#16 - The Fiji Islands

Another day at sea and we reached the first of two ports in Fiji.   You’d think that I’d never take another excursion after my experience in Samoa, but Jeff and I opted for a nice ride in a Zodiak.  Sounded pretty safe.  It was supposed to be a gentle ride around the coastline but it turned out that most of the people wanted to snorkel so we headed out to a reef for a drift snorkel.  A little voice inside me said “Let the others jump in the water first and see how it goes before you go in”.

That little voice was full of wisdom.  Everyone got off the Zodiak without problems but then started drifting in different directions as some tried to go with the current and others against it.  Several people said there was nothing to see, so our Zodiak driver motioned for everyone to get back in and we’d go to another snorkel site.

I wish I had taken pictures of what happened next.   The driver had thrown a ladder over the side of the Zodiak, but even so, most of the people couldn’t get back in.  The current kept pushing the ladder and they couldn’t get their feet on the rungs.  When someone got partially up, someone else already inside the Zodiak would have to hoist them back up the rest of the way.  

Graceful and glamorous it was not!  One woman got both arms over the side of the Zodiak, but just hung there.  So someone reached over and grabbed one of her legs and pulled her.  Now she had two arms and one leg partially inside, but was spread eagle on the side of the Zodiak giving us a view I am sure she had never intended. 

Another man also having difficulty was given an assist, but it was a bit too abrupt and his bathing trunks stayed behind in the water.  Did I say behind?  Well, you’ve got the picture.  And so forth with about 10 other people all of whom were exhausted by the time they got back in the raft.

Needless to say, I was glad I had not attempted to snorkel.  And Jeff, who had never intended to get in the water at all just sat and enjoyed the entertainment while getting a sunburn.  Arriving at snorkel site #2, several people decided to forego the underwater viewing, as they did not want to entertain us further with another “viewing” of them.  

After those two snorkel fiascos, we were taken into a sheltered area of the harbor where we meandered among the mangroves and did a bit of bird watching.  For those of us who live in Florida, mangrove sightings are not a big deal and not worth the price of the excursion.

It was pouring rain the next day when we reached Suva, our second port in Fiji.  And it was a national holiday and everything was closed because they were holding elections that day.  So all excursions were cancelled.  

So we are now 4 for 4 on “Excursions Gone Wrong”.