Tribewanted: Vorovoro

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30 January 2008

Do you remember the Tribewanted story?

I had sort of forgotten all about this experiment in eco-based social networking. Well they have started to air a reality TV show about this island adventure – its called “Paradise or Bust” – here’s a review of episode one. It makes for very good watching and I can’t help wanting to root (in a positive way) for this new “backpacker” tribe. I agree with Decca Aitken that at some level there is a real bond being developed between the local islanders (who own the island and have leased it to Tribewanted) and many of the new tribe members.

I am also impressed by the forward thinking of the local chief for leasing the island (which is in a remote part of Fiji) as a way to develop ths resource and make some money. Note: to get to Vorovoro say from LA is a minimum of 2 flights then a truck and boat ride; the 2nd flight will be on an internal turbo prop flight. I spent 14 months in Fiji back in the mid 1990s and it is a magical place and the Fijian may be the most friendly people on the planet.

Now one of the interesting things to watch is will this show drive more members to join? As of today the site lists 1397 members. I will check back in a few weeks on this stat and in the meantime I am going to keep watching the show.