……waited around 1 ½ hours then contracted a taxi service. Not exactly the reception I was hoping for
after a 10-hour flight. The airport is at Navi and I’m working at Suva, which
is literally on the other side of the island—basically a 3 ½ hour ride on
absolutely terrible roads with a Kamikaze taxi driver. The fee was around $136 and I may be in
trouble tomorrow but I had to get here somehow.
I’ll deal with it tomorrow……
Fiji may be a paradise to some, but not to the
majority. As we drove along the coast,
there were flashes of the pristine beaches you see on the brochures, but they
were inevitably on resorts and off-limits to the locals who live in Africa-type
poverty.
The countryside is beautiful in its own way—reminded me a
lot of Costa Rica with mountains, forests and rivers.
The Holiday Inn here did have reservations for me and is an
older hotel but still nice and a good view from my room out over the harbor. Ate a light lunch after arrival, unpacked,
and took a short nap. Later in the
afternoon I took a couple of hours just walking around the downtown area. There is a nice city park along the harbor
side and it is very pleasant here. I
felt pretty comfortable but as it started getting dark, I headed back to the
hotel. After tomorrow when I talk to
some of my students, I’ll have a better idea if its ok to come down here in the
evenings to eat supper.
I got back to the hotel just as the sun was going down over
the harbor. I got a table on the outdoor
patio and had a beer while the sun set behind the mountains across the
water. Palm trees in the foreground,
fishermen with cast nets working the low tide, and a beautiful sunset. Starting to feel like what I visualize Fiji
looking like.
Nobody has contacted me yet so tomorrow I’m going down to
the lobby and wait. If nobody shows up
for me, I’m going swimming around 9:00 am………
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