Boldly Go Solo

Back to (language) school

This is the second year that fall has come around and my thoughts have turned to...Guadalajara. 

The foods, the family I lived with there for a few days and the Guadalajara sights.

The San Juan de Dios Market. (I just recently finished the vanilla I brought home from there, which reminded me of my trip every time I baked with it.) The Corona Market in Guadalajara's city center. And much more. My nice teacher at the IMAC Spanish language school in downtown Guadalajara. 

I was in a class with about five others, who ranged in age from teens to probably 60's. I loved the fact that la maestra couldn't revert to English to explain things (she didn't speak it well) and that I was able to follow along in Spanish pretty well.

Singles tours to Ecuador, Ireland, Italy and Peru

I now throw out the idea of "singles" travel for those who might be interested in joining a tour composed solely of people traveling alone, who are presumably not married.

I have not gone with the group Singles Travel Service, but I'm on the email list and they recently sent me a newsletter on some of their future trips.

Such as: Ecuador, a multisport and multicultural adventure; the Inca Trail in Peru,including Machu Picchu, of course; Ireland's Cities - including Dublin and Galway; and an Italy Cultural tour, that includes Rome, Florence and Venice.

Fiji fire walking during which "on the rocks" means hot, hot, hot

For two weeks before Sawau tribesmen from the island of Beqa in Fiji perform a firewalking ceremony, they have no contact with women and don't eat coconut. If they mess with "the rules" their feet are liable to get badly burned during the ceremony.

While in Fiji, I watched fire walking, not on Beqa, but the tourist version at the Outrigger on the Lagoon, Fiji on the island of Viti Levu. Now you can watch it too. (Funny thing, when the video begins, someone nexts to me coughs and it seems as though it's from the smoke you see.)

Read about the tradition of fire walking here. The performance sticks close to what is described. 

(And remember, "vinaka" means "thank you.") 

The population of Fiji is half Indo-Fijian, the descendants of Asian Indians brought to Fiji in the 19th century to work in the sugar cane fields. One guide told us that Indians have a fire walking tradition too, but theirs is religious, whereas the Fijian version is purely ceremonial. 

Either way, don't try this at home. And certainly not if you've eaten coconut in the past two weeks.

If you're a solo traveler at the Outrigger, or just wind up there to watch, you'll feel comfortable as part of a crowd, as you sit on steps that overlook the lawn where the ceremony is performed.

There's a nice vibe and be sure to stick around to watch the performers pose for pictures with kids. It's a hoot as they pick some of them up and hold them upside down or sideways and make scary faces or gestures. 

Video: Ellen Perlman

The movie "Cast Away" was shot in the Mamanucas on Monuriki island

What I didn't know about Fiji. Until now:

Cast Away, the movie

"Cast Away" with Tom Hanks was filmed in Fiji. But not on Castaway Island. 

Nope, it was filmed on Monuriki Island in the Mamanucas, islands off the West coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. (Sometimes, it's just fun saying the names of these places.) 

Welcome to Fiji and the town of Nadi

Fiji is a very welcoming place. Everywhere we go we get big and loud "bula's" (BOO-lah), always singing and sometimes guitar and ukelele playing.

Several times we've had "scary" warriors sporting face paint, spears and bracelets of grass or leaves on ankles, upper arms and wrists run out to greet us, screaming Fijian things we don't understand and jumping and making faces. All in good fun.

These seem very much tourist and hotel related but the Fijians also have realized they need to preserve their old ways and teach others. Even if the old Fiji ways involved cannibalism and warring tribes. 

Today's post goes back to morning #1 when we arrived at Nadi Airport. Before dawn. It was quite a cheery wake up to see these guys singing and playing guitars and ukelele. Some of what I've learned since about what you'll see in the brief video:

Bula shirts

These colorful, cool shirts are a Fiji staple. The Fijian version of an aloha shirt. We drove past a police station and saw the uniform on dozens of cops sitting on a bus. A bula shirt in a blue-and-white pattern with the police patch on their arms.

Flowers behind the ear

Frangipani and other flowers go behind the left ear if you are single, right ear if you are married. Both men and women get flowers. They look tropical and exotic and smell nice the whole time they're on.

Sulus

The sulu va taga (SU-lu vah TAHN-gah- remember, "g's" have an "ng" sound) is worn by both men and women. The one you see here is the more formal one. Unlike the sulu/sarong that is a large piece of cloth wrapped or tied, and more casual, this one in the video is a tailored sulu va taga that men wear to work and when dressing up. 

The Fijian version of men's suit pants. They are made of similar material to suit material, have pockets and a belt that is part of the waistband. And sandals are the way to go. 

So, the video below, family, (as some Fijians say a lot) is your (and was my) first taste of the Fijian way of life. Yes, once you are welcomed into a village by the chief and go through a kava ceremony, you are family.

Solo travelers joining any sort of village tour will find a big welcome and learn a lot about Fijian ways and should feel safe and happy traveling to and around Fiji.

I'm off for more snorkeling right from my hotel, the Warwick Fiji Resort and Spa. I'm told the "wildlife" is much different here than it was down the road a bit. And the water is super warm here on the Coral Coast, in the south of the island of Viti Levu. Hot, even, in the shallow spots. Not expected for those of us used to East Coast beaches. East Coast, US, that is.

Now, enjoy a Fiji welcome. I'll be back with more posts on other aspects of Fijian life.

The Coral Coast in Fiji offers kokoda, kava, giant clams and so much more

Bula vinaka. Another hot, sunny day in store on the Coral Coast in Fiji. On the south coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. 

You know you're miles from home when front page news in the Fiji Sun is about the Kadavu Provincial Council in Tavuki and the news from all of North America is about six paragraphs.

I've learned much about the life in the villages here and the clans and the chiefs and the kava ritual. Kava is a drink made from a local root. Details to come in future posts. 

I have little time to blog and that's a good thing. I'm busy. Snorkeling over giant clams, for instance.

Saw one giant clam that was a foot-and-a-half long. Big enough to feed a family of four. The giant clams are native to the shallow coral reefs of the South Pacific. The mantles that we saw on the edges of the clam shells, stretched open to provide sunlight to the algae that are part of the habitat the clam offers, come in several beautiful colors. Purple, green, blue.

There's so much more to tell. But not now. Not when Fijian sunshine beckons. On the left are tweets from Fiji. I'll try to tweet and post when I can. Though I have only two days left. Two more days with some of the most incredibly friendly people I have ever met. 

As for kokoda, pronounced koh-KOHN-da (yes, I know there's no "n" in there but you'll hear one) is like ceviche, made with local fish, coconut cream and lime. Delicious!

Vinaka and moce (vee-nak-ah and moh-thay). That means thanks and good-bye. 

Photos: Ellen Perlman

1. Three boys in Navala Village. 2. On the road from Nadi to Navala.

Headed to Bulou Eco Lodge in Navala, Fiji

The water bottle sitting on the table near me is labeled, “From the islands of Fiji, natural artesian water.” If I’m in the Fijian Islands, why am I drinking the water from a bottle, not the tap?

The outdoor breakfast in the hotel lobby (Fiji is warm enough all year round to not need all the usual walls and doors) includes fresh cut pineapple, papaya slices sprinkled with lime juice, watermelon slices. Eggs arrive with paler yellow yolks than I’m used to seeing. 

Mynah birds spoiled by guests’ crumbs and leftovers fly close, landing on some empty tables. Pests, I’m sure, but exotic to me. I don’t have birds join me for breakfast all that often.

The heat and humidity are a big change from a Washington, DC, spring.

Should I check my email one more time before going “off the grid,” to Bulou Eco Lodge, a “scenic 3-hour bumpy ride” away in Navala?

I am here at Raffles Gateway Hotel, where members of the Society of American Travel Writers have checked in for four hours for breakfast, a shower and some down time after a 10-hour flight from Los Angeles. It’s a walk away from Nadi Airport on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji’s largest.

Over breakfast, our guide Bruce explains a little about the Fijian tradition of firewalking. He says they do it over hot stones for entertainment purposes – but you have to be invited to do so by someone who will call on a spirit god to watch over you. Ahem. IF I understood that correctly.

He’s done it, he says. About five or six steps without burning his feet.

The rustic eco lodge that five of us are headed to today is one of the few remaining villages in the South Pacific that still feature traditional architecture. The single-room houses, called bures (boo-rays), have thatched roofs and walls woven of bamboo.

We’re told we will spend some time with the villagers. Maybe join them at church on Sunday. (Flying here, I “lost” a Friday due to the international dateline. We left Thursday night and arrived Saturday before dawn. Maybe I can pray to get the day back?)

I'm solo in that I've never met five of the six people in our group and I will be going off on my own once at the eco lodge. But I am with a group that's taking care of the details. This tends to be how I travel. It's a luxury to have someone else make the plans and get me to where I want to go. And have company for meals.

There are several options over the next three days. Tour a “medicinal and herbal garden” to discover Fijian remedies used long ago, as well as today. Get a cooking demonstration over an outside fire. Laze by the Navala River. Learn weaving, sewing and pottery making. Go waterfall trekking or horseback riding.

One thing I WON’T have is a computer connection. I’m looking forward to that…I think. I’ve gotten so used to checking in via some device or other every day. Perhaps this will be the most relaxing thing of all about the eco lodge.

Wake with the sun. Lose the watch. Be unable to check email. Except right now it feels like cold turkey. Like I have to get my last emails read and blog posts posted before I’m “cut off.”

Maybe it will be good for me. We’ll see… 

Update: May 21. We didn't get to do a lot of what was proposed but the visit to Navala was a highlight of my travels to the interior. The thatched-roof village provides a basic lifestyle for residents and it can't be an easy life. But the people were friendly and warm to us, shaking our hands and asking us where we were from. They're used to people visiting and taking their photos. It's the only village in the country where the "building code" is bures only. 

Unfortunately, we hit a very muddy time there - the rains hadn't stopped for weeks. Anyone visitng the area should plan on staying the night, It's a long drive in, by bus or car. And don't count on a nice warm shower at Bolou's!

Photo: Ellen Perlman. Village of Navala, Northeast interior of Viti Levu.

Traveling solo to the South Pacific

Bula Vinaka! (howdy)

In a few hours I'll be winging my way from the Los Angeles Airport to Nadi Airport on the island of Viti Levu. Where in the world? I'm headed to Fiji. Which is not one island but 322. Formerly known as the Cannibal Isles.

My first stop is an ecolodge on Viti Levu, the largest island. The next largest island, located to the Northeast, is Vanua Levu. Then there's the smaller Taveuni and then many, many much smaller islands.

Although this is a meeting for freelancer writers belonging to the Society of American Travel Writers, the main conference isn't until four days after I arrive. I know several people in the group, but no one at the eco-lodge. I'll be a solo eco-lodger. 

I hope to meet some villagers and learn about Fijian culture. I'm rereading a book called, "Changes in Latitude, An Uncommon Anthropology," which I happened to read many years ago. It stayed with me. It's about a 54-year-old Hawaiian harbormaster who ends up marrying a Fijian fisherman nearly half her age and has to learn to adjust to Fijian culture.

I'm hoping NOT to marry a Fijian this week. But apparently women traveling alone must "cope" with frequent marriage offers, according to the Moon Guide on Fiji. Good to know ahead of time. 

I'll try to post here when I can but not for a few days at least. Even if there is connectivity, I'd like to get away from all, at least for a little while. Enjoy the place first. Post later.

Vinaka Vakalevu! (see ya)

Photo: Mark Whatmough

Yellowstone National Park in winter and deals for solo travelers

Winter visitors to Yellowstone National Park have the park, and the herds of native bison, practically to themselves. Apparently, it's a pretty special place to be in the next few months. 

“Winter for us means terrific cross country skiing, a sense of quiet and solitude and truly unparalleled opportunities for wildlife viewing,” said Jeff Brown, director of education for the Yellowstone Association Institute.

The bears may be hibernating, and the migratory birds off to warmer places, but otherwise the winter months are a great time to see wolves, elk and bison in their natural habitat. Without all the two-legged tourists getting in the way. Now that's adventure travel.

The non-profit institute offers private tours for small groups but also a "Lodging & Learning" program that provides guides for daily field trips, along with lodging in park hotels.

In a separate program, experts teach multi-day field seminars on wildlife, geology, history and more, a great way for solo travelers to get to hang with other people. You know, talk, laugh, discuss cougar mating habits.

Some of the courses are held at the Institute's Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus, where you can stay in cabins for $30 a night per person. Sounds like no single supplement to me.

Gifts for a solo traveler from a German Christmas market and the Smithsonian Institution

Today I got one of those great gifts that a traveler's gotta love. Unusual, one-of-a-kind, retro. On the other end of the continuum from the snazzy travel gadgets and apps available these days. Which are also nice. But this gift was unique.

It came wrapped in a map, In this case, a map of Germany with tourism information on the inside. Double-sided travel wrapping paper! And tied with string? Hardly. Tied with neon green shoelaces with the word "travel" repeated throughout. They'll be on my sneakers as soon as I finish this post.

The book, "Where on Earth: A Geografunny Guide to the Globe" was promoted in the 90's by the Smithsonian Institution, where my gift giver works. It has entries such as, "The Silk Road is not a street made of cloth. It doesn't have 'Dry-clean Only' written on it. It isn't even really a road. There are no signs saying, 'Silk Road, Next 3 Exits.' "