Tribewanted: Vorovoro

I’ve absolutely loved my first week here on Vorovoro and it certainly has been a busy one! As I type, Va and Jeli are busy preparing food in the kitchen behind me, ready for today’s Lovo celebrations. It’s been a really lovely atmosphere here, and this week has brought some new experiences for Tribewanted. Sara-Jane arrived on Wednesday with her new baby, Dylan. This was an exciting time for everyone on the island and a special ceremony was held to welcome Dylan (the first baby of Tribewanted staff) into the Vorovoro Fijian family.

The second new experience for us was sleeping in the newly built pig pen! Amy and Pupu had made a deal that they would sleep in the pen and managed to persuade Lisa and I to join them! We didn’t really need much convincing as we thought we probably wouldn’t have another chance to sleep in a pig pen, so it was clearly an opportunity not to be missed! It was great fun, some of us got more sleep than others…us girls went up to the pen fairly early but Pupu staggered in in the early hours of the morning after a long grog session!!

We’ve also had Chuck (the Sustainability Manager) and his family staying with us for a few days which has been great. The tribe is quite small at the moment so it has been lovely to have lots of little ones running around making lots of noise! One of Chuck’s tasks while here was to get the big water tank moved up to the shower area. It was very amusing (and a little scary at times!) to watch the team of Fijians and tribe members haul the 10,000 litre container from the beach, over fences and up a steep slope!

While not on the grog mat, games round the campfire, afternoons playing volleyball and the four peaks walk have all been great! The Hammock society has gained a few new members over the past week…there really is nothing better than lying in a hammock with the glistening sea lapping against the shore! The sunsets are also always stunning…being quite a snap happy person I just can’t resist taking a few more photos every day!

So, today is a big day here, we’re celebrating the opening of Tui Mail’s wife’s kitchen in the village as well as having a big send off meal for the 5 members of Team Fiji who are off to England for a month!! Even though I’m only half way through my stay on the island I’m already dreading leaving! The constant shrieks of laughter, delicious food, amazing music, lots of sunshine and great company definitely make Vorovoro a special place…