Sigatoka River Safari leads jetboat tours up the Sigatoka River.Escape Video/Tourism Fiji/Supplied
When my travel plans to Fiji started coming together, my friends and colleagues each said a variation of the same thing: “I’ve never really thought about going there.”
Honestly, I couldn’t relate. Fiji had loomed large in my mind since I was a teen, when my mother told me a story about her own family’s vacation there in 1980. They had never seen a papaya before and asked hotel staff what it was and how to eat it. My mother said it was still the best fruit she had ever tasted. Her offhand story conjured an image of a lush oasis, filled with unimaginable delights, that stuck with me.
Is the Brando in French Polynesia the bucket list of bucket-list resorts?
Forty-five years after my mother’s trip, I discovered Fiji’s paradise stands the test of time. But the South Pacific nation – recognizable to many as the setting of the Tom Hanks film Cast Away, or more recently, the reality TV series Love Island USA – is also so much more than a picture-perfect stopover. It offered a rare chance to feel I had been immersed in a different culture in a way other tropical destinations have not.
The InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa in Natadola Bay.IHG Hotels and Resorts/Supplied
Fiji is an archipelago of more than 300 islands and only about 100 are permanently inhabited. Cruising along the two-lane highway that winds around Viti Levu, the largest island, revealed the destination of my imagination: green foliage covering rolling hills, soft beaches hugging a clear turquoise ocean, vibrant flowers and fruits bursting off of trees.
It was easy to be happy while spending days swimming in the warm waters of Natadola Bay. Fiji’s Coral Coast stretches for more than 80 kilometres along the southern shore of Viti Levu. From the white sand beaches, I gawked at the Pacific breaking over the reef in the distance, minutes before those same waves made their way to the swimmers, surfers and loungers along the shore.
Fiji’s Coral Coast stretches for more than 80 kilometres along the southern shore of Viti Levu.IHG Hotels and Resorts/Supplied
While jet lag had me up early, I had no trouble getting on what locals call “Fiji Time.” At the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa, I settled into a relaxed rhythm, starting my days swimming and reading at the quiet, adults-only infinity pool that seemed to spill onto the bay.
Past experience has taught me not to expect much from resort food, but executive chef Indrajit Saha’s cuisine was where InterContinental shone. At dinner, instead of the familiar North American comforts on offer, I opted for rich Fijian chicken curries and a spiced chicken kathi wrap that put Indo-Fijian flavours centre stage. I wanted to try it all, and at a beach party celebrating Fiji Day, the dinner spread of street-style small plates allowed me to sample tender goat biryani, juicy pork skewers and the refreshing Blue Turtle Gin that is distilled down the coast.
Executive chef Indrajit Saha offers rich Fijian dishes at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa.IHG Hotels and Resorts/Supplied
It would be difficult to design a more perfect place to unwind in, but I have never been good at enjoying pure relaxation for more than a day or two. So I signed up for a coral replanting session with a local ecotourism agency called Reef Safari. As I snorkelled amid the hundreds of fish, sea stars and underwater plants that depend on the blooming coral formations for survival and shelter, I helped knot coral fragments into ropes and secure them to a metal structure that resembled a Christmas tree. My wonder at the underwater galaxy took me by surprise, and knowing that I had helped in some small way deepened my appreciation of its intricacy.
Swim amidst the fish in a coral replanting session with local ecotourism agency Reef Safari.IHG Hotels and Resorts/Supplied
A few days later, on my way to meet a family friend, I took a taxi up to the Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool, owned and run by a village of the same name. At a rustic outdoor spa in the Sabeto Mountains, I slathered myself with clay and let the golden late-afternoon sun dry it on my skin before dissolving it away in a series of natural pools. As we moved from one pool dug directly into the earth to tiled warm tubs under tree canopies, I chatted with other tourists and locals, including a Fijian woman and her three teenagers, visiting from nearby Nadi. They talked honestly about their lives, their joys and their struggles. I had a relaxing massage in a low, open concrete hut and intended to walk to my friend’s village, 30 minutes away, but a spa employee instead offered to drop me off on his way home.
Most Indigenous Fijians live in one of the country’s more than 1,100 villages, where traditional governance structures exercise a level of sovereignty that has largely endured through British colonization and into its young democracy today. Most Indo-Fijians, the descendants of Indian indentured workers who were brought to harvest sugarcane, tend to live in cities and towns.
The Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool is a rustic relaxation experience nestled in the Sabeto Mountains.Moira Wyton/The Globe and Mail
Everywhere I went, Fiji’s rich mix of cultures and ways of life were on full display. We passed bright pink, green and blue homes with an entire soccer team’s jerseys hanging to dry, the spires of the largest Hindu temple in Melanesia, and farmers leading horses laden with crates of taro and other produce to sell at the market. Save for two McDonald’s, there were no North American brands in sight.
It truly felt like a different world, and one whose cultural identity had not disappeared. Tourism centred kaiviti – Indigenous Fijian people, their culture and ways of life – and did not gloss over the realities of Viti dina, the real Fiji, for the sake of preserving my image of paradise.
In the Navosa province, we flew up the Sigatoka River, one of the longest in Fiji, in a jetboat. Captain Josephine Traill of Sigatoka River Safari navigated it around hairpin turns and through water that was just four inches deep, passing cows, horses and ox drinking under the cover of leafy trees, and children swimming along the bank who called out “bula!” in greeting. Every shallow passage seemed to underline what she told us about the rural valley where she had grown up – climate change is reshaping it, forcing villages to uproot and seek higher ground from rising floods.
The Sigatoka River is one of the longest in Fiji.IHG Hotels and Resorts/Supplied
When we arrived at one of the 15 villages the ecotourism agency partners with, our hosts welcomed us with a bitter ceremonial drink made by pounding the sacred kava root, which we drank out of a hollowed-out coconut shell. We danced along to traditional music and feasted on a homemade meal of steamed root vegetables, goat curry, roti stuffed with potato and, my mother’s favourite, papaya. I experienced a much less curated version of Viti dina later in Natalau, a small village near Sabeto, where a close family friend taught English 30 years ago. Her former host family welcomed me with open arms and we sat and talked about family, travels, politics and Fiji’s changing climate for hours.
My visit ended in Suva, and I’m glad I didn’t skip Fiji’s cultural capital like most tourists do. I slept at the historic Grand Pacific Hotel. Built in 1914, the hotel was once a centre of colonial power that fell into disrepair due to political instability. But since being renovated and reopening in 2014, the Grand Pacific has illuminated – not painted over – its complex history.
Local artist and activist Peter Sipeli’s “anti-tour” of Suva – bookable through the hotel – was an intimate look at how colonization still shapes everyday life in the port city. We explored the cavernous municipal market, learned about the government-sponsored farmers who founded the one-block Chinatown, squeezed by commuters heading to colourful buses, and lined up for chai and burfi – an Indian milk-based sweet – at a popular no-frills cafe. It was far from the empty, pristine paradise I had imagined as a teen. Thankfully, the real Fiji is full of life.
The historic Grand Pacific Hotel overlooks Suva's port.IHG Hotels and Resorts/Supplied
If you go
Fiji Airways flies non-stop from Vancouver to Nadi International Airport twice a week.
Peter Sipeli’s guided walking tours in Suva shed light on the capital’s history, economy and local arts scene. Half-day tours start at $47 a person.
The InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa is a family-friendly oasis in Natadola Bay with a focus on top-notch cuisine. It’s about an hour-long drive from the airport. Make time to lounge poolside with an iced coconut island coffee made with fresh coconut and condensed milk from Lai Lai Café. Rooms start at $526 per night.
Suva’s historic Grand Pacific Hotel offers stunning views of the port and a relaxing atmosphere just outside the downtown core. Rooms start at $241 per night. Heritage suites in the original 1914 hotel start at $286, but it costs more to stay in the room decorated to honour Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 visit.
The writer was a guest of IHG Hotels & Resorts. It did not review or approve the story before publication.
