Today, Good Friday, we're in Suva, Fiji, our first time in Fuji. Suva is a larger city than the ones we've been in recently. We took a Get Your Guide tour - Fijian Nature and Waterfall Tour. We were picked up at the port by our guide, Joel who was great. We were joined by another couple from the ship. He drove us through town, past some embassies, to the Colo-I-Suva Forest Park.
Once there, he offered us 2 options - taking the shortcut to get down to the lower falls for a swim or taking the longer route through the forest. We opted for the latter. It started out easy enough. Joel told us about the Barking Imperial Pigeon, which we never saw but often heard. It really did sound like a barking dog. He also pointed out the "walking tree" that grows stilts and can move if the main root is compromised, say by termites.
After the easy start, the walk down to the lower falls became a bit treacherous with steps cut into rocks and roots. It was a long, hot slog of over an hour with only one minor fall by me! The forest and the scenery along the way were nice . . .
. . . but the real reward was the jump into the swimming hole!
The walk back up on the shortcut turned out to be short and easy and it just started raining lightly as we got to the top.
On the way back, we stopped outside of the President's residence for a photo with the guard.
By the time we returned to the ship, the rain had really started. At this point we have gotten use to that pattern.
While I may have had some doubts as we worked our way down to the waterfall, it was a good tour and rewarding that these old folks can still do something like that. And Fiji is the 98th country that we have visited. We'll hit 100 soon.
The ship is looking a lot like Easter. They've also done a nice job of putting together Seders for the first 2 nights of Passover.
Peace and blessings,
Linda and Larry
