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Editor's Notes
Vanau Levu formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres (40 miles) to the north of the larger Viti Levu.
Vanau Levu is for the more adventurous traveller.
Just over the rainbow reef you will find Sau Bay
Language: One of the great things about this Pacific paradise is that everyone speaks English as well as Fijian or Hindi - although there are a few idiosyncrasies.
The major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. Indigenous Fijians are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown. Later they would move onward to other surrounding islands, including Rotuma, as well as blending with other (Polynesian) settlers on Tonga and Samoa.
The inhabitants of modern Fiji are of indigenous Fijian background, as well as of Indian, Chinese and European ancestry.
Kava drinking for example, synonymous with life in the South Pacific, is still very much a part of life in Fiji. In Fiji Kava is used as a symbol to bring two groups of people together.
Kava Does NOT Taste Good. It does to the Fijians, but I would call it a definite acquired taste. To me, and many of the westerners I spoke to, drinking a bowl of kava feels eerily similar to drinking a bowl of dirty water, In short: it tastes like mud. Bitter, peppery mud.
This is a magnificent feast, cooked in the earth. It's like a barbeque, only a little more smoked, and a very efficient way to cook large quantities of food.
LovoTraditionally, the food will consist of cassava (tapioca), kumala (sweet potato), yam and taro - all of which should be peeled. Wrap a shoulder of leg of pork or ham in foil (and/or chicken, fish or lamb) and place in the oven. Put the big stuff at the bottom and the things that need less cooking at the top.
Cover the feast with banana leaves or coconut stalks and damp sacks provide the final insulation. Cover the lot with soil and pour yourself a drink.