Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Over 300 tropical islands form the South Pacific’s most popular adventure escape. With its desert-islands, coral reefs, lush jungles and jagged mountains, Fiji is a land that leaves you breathless and exhilarated. But it is what is beyond its dramatic and enchanting environments that provides Fiji’s biggest attraction; its friendly, welcoming and energetic people make Fiji a country full of big hearts, wide smiles and exotic culture. It doesn’t take long to feel at home in Fiji.

Fijian culture is very rich in traditional beliefs and many aspects of life today are as they were a hundred years ago. Fijians live within a strict hierarchical system with the village chiefs receiving the respect of all. Fijian chiefs are hereditary titles, mostly through the male lineage, and the ranking of chiefs throughout the country is ordered into a strict hierarchical system of mataqalis, vanuas and yavusas (clans and sub clans).

Village homes are simplistic and doors are seldom closed. Subsistence farming, fishing, gathering firewood for cooking and hand-washing make up the normal days chores in Fijian villages. At night, Fijians will (more often than not) be drinking Yaqona, discussing village affairs and playing guitars. Most village people live without material goods, and many villages have no electricity and running water. Money to buy essential provisions and to pay for school fees is obtained by selling excess root-crops (dalo, cassava and yams) and vegetables at the town markets.

On Vorovoro, all tribe members are welcome (and also encouraged) to get involved with Fijian culture as much as possible. Whether this happens to be in the form of learning the meke (traditional Fijian dance), attending Fijian ceremonies and drinking kava with the boys, visiting the local school, helping to pound and weave new floor mats, taking part in a lovo (Fijian feast), or picking up on some basic Fijian words to use in your everyday conversation on Vorovoro, you will find it to be an extremely rewarding experience. Your respect for Fijian customs and traditions will not only make you a welcome guest in local villages and homes, but add another dimension to your Fijian holiday.

While you may have a choice on your level of involvement in these aspects of Fijian culture, we do expect all tribe members visiting Vorovoro to adhere to standard Fijian village etiquette during your time on Vorovoro or the surrounding villages of Mali. Don’t worry though, staff on the island will explain the basics to you once you get to Vorovoro and will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Unlike all the “party islands” in Fiji, Vorovoro is about the Fijian cultural experience. We drink kava (grog) rather than mojitos and beer, and we sing songs and chat under the stars on the kava mat (with the local Fijian community) rather than shout at one another in nightclubs.