It’s a good thing Milton never visited Fiji… this place is seriously cool. The room in Likuliku had some pretty potent blackout curtains so it felt like an appropriate time to sleep until we looked out the glass floor windows and saw that it was quite bright out. Time seemed to all merge together, but I am pretty sure that our first full day in Likuliku was a Tuesday. We had checked the activities scheduled and I was pretty pumped for snorkeling. Unfortunately breakfast took about as long as dinner so I was a mite bit rushed while trying to gather all of my snorkeling gear and make it to the departure area by 9 am. I succeeded (although I had to make three trips back and forth… whoops) and we took about a fifteen minute boat ride out to one of the barrier reefs on the other side of Castaway Island. The snorkeling here was probably the best I’ve ever experienced. Loads of fishes of all types and colors and beautiful living corals (the coral off the coast of Matangi was probably still a little bit better). We briefly caught a glimpse of a hawkbill? Hawk’s beak? Hookbill? Turtle as it swam in slightly deeper water. After a solid hour of snorkeling the boat picked us back up and we got little tupperwares of fresh fruit and some bottled water to drink. Along the way back one of the other snorkelers gave me a pretty good tip on how to avoid the feeling that the pressure was going to make my eardrums explode.
After I got back from the guided snorkeling we took a joint trip out to the reef under our room. The fishes weren’t as active as later in the day – but the tide meant we didn’t have too much time of opportunity before it got too low. The tides are really dramatic this time of year! Our next step was to snag some food and a lunch cocktail. After lunch we learned that the afternoons on Malolo Island are definitely hotter than the afternoons on Matangi so we stayed in the air conditioning of our room instead of relaxing outside on our sweet sunset-viewing giant swivel chair. That may or may not have turned into some delightful power naps. The 7 pm dinner was definitely where it was at – we had a semi private table right next to the citronella torches so we also didn’t have to worry about being swarmed by mosquitos.
Wednesday morning we decided we wanted to be a little bit more active so after breakfast we went for a short hike around the resort. The first person we ran in to at the activities desk didn’t quite grasp what we were asking for, but luckily we had to change in to our hiking shoes and grab some water. On our return we were given very explicit directions that we promptly failed to follow by walking down the road to the staff village. After someone very nicely pointed us in the correct direction (the sign for the coconut grove is being overgrown, I swear!) we started our hike. We both must be either too used to being at actual sea level, or the hills were taller than they looked, because we both got a little out of breath walking up to Jona’s Lookout. This area doesn’t have a great view of the resort itself because of all sorts of branches in the way, but it does have a pretty good viewpoint towards the interior of the island. I continued on to one of the “points” that forms the edge of the lagoon to get some pictures. I apparently missed a cave at the end of the point! Oh well.
When we got back I took a cool-down snorkel (although by the time I had changed I was already pretty much cooled down) and then we headed off to lunch to try to catch the 2:30 afternoon snorkeling trip. Unfortunately… the snorkeling trip was cancelled because it was “too windy” (I think they just needed the snorkel boat to do the boat transfer thing to the resort) and it took me about an hour or so to mourn the death of my afternoon plans. This was done by eating room cookies, ordering a Fiji bitter, and reading my book. By the time the single Fiji bitter was delivered I was feeling better so we decided we needed a change of scenery: the pool. There isn’t really any great way to access the beaches except through a bure so the pool was basically the only easily accessible afternoon shade we could find. After swimming around for a little bit we ordered some Mai Tais and took root on a swivel chair. This was our last night in Fiji! For dinner we got the shared seafood plate – which was lobster tails and a mud crab. We also got a bottle of prosecco – which seemed comically cheap compared to the other bubbly wine options. We managed to stay up a little bit later this night, but eventually lied down to get one last night of sleep in our fantasy hut over the ocean.
Dawn finally rose on the last day we would have in Fiji on this trip. It was definitely bittersweet. We both missed our home, but were also not ready to go back to the real world. Luckily the resort let us stay until 5:15 even though our checkout was at 11 am. I managed to sneak in one last guided snorkel trip. The coral reef wasn’t as good as the others, but it was definitely worth it – I got to see a big ol’ shark and spotted another sea turtle! I brought my camera with me this time (I sometimes feel like it’s a little obnoxious but oh well) and tried to get some good pictures. Unfortunately, a lot of them ended up out of focus – I’ll have to work on that for the future. The tip I was given on diving down deep also helped – I no longer felt like my head was going to explode from the pressure. I managed to get back to the room in time to take a quick shower before beginning the grueling part of our last day in Fiji. Relaxing in the shade by the pool. It was pretty rough – we each needed two tropical beverages to help us through the ordeal.
To break up the relaxation we did one last activity – we asked about the crested iguanas. Hidden gem of the resort! The iguana expert at the hotel took us over to the seven cages they have set out by the reception area. Here he told us the history of how the Fijian crested iguana was thought to be extinct on the island – one hadn’t been seen since 1985. Until someone randomly found one at the resort in 2011 and a pair iguana experts from the USGS and Sydney Zoo happened to be in Fiji looking at other iguanas. We learned a bunch of fun facts about the iguanas. Like their closest relatives are in the deserts of California and Madagascar. So nobody really knows how iguanas made it to the comparatively remote islands of Fiji. They also live in “tropical dry forest” – most of which has been degraded. After the discovery of the iguanas the resort has made a pretty substantial effort to rehabilitate the island for them to live. They trapped as many of the feral cats as possible, tag any iguanas they find, and are working in 10m x 10m sections to regrow the native flora of the island. It was similar to the efforts at the bird sanctuary on Kauai – especially the cat thing. Apparently cats aren’t great for the native species.
After the private iguana talk we finished our pool relaxation and waited for the private speedboat to take us back to the marina. It was a little late, but didn’t take quite as much time as the catamaran. It also was… a little bit of a rough ride. Definitely going to take the helicopter if we go again. Our taxi driver back to the airport was curious why people wanted to come to Fiji from the United States which was not a question I was expecting at all. Once in the airport we posted up in some chairs at the Fiji Airways lounge (which was an amazing lounge) and took some showers before the remaining 19 hours of airplace and airport we had before we got to Philly. After we landed I was really glad we came home Thursday. Getting used to a 16 hour time change is no joke! Our honeymoon was over but by the end of the trip both of us were getting a little antsy to just get back to our Home. We were not quite ready for work though!
