Monday 4th July - This morning has been spent pottering around camp - swimming, swinging on the rope swing and a bit of snorkelling, catching sand crabs for the resident baby hawksbill turtle, reading, walking on the beach, bit of table tennis and generally passing the time.
After lunch Simon decides a jungle walk is in order and we head off up the track along with Wendy, Lillian and Rebecca. It has been drizzling a bit and so everything is a bit wet and muddy. It transpires the "walk" is more of a jungle hike/trek - vertical in places and requires hanging on to anything within reach to haul ourselves up over seemingly impassable places or to steady ourselves as we ascend and descend the ever more twisty and hidden path! Health and safety eat your heart out! No risk assessments here!
View of the next village through the trees at the top. The Devil Tree - he hides here during the day
Huge hairy caterpillar spotted by Rowan on the climb!
The next bay around from Maqai. Simon descending another tricky drop/turn.
Going up..... and up.....
a bit more jungle.... and up again...
At one point we appear to be about as high up as we can be on the island and Simon (barefoot all the way) encourages us to climb up onto a ledge where the locals come to say goodbye to the souls of the newly deceased as they rise. It is a sheer drop on all sides and not for the faint hearted! We pass by the "devils tree" where he hides during the day and we see land crabs and several toads along the way. In all the "walk" takes over 2 hours and we come back muddy and wet - having seen amazing views and some amazing tales of Fijian folklore, medicinal plants, wild pig hunts and overnight camps!
Nearly at the bottom... Simon helps Rowan down.
love to find those 2 alone on a secluded beach, bet they f--k real good
ReplyDeleteNice photos of rowan
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