Mango Bay Resort

After my 1st meke here the night before, I returned the following day to see more of & learn more about this lovely resort itself. I had considered staying here for part of my trip also. The places I've photographed which you sleep at here, right along the beach, are a combination of beautiful, rustic modern European architecture & traditional Fijian homes called bures.

Fijian Handicrafts

Here you can buy everything from the beautiful handmade tapa cloths, native to Fiji & a few nearby indigenous islanders, which can be used as wall hangings, table cloths, place mats, etc., or the native Fijian handwoven floor mats, made from a plant & used in Fiji for everything from walking on to eating on to sleeping on (if you're in some households).

I was told that masks are actually not native to Fiji yet you can have your pick of some here.


If you want to recall the days when Fiji was known as the Cannibal Isles, you can buy some cannibal forks & cannibal bowls. The kava bowls are next to them to help you swallow all that. Or, have a try at some of the weapons used in bygone days such as the neck breaker, head crusher...The Indo-Fijian seen here gave me a history lesson about the usages of such items before the Christian missionaries came from Britain & the U.S. and supposedly civilized & tamed them...Today,despite the State Dept. warnings stemming from the several military coup de tates, most recently in April 2009, any tour guide book will emphasize the wonderful hospitality and Fijian reputation as contenders for being the friendliest people on earth.

For the diva in you, you can always have your own little fashion makeover here but don't expect the modestly dressed natives to look highly upon your choice of some of these female outfits most certainly designed for tourists. Speaking of fashion, now why did 1 of my pads in this dress have to get all out of place & deformed-looking?

Across the road from the store is a beautiful view of the Coral Coast...

If I get enough people expressing an interest, I might start taking drop-ship orders for their products after looking into getting them shipped. Any takers???!!!

Elementary School Visit in Namatakula Village

My host Judith, a retired teacher, & I walked to this school near their home & across the road from the residential & church areas. The headmaster, seen here with the kids, escorted me on a tour of the school. All students wear uniforms representing their school in Fiji. Although it wasn't in practice with all, according to a sign I read there on grooming expectations, I found it interesting that they tell little girls they should wear their hair cut short. As we entered the school, we passed some children who were leaving since it was the end of the day; others played in the field while still other children were putting things away & cleaning up their classrooms.

Though handmade posters in each class seemed to be the primary teaching material, some information these kids were learning, I could've sworn I've seen posted by some of my own "high school's" classrooms. It reminded me of my Trinidadian sister-in-law saying how much more advanced the British education system and influence still is over the American; she claimed they learned more content & at much earlier ages than children here in the U.S. do. Yet, most Fijians don't finish school beyond the mandated primary years. Like in many other developing nations, high school must be paid for by their parents who are usually unable to afford it, or a sponsor.

That may be so but the few books seen were old dusty ones in the library donated by a group of seniors from the U.S. who annually vacation at Namatakula Village. In fact, though some of the bookcases were empty, this vacationing group had donated the library itself. I still want to get more discarded library & textbooks donated to this school's library & a few other schools in Fiji which our school district would otherwise sell to a recycling company. The challenge is to find a Fijian rotary club for this area, along with a means of transporting them from our school district to the ships or planes that would make the deliveries, then getting them to the designated schools, along with covering the costs. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The last room I entered in the school was the only office, a tiny room containing a photo of the school's founder. I don't recall seeing any working technology in the office & none elsewhere in the school. There was no Internet access there at all, as in the village in general (although my hosts did have a telephone in the front of their home).

Like other villagers, teachers of both genders all wear a wrap called a sulu tied around their waist and covering most of their legs. This is also expected of village guests in most Fijian villages, although Judith told me it was fine to dress as I normally would in her more westernized village. I sat on the steps of the school with the 2 teachers present, watching the children play rugby, the most popular sport, amidst the many mud puddles on the field. Many of them, like many Fijians in general outside of the towns, were barefoot.

If there are not enough teachers from the village, as is the case here, they are recruited from elsewhere in the country and temporary housing is provided for them on the school grounds for the school year. I was allowed to enter 1 such teacher's home on the premises. Given the couple of objects in the front room from 2 other cultures in Fiji, I figured the home belonged to a world history teacher like me. I also noticed I'm not the only teacher in need of a housekeeper.

Firewalking Show the Warwick Hotel

Most of the firewalkers known in Fiji are from the island of Beqa. Like for many other things in Fiji, there is a Fijian legend about how a spirit god gave the people of this island the power to walk on fiery hot stones without being burned or feeling pain. What that legend fails to explain is how some others in the world,including Indo-Fijians--whose tradition stems from their homeland in India-- have the ability to do the same.

The Sikh people from India, a small percentage of whom also migrated to Fiji, practice a religion called Sikhism, which includes avoiding all killing, including that of insects, and an annual self-mutilation ceremony. I have seen photos & footage of some bloody ones but also have read about how in some cases, there is no blood flow & seemingly no pain involved, even when doing such things as sticking something into one side of the face until it comes out the other.

When I was in college, I learned about the powers of the superconscious mind, most popularly known as the subconscious mind. Mind over matter is a familiar description of a fascinating subject that goes by many names & is backed up by various fields of study, including quantum physics, parapsychology, hypnosis, telekinesis...which I won't go into here. I will say though, that I was in an organization for a while named Majestic Eagles and 1 member, Jeff Noble, led a demonstration of such powers which several of us took part in on the streets of NYC 1 night. Each of us walked across a path of burning hot coals, just as the firewalkers of Fiji here did. With intense concentration & faith that the mind can achieve whatever it can conceive, I too, felt no pain & suffered no burns as did the others.

I would never endorse anyone just going out trying such a thing after hearing of it. My own education of it began with the last chapter of a book called You Can Succeed by Eric Jensen & another called The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy. By the firewalking point in my development of this power, I had already learned to eliminate pain & my fear of it as quickly as it developed in all sorts of situations ranging from stubbing my toe, to needles, & even a headache. My greatest test prior to this one, was when I sat perfectly still, calm, & pain-free as a friend pierced my nose with a sterilized sewing needle by hand, something which took substantially more time than the piercing gun used at jewelry stores. All such miracles for me came to an abrupt end when I stopped the regular meditating I'd learned from the 1st book & was either jinxed or just wrongly believed in predictions from 4 different people that came true regarding a deadline for mastery...Whenever I try to meditate now, I either fall asleep or my mind just won't stay focused enough for it to work...