Tribewanted: Vorovoro

The boat glides its way over the murky water. Hundreds of mangroves watch from the banks as you pass by. The river winds, meandering round and round. Every turn your heart races in excitement and wonder. Suddenly the water begins to clear. A cool breeze. The boat crew smiles. On the final turn the river mouth opens onto the horizon, on which gleams an island.

It was strange being on Vorovoro after watching a couple of the documentaries, reading through some of the blogs and viewing pictures online. Seeing the people that you thought you knew through a television, and seeing things that you overlooked in pictures. It was then that it felt real. I began to notice the attention to detail in everything; ranging from the flowers lining the pathways, to the quirky sign posts everywhere. It takes a few hours to take it all in and settle down. It’s a very surreal experience.

As soon as you set foot on the island you are treated like family from the Fijians. I was greeted by hugs, hand shakes and plenty of ‘Bula Sia’s!’ After I got past the initial shock of it all, I dumped my things down and got stuck in.

The nights are just as interesting. The moon lights up the tips of the palm trees which gives off an ambience of beauty. The stars litter the sky as far as the eye can see and then you look down and see a campfire with 20 people from all over the world sitting around it like a family. This is the magic of Vorovoro.

The beauty of Vorovoro is that you can do as much or as little as you want and still walk away feeling a sense of accomplishment. You don’t get shouted at for sitting in a hammock! It was even encouraged by a small group of renegades calling themselves ‘The Hammock Society’ founded by Jim, Angel, Kelly and Gillian. They set it up to counter ‘The Work Out’ led by Elaine whose aim was to get everyone up and active! Over the 10 days I was there, no fists were thrown but there was a lot of biased judging in the Hula-hooping and skipping competitions. It’s rough for us neutrals!

However I felt that working with the Fijians was better than sitting in a hammock or working out to ‘The Eye of the Tiger’ using coconuts as weights! I’m going to get bricks coming through my window at home!

Over the 10 days there was a lot to do and a lot to learn. I learnt how to:
Break down bamboo and weave it into wall panels,
Use a machete effectively,
Do the ‘Meke’ (Pron. Mek-ay) Fijian dance,
Behave as a Fijian and attend at the Grog mat,
Cook Coconut Fudge (Which took me about 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon – The majority of which was eaten by the Gapper!)

I also made some wind chimes out of spare bamboo, went to the Mali district school to teach the children how to write letters, collected plenty of firewood, went snorkeling around the shoreline, played the tambourine whilst Api played the guitar and drank way too much Grog! Lamb Chop!

My 10 days on Vorovoro absolutely flew by. Just like everybody else, I will be returning in the not too distant future! ‘Home away from home’

Here is the recipe for coconut fudge!

6 Coconuts, 4 cups of sugar, 2.5 cups of water, quarter of a bag of oats and 4 hours time at least to spare. Also make sure you are prepared to stir for 4 hours. If not …. go lie in a hammock!

Vinaka and Moce

Ryan Clarke / Rani
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