Still Coastin Through My Days in Fiji

My savior, Mogli, anytime I am lonely she is there to talk to!

They are finally catching on to pet care!

I now have wireless broadband internet in my remote village in Fiji. It is strikingly odd considering I don’t even have cell phone service, but here in Fiji the wireless is operated via land line towers that transmit wireless landline service, which happens to work in my bure!

August 2 – 15…

Since my last post I have gone to Vatu-I-Ra Island (bird island, last visit was in May with Mom and Sis), dove near Nananu-I-Ra Island, and scoured my bure of dust and spiderwebs, as well as replace dust-ridden fabric.

Bird Island

Just arriving onto the smelly shore.

You would not believe how many volunteers it takes to put up a one man tent.

My recent trip to Vatu-I-Ra was much more inviting that my family’s previous trip. The sun was shining, the reefs were teeming with brightly dappled fish, and the wind was welcomed on the white sands (to drive the poop smell elsewhere). Five Peace Corps Volunteers plus our ex-patriots and I all headed out on Friday morning, returning on Saturday afternoon from an eco-adventure rarely experienced by others. If anyone is planning a trip to Fiji and would like to visit this 5 acre island, feel free to notify me and I can set up the details.



I played with this sea cucumber until he expelled his intestines to make me leave him alone. I kinda felt bad.

My favorite sighting of the trip. A beautiful anemone!

Clean-up

My newly remodeled house.

Tuesday, from 8 AM to 6 PM, I cleaned fabric, scrubbed walls, collected leaves, sunned mats, and hung fabric around my house. The only reason I mention this is because it is such a big part of Fijian life to remove all of your bedding, plus your floor coverings, pillows, and fabrics and “sun” them for several hours, usually every few weeks. I, on the other hand, only like to spend my entire day cleaning every several months, so when it does happen, the result is unfathomable.

Diving

Friday, three Peace Corps volunteers, our ex-pat friend Judy, and I went on a private two-tank dive out to the island of Nananu-I-Ra. The reefs weren’t really teeming with fish, but with soft corals and nudibranchs. Both dives consisted of several bommies with tight valley-type cave systems which were covered in yellow soft coral. The first dive, Tequila Sunrise, blew my mind. The yellow soft coral (Dentronephthya sp.) outlined by the preceding dark blue waters were perfectly depicted as the name foretells. There were huge gorgonians (fan corals) covered in multi-colored feather stars and a polyclad flatworm (Pseudobiceros sp.) that closely resembled a Spanish Dancer nudibranch.

A polyclad flatworm. I wish I took this picture.

As the dive master softly nudged the flatworm he disembarked from his coral and swam through the water in majestic waving actions, much as a flag blowing in the wind. I also found an anemone shrimp that was completely concealed with his clear body except for tiny purple and white spots on his head and tail. The only color within his carapace was near his anus, quite a unique creature when you see right through it, but don’t spot organs or blood. I spotted a moray eel, a lionfish, tube worms that resembled species from deep sea vents, and I found an empty Cypraea argus cowrie shell. I think my favorite sighting of all was a huge colony of red bulb-tipped sea anemones with pink clownfish protectively guarding their potent home. The reason I was so impressed with the sight of these common Entacmaea quadricolor anemones was because during my college days at Auburn I did a research project on “The Effects of Light on the Bulb-Tipped Anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor”, but I never knew that a red variation existed and they were quite a beautiful sight.

The red anemone. I did not take this picture either, but this is what they looked like.

Pushing along the boat in shallow waters.

A beautiful rainbow with a pot of gold in my bay!