Robinson Crusoe Island | Fiji

All rejoice, I have just one more video on Fiji to release, which will be done this Sunday and next week you can expect a blog on all things Fiji. That reminds me, I should probably go and film the video for Sunday. Oops! This week I wanted to blog about an excursion that we did in Fiji that I quite enjoyed. In case you haven’t read my blog on how I felt about my first trip to Fiji, you can read that here. The Robinson Crusoe Island excursion was one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

There are day and/or night tours available to this island. As is with most if not all other tours in Fiji, you get picked up from your hotel and then taken to the point where you get on the boat and head towards your destination. I don’t quite recall where exactly it was that we headed to board the boat, but I do remember that it was a relatively long drive. The host on the bus enquired about how we were feeling and if anyone was celebrating anything special during their trip to Fiji and in general kept us entertained. Once we got to the boarding point for the boat, the transition from bus to boat was handled very smoothly and within minutes we were off. To be fair there wasn’t a lot of scenery per se, just lush green trees. After a 40-minute scenic cruise, we arrive on the island and quickly settle down. In Fiji, regardless of where you go, the opening or welcoming ceremony is always the Kava Ceremony, where the chiefs from the host island and visiting tourists (yes one is appointed) meet and greet before the proceedings can begin.

There quite literally was no dilly-dallying. As soon as we arrived on to the Island, the hosts greeted us and gave us ample time to get settled down with a drink and began with the proceedings. The kava ceremony takes roughly 10-15 minutes after which, you are welcome to taste the Kava or take photos with the locals. Let’s be real, if you’re tourist you are going to take photos with the locals. Because photos or it didn’t happen right?

We are then given some time to relax and enjoy a magnificent and beautiful sunset. Or alternatively, if you wanted to know a little more about the local culture, we were taken to another point on the island. This is where we were given insight into lovo cooking. Lovo cooking is basically cooking the food on the ground. The island boys had some fun and got some oohs and aahs as they walked on the hot stones.

Once this was done, we had a bit of downtime to explore the island but to stay close as you could get lost. There was also a gentleman, who crafted items from wood. He would cut them into shape, which took hours. We quickly settle down again and dinner is ready! The locals prepare a magnificent feast. It’s like a mini buffet with meat, fish, veges and more. As you finish with the dinner, the performances begin. This is what I came for. I don’t know what it is about singing and dancing, I can do neither, but I love watching performances.

The show goes on for a few hours. The performers through their dances portray the story of different islands and sometimes their history and/or culture. The second part of the show, well let’s rewind. Remember how the host on the bus asked if anyone was celebrating anything special during their trip to Fiji? Well, of course you do, you literally read that a minute ago. The host makes a note of that, and the performers put on a show specifically for them turn by turn. First up, the birthday celebrations. They first rounded up all of the birthday boys on the island, which actually was only one person and the ladies put on a number for him.

Once the birthday boy, had his show, the next in line were birthday girls. To everyone’s surprise, there wasn’t a single lady on the island who was celebrating her birthday. Next in line, honeymooners, yuck, I mean love is in the air. The honeymooners are rounded up, and there were many. Let’s put it this way, there weren’t enough chairs to put centre stage so laps had to be used for some. The performers did a couple of performances for them.

As they say, they saved the best for last. I’ve always been fascinated with the fire dance. I have been around the world in the hopes that I would see it somewhere, but somehow never got the chance. So, this was particularly fascinating for me. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve always wanted to see someone spit fire out of their mouth. Charming, I know. This happened, but of course, my camera decided to die at this very point. I did manage to get some footage of the fire dance, which I will leave below. Watch till the end, because what they did then was absolutely superb.

Well, I wanted this blog to talk about my favourite activity on the island. This is in no way a sponsored blog nor am I getting anything in return for writing this. Most of the other activities that I had done, were a bit disappointing but I can vouch for this. I had done the evening tour and I believe you can also extend your evening tour to stay a night on the island. I didn’t do the latter so can’t comment on that, but let me know if you have.

Until next time,

MiliG