off the husks in the – shall I say rather scary looking dirty cold water! Oh well at least we are becoming natives!
Then we headed back to Pacific Harbor and had dinner at the Baka Blues Café. They make a mean salad – the best we’ve had since we got here. And by then it was dark and we drove home in the dark and rain. And the scary part is that there are people walking all along the roads and you can’t see them unless they have on reflective clothing, they just blend in. But we made it back and we were both tired from our fun day.
