A short drive from our vantage point on the Nausori Highlands brought us to this charming little Fijian hamlet...
We were accorded a traditional welcome and initiation into the village with a kava ceremony...
The kava ceremony was handled with a specific protocol and etiquette that is a part of Fijian culture...
Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii and Vanuatu, and Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia for its sedating and mild narcotic effects. In Fiji, it is also called yaqona. Kava is used for medicinal, religious, political, cultural and social purposes throughout the Pacific. The Pacific cultures have a great respect for the plant and place a high importance on it...
Traditionally, kava was only served to higher-ranking chiefs and elders of the tribes in order to signify the welcoming of honoured guests, besides at marriages, births and at deaths...
The family poses for photographs after we had the kava...
We then did a quick round of the village, starting with the church, which is the focal point of social life here...
The little girl walks around with the gait of a catwalk model...
Yaqona or kava roots being dried...
The village chief's traditional bure...
Chicken roaming around...
The village has a sleepy feel to it, possibly because the Christmas holidays are on...
The precocious little ladies having a great time...
Posing for the photo...
What a pose!
We were told that the village school has an Fiji-Indian teacher...
Time for some food in the home of our Fijian hosts...
Cassava or tavioka as it is called here with roasted eggplant and local steamed spinach...
And the little ladies too have their meal...
The family then sings some melodious songs for us, before we make our way back to Denarau. That's what we call a morning well spent in the Nausori Highlands...
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