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Vunisei Village

Sevusevu at Vunisei, Kadavu

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We leave Yadu Island riding a huge high from our manta experience and head to the large island of Kadavu.  About six or seven weeks ago, we visited the south side of Kadavu, but we did not have a chance to visit the north side.  We motor-sailed 12nm from Yadu to the bay of Tomba Ni Ndaku and visit the Vunisei village. 

It was a beautiful, calm day to be out on the water.  A slight downwind run with clear, sunny skies.  We arrived the bay of Tomba Ni Ndaku around 1400, dropped the hook in a nook of the bay and headed into the village of Vunisei to do sevusevu.  Can you see the village in the lower photo tucked in the mangroves?

Vunisei Bay, Kadavu

Vunisei Bay, Kadavu

The village of Vunisei is not really visible from our anchorage.  We have to weave our way through a lot of mangroves before the beautiful village is revealed.  On our way in we encounter a panga with loads of kids happy to wave and shout “BULA” to us.

Welcome to the Village

We’ve been in Fiji now for almost 3 months and have performed the “short” sevusevu a dozen times.  But each ceremony has been the short-condensed version where the chief receives us, claps 3x, prays, welcomes us to the village, and we have a short chat.  However, this time, we get the privilege of a full and complete sevusevu ceremony!

We are greeted by Joe, the chief’s son who takes us to the town hall where the ceremony is to take place.  Joseph, the chief arrives along with the torang-ni-koro (headman), and 7 other men in the village.  Yep, I am the only woman present.

We politely explain that this is our first full sevusevu ceremony hoping they explain what they are doing along the way — which they happily did.

Sevusevu

The fresh kava root that we gifted to the chief is handed to his son Joe to pound into powder (step 1, upper left corner).  It is placed in a metal cylinder which is in a hole in the floor. He then uses a steel metal shaft to pound it into the cylinder.  Matt thinks he used a propeller shaft from a boat because it looked remarkably similar.

Step 2 includes placing the freshly ground powder into the tree bark (see the dried tree bark on the kava bowl in the upper right corner photo).  The tree bark is long and sort of looks like hair but is wicked strong.  Water is added and then the powder is all rolled and rolled and rolled amongst the tree bark in the water.  Infusing the kava with the taste and smell of the bark. This is new to us as we were told and had seen other villages use a tea towel instead of the tree bark.

Step 3 is when the liquid is cleaned and all powder residue is removed using the tree bark.

Step 4 is the final preparation for the grog.  All remnants of the kava root and tree bark are gone and the grog is ready to consume.  Using a coconut cup, the first one is handed to the chief, then the toranga-ni-koro, then me!  Oh dear, no pressure, please don’t gag or make a face.

The Grog and its effects

I clap once, say “bula”, and gulp the entire cup in one go, then clap 3x and say “Vinaka.”  I think to myself, “well done.”  Next up is Matt.  This is his first-time tasting grog and I am curious to see how it goes.  He somehow manages to dribble a wee bit down his chin, but other than that it goes swimmingly well. 

The cup is passed around a second time before we are able to extract ourselves politely.

Within a few minutes of drinking the second cup we feel a slight numbing sensation in our mouth, tongue, and throat.  It did not last long, maybe 30-45 minutes.  Keep in mind that the villagers do not drink, this is their recreational drink of choice.

Vunisei School

We walk to the top of the mountain just behind the village to visit the school.  I had brought a few school supplies for the teachers and wanted to present them personally.

From the hilltop, we had gorgeous views of both Kadavu village and Vunisei village.

On the way back to the town hall we came across loads of children.  There are 70 people who live in the village and about 25 of them are children.

Back to the Boat

We go back to the village chief and leaders and politely thank them for their hospitality and for walking us through the entire sevusevu ceremony.  They had wanted us to stay for more kava but 2 cups is all I can take so we graciously declined.

The water was flat calm when we left.  I just can’t get over how beautiful the entrance and exit is to this village.  What a lovely way to come home every day.

Matt got out the drown and took some beautiful photos at sunset.  And it just keeps getting better and better as the sun goes down.

Tomba Ni Ndaku is a beautiful anchorage with a lovely village!  We were invited to church the next day, but unfortunately, we had to move on to our next adventure.

We prepared to leave the next day at dawn and were greeted with a gorgeous moon set.

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  We play with the manta rays while they eat and get cleaned.  Check out this blog post!

Manta Ray Escapades

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One of the main reasons we wanted to come to the Astrolabe Reef was to see the manta rays.  We had heard that there is a “cleaning station” and a good area where they feed near Vurolevu island.  This is a mere 1.5nm from Yabu where we are anchored.  

What is a “cleaning station”? A Manta Ray Cleaning Station is a location where fish, sharks, and mantas gather to get a regular hygiene check by parasitic copepods and a variety of small cleaner wrasse. Mantas spend some hours of the day here to get their gills, and skin cleaned.

Vurolevu Island and the Manta Rays

The next morning we head to Vurolevu island with the hopes of finding a few mantas.  As we approach the northern tip and slow the dinghy down, we immediately spot a large manta in the water.  Sweet.  In I go!

There is a nice current here with the water flow delivering delicious plankton into the mouths of these gentle giants.  I enjoy the alone time with 2 medium sized mantas (wing span of about 2-2.5 meters).

Within 15 minutes I am joined by 3 other tourists and decide to head to where Matt is which is about 300 yards from me.  SCORE!  He found the cleaning station.  Check out all the little fish having a field day with these mantas!  They swim around, under, and inside the mantas.  Yes, they swim inside their mouth and come out their gills!  Silly or brave, not sure which?

Manta Rays will jump out of the water to rid themselves of parasites (if they are not near a cleaning station).  They also jump out of the water when they want to impress a lady and or to simply play.

A Cleaning Station

There was no current over where we were swimming, so we could literally just hang out and admire these beauties!  Even though these animals are ginormous, they are not dangerous.  Some of the manta rays that we saw here had a wing span of 4.5-5 meters!  We are talking really, really huge!

But, mantas are harmless and can’t hurt swimmers.  We have found them to be very curious creatures and will often swim up next to and below you if you stay calm and still enough.  They really are delicate animals with no aggressive behaviors and are known to not be predatory in nature.

What do manta rays eat?

Mantas are filter feeders feeding on microscopic plankton near the surface of the water.  They glide back and forth high current areas gathering plankton. A manta ray eats 19,200,000 pieces of plankton every week – that’s a lot of plankton!

Did you know that the closest relative to a manta ray is a shark?  Unlike sharks, mantas don’t have teeth.  They sieve plankton out of the water using a row of tiny plates in their mouth, which they funnel in as they swim. 

One manta came so close to me that I actually saw him looking at me – honestly, he was checking me out!

I wanted to show you how very large these creatures were, but Matt was so far away that it is hard to get a perspective.  And, he happened to go below with a juvenile, not a full size manta.

Hurt Mantas

The natural predators for manta rays are sharks and whales.  Despite their large size and fast speeds, they do get hurt.

We saw several mantas with broken wings and bites out of their tail area.  Their wings naturally flow seamlessly to a fine point, but two of the mantas had their wing tips bent down.  It did not seem to slow them down.  Another two mantas had semi circle bites out of their left tail area.

Did you know?

  • Manta rays have the largest brain to size ratio of any cold-blooded fish?  
  • They have huge brains – the biggest of any fish! 
  • Believed to be as smart and highly cognitive as dolphins, primates, and elephants.
  • Studies have found that their brains are especially developed for learning, problem solving and communicating.
  • Some scientist believe that mantas can recognize their reflection, a sign of self-awareness.

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  We visit many island near the Astrolabe reef in our last blog post.

Namara island

Astrolabe Reef & Gnarly Gnuggets

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The Astrolabe Reef runs along Kadavu’s southern shore then arcs north-east past Ono and Buliya Islands.  There are about a dozen islands inside the Kadavu lagoon including Kadavu, Dravuni, Yanuyanu, Namara, Qasibale, Yauku Levu, Buliya, Yabu, Vurolevu, Galoa, and Ono.

The top little island is Dravenui, the 3rd island is where we found the manta rays (see our next blog), and the arrow is where we anchored at Ono.

After our 40nm motor-sail from Mbengga, we arrive at the northern Herald Pass.  We thought we might stop at Dravuni Island where there is a large village that receives small cruise ships once a month. But the weather and waves would have made this an uncomfortable anchorage so we just did a “drive-by.”

Namara Island

The neighboring island of Namara was our next stop. There is a reef that surrounds this island teaming with sea life. Sugar Shack found a nice sandy spot to drop the hook and enjoyed the island to herself.

Namara island

Namara island

It is a small and with very limited human touches.  On the south side where we anchored, the only proof of humanity is a small bamboo bar and fence. We went on a short walk across the island to the other side and up and over the ridge.

I love the contrasting colors of the water. Turquoise near the reef and royal blue inside the lagoon.

Namara Island

Namara Island

 

Yabu Island

On the way from Namara island to Yabu island we came across a group of birds enjoying a nice swim.  Usually they fly away as we approach, but this group of birds were fearless.

Yabu Island is uninhabited and is a wildlife sanctuary and has tons and tons of boobies and other species.  Technically, we cannot go ashore until we do sevusevu on the island that claims ownership over Yabu.  So, we head to Buliya where the chief lives in the main village. 

Buliya is a 2nm dinghy ride from Yabu.  Technically, we could have easily brought the big boat over there, but since we were already anchored in a lovely spot, we decided to take the water car.

Buliya

We arrive late in the morning and are greeted by none other than the chief of the village.  This is totally unheard of.  Normally, you are greeted by the Torangi-ni-koro (the headman) who brings you to the chief.   Thank goodness I was in my sulu!

He walks us over to a shady spot just off the beach that has two long boats (pangas) turned upside down.  Several men are sitting or laying down on top of them enjoying the cool breeze on this hot day.

We do a quick sevusevu and enjoy a few minutes of chat with the locals.  They gift us with loads of papayas and we enjoy a long walk on a beautiful sandy beach before heading back to Yadu.

Buliya Island

Buliya Island

Now that we are “officially” welcomed into the village, we go ashore to Yadu which googlemaps has down as “gnarly gnuggets” a religious destination.  

Super pretty spit of sand peppered with purple rocks!

They surely have this wrong as this island belongs to the bazillion birds that live here!

Vurolevu Island

The main reason we came to Yabu is to be close to the area where the mantas are.  They swim off the northern tip of a small island called Vurolevu in the mornings.  Stay tuned for our next blog for my updates on the mantas.

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  In our last blog we visit one of the most beautiful bays in Fiji, Mbengga, did you miss it?