Fiji Redux: Nadi, Ba & Navala village

23 Oct - 27 Oct: After spending a week in Sigatoka on Nana's farm, I embarked on a trip to Nadi and a traditional Fijian village nestled deep in Viti Levu's Nausori Highlands.
Began the trip by catching a ride in the back a lorry with a Fijian man & his young son.
First stop was Nadi Bay Resort Hotel where I was invited to stay as the guest of its owner, Errol Fifer, to talk business. After sharing a wonderful dinner with him and his wife, I agreed to help market Fiji's Backpackers Association over breakfast the next day.
Nadi's Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple delights passersby with a universe of brilliant color & intricate designs. It's home to shrines & statues created by artists brought from India to build the largest temple in the Southern Hemisphere.
Took a 45-minute bus ride from Nadi to Ba (above). Sugar cane has been grown in Ba's fertile valley for over 100 years by generations of Indians. Today, their descendants dominate the town.
Most of Fiji's buses are windowless; the one on the left delivered me to Navala village along a road built by the US Army during WWII. The state of Fiji's roads is disgraceful.
An Indo-Fijian schoolgirl named Shaneel peppered me with questions during a trampoline-like 90-minute ride into the Nausori Highlands -- a ride she makes twice a day, every weekday. She hopes to become either a biologist or chemist. Her tenacity & toughness will hopefully blast away the obstacles faced by every career-oriented Indo-Fijian woman.
Navala village is nestled along the Ba River, 26 km inland and far from electricity.
Navala's chiefs decreed long ago that the village would consist only of traditional thatched bures.
It is the only village of its kind in the Fiji Islands.
Each bure typically houses 10-12 people.
A boy awaits his bath.
It was a Saturday, so the bulk of Fijian men were drinking kava. My guide Tui and I were invited to join them around a large tanoa (bowl in the photo's center).
Villagers walking to a feast being held for the family of a man from another village who was marrying a girl from Navala.
Damage done by Bush/Cheney years is visible on this Navala loo.
Stayed at Bulou's Eco-Lodge about 1 km east of the village.
The lodge is owned & operated by this lovely family (Tui with parents Bulou & Talili). Talili belonged to Fiji's military before returning to Navala with his wife Bulou, whom he met while posted on Kadavu. Talili wished to erect a modern home; village elders allowed it, so long as he built it down the road. Tui guides lodge visitors, mixes kava and provides wonderful company.
Like many Fijian women, Bulou is a gifted flower arranger. She includes these remarkable flora in her designs. I had never seen them before visiting the Nausori Highlands.
View of the Ba valley as my return bus descended the Nausori Highlands.
This little man kept a watchful on me during the trip back to Ba.
Fijian women sell crop roots, pineapples, pawpaw & other freshly picked fruits & veggies alongside Ba's bus depot.