day 133: man or grove?
Jamie here: Today we slept in somewhat and drank sweet coffee. What a life. We found a small path through the forest to the village and gave our sevu sevu. We bought a beautiful big papaya from some friendly children. In the afternoon we took the dinghy through the mangroves and explored beautiful new ground and did some bird spotting. We spotted some birds on the wing, glimpses of feather in air. When I close my eyes I see a marlin jumping and hear the buzzing of the reel. If I had of been easier on the drag could I have got it closer to the boat? Will I get over it? WOD: recoil. Recoil - a reaction to an action. A sharp backing off from someone or something. Used to describe the jerking of a firearm upon discharge. Used in a SENTENCE: I would tell you this story from my past but my memory fails me. I cannot recoil the exact tale.
Miriam here: Today was a lovely, quiet day. The morning was cool and grey which was fantastic for sleeping in. We assembled the dingy and sped (well, puttered…what can you expect from a 2 hp engine?) across the bay towards the dock. As it was low tide, the mudflats made us chose another destination and we tied up at a compelling wooden archway beneath a huge tree whose roots knobbled out of the ground like gnarled fingers clutching the empty shells of giant clams left in the mud. The walk to the village was a circuitous wind through dense jungle and towering trees, humid and muddy and filled with moments of wonder at shiny lizards, twining fern like vines, and a open, towering forest that appeared to be mangroves in that it was inundated with saltwater at least once a day and had knobbly roots but were actual trees which we had never known mangroves to be. If anyone wants to research this one and tag back in we’d love to know. We heard the loud, squawky friend that had been lurking in the mangroves near our anchorage and I caught a glimpse of one flying off. Crow sized, quite dark with a flash of red…now I really want to catch a better view as I believe them to be the Kadavu Masked Shining Parrot! Which, from the sounds of things, are quite populous and thriving here.
After sevu sevu, we wandered another path that climbed high into the hills to an agricultural area. I can’t call it a field because it was much too diverse and naturalised to fit our standard Western conceptions of growing food. More of a food forest, towering mango trees, a few breadfruit with their glossy, huge, deeply lobed leaves, papaya and banana trees the next layer, palmate cassava below that and large leaved taro nodding gracefully a few feet above the ground. There were some patches of singular species but much was interspersed and other species of vine and ground cover grew throughout. A huge patch of pandanus for weaving rose in stately spiralling blades from sturdy trunks and there was something grass like that we hypothesised to be sugar cane which we may or may not have tasted to confirm (it wasn’t sweet, no one has died yet).
The sunset mangrove mission was amazing, winding through the tunnel cut through the entangled thicket, adventitious roots reaching from branches above us into the murky water, birds calling just out of sight through the woven branches and sinuous trunks. What an incredible and unique ecosystem.
Naomi here, Well we did our due diligence today with the sevu sevu , altho half the village was gone over to another village for ??? So we just gave our kava to Bill who gracefully said the words and welcomed us to the village. Afterwards jamie waited patiently while we went and looked at some very cool crabs in the mangroves, ones with one massive claw the size of their bodies, white with a red claw, others that were bright red with blue legs, as well as the dirty brown skittery ones we are all familiar with. Also we visited some Swiss folks (they didn’t appear to be merchants unfortunately) on the way in but they were not chatty, and then on the way home we visited a French boat who were chatty. Later in the day two people from the Swiss boat who had previously refused to come out to see us came to visit for a nice chat. They still have not done the sevu sevu yet which we pretended not to judge them for. Later in the day still we left some hatches open while exploring and Fran’s and Megan’s old bed got soaking wet, and later even than that I completed xcom 2 war of the chosen thus saving the earth, altho the elders had some pretty dubious and foreboding things to say…. Will there be an xcom 3?
Robin: I guess I’m still jet lagged a bit or maybe just more sprightly than these long haul cruisers but I woke up a good 3 hours before everyone today teehee. I tried to be real quiet and finished my book Half of a Yellow Sun which was very melancholy. It was low tide in Matawalevu bay so we had to tie up the dinghy pretty far from the village, resulting in a long lush walk through the jungle. Was very impressed by some absolutely massive mango trees! And little lizards with bright blue tails and teeny crabs in the mangrove mud with pincers as big as their bodies. I’m learning that Jamie is anti-crab which makes me feel a touch guilty about telling him I found him a nice shell the other day on bird island when I knew very well it was occupied hehe. Anyway the village was fairly empty and the chief out of town but luckily Bill was around to accept our kava and perform the sevu sevu ceremony. Afterwards we did a little walk up a steep hill and enjoyed harassing the sensitive plant, a little fern that closes its leaves when you run fingers against it. Tasty tuna spaghetti for lunch we were all hungry after our sweaty humid walk! A rather long nap/book time after that. We finally roused each other just before sunset to row through the mangrove passage all the way through to the next bay over, very cool how you never know what is going to be around the bend and also imagine the hijinks of me and Miriam each taking an oar and attempting to co-navigate the narrow cut through the thicket. Eventually I suggested, maybe one person does all the rowing? Which resulted in Miriam doing all the rowing oops! Then on the way back the motor didn’t start and Jamie rowed us upwind in the dark back to our home as the sky opened and dumped a cold fresh shower on us. Glad to not be sleeping salty tonight although we couldn’t sit in many places over dinner time as most spots are damp. Such is life on Bluebird! Eventually the clouds dissipated enough that a good gaze at the stars was possible and Miriam taught me how to spot Scorpio. Can’t believe one of my precious two weeks has slipped by already, tomorrow definitely going to make the most of our snorkel.
We don’t have service here so we have a few questions that we’d love our loyal readers to respond with answers to: are there bats in Fiji? Are there crocodiles in Fiji? Is mango sap poisonous?