Day 13: Visiting the local village and kava ceremony

On our third day there was a little bit of rain in the afternoon, so I decided to write another blog entry. The view is not too bad anyway :)

In the morning we made a short hike over the hill to visit the village where the locals live. We were also invited to a local kindergarten, where the kids were singing in English and Fijian for us. My personal favorite was the “one banana for me, one banana for you” song.

In the evening it was time to give a try to the famous Fijian “kava”. It is a drink made from the roots of a certain plant and it is supposed to be like a soft drug for the locals. The ceremony master dilutes the root-powder in water inside a big bowl and then the ceremony begins. Everyone sitting around receives a smaller or bigger sip, also called as “low tide” or “high tide”. Before you take your turn, you say “bula” (of course) and clap your hands once. After drinking the liquid, you give back the cup to the ceremony master and clap three times. Someone told me you can say “mudha”, or “mudha sucka” to indicate that the cup is empty, but say this at your own risk:) The drink itself honestly tastes like muddy water, with a hint of pepper. It was not enough to have any effect on us, but some tourists said sometimes it is much stronger.