Our Flightie Tiffany was blown away by the friendliness and welcoming atmosphere of the Fijian people when she recently travelled there with GOGO Worldwide Vacations. She shares with us her favourite things about Fijian culture:
I recently travelled to Fiji with Flight Centre and GOGO Worldwide Vacations and it was incredible. The group of us viewed 14 different hotels and 6 different islands. I was there for 5 days and stayed in a different hotel each night. If I had to choose my two favorite things about Fiji it would be the scenery and the culture.
The mainland is quite different from the islands. On the mainland, the best part about the scenery is the lush trees and hills/mountains everywhere. I took a beautiful long boat ride to a mountain that we hiked to an amazing waterfall falling into a lagoon that we swam in. With most of the schools located on the mainland, we stopped in to visit one and the kids greeted us with a loud "BULA"' (Fijian word for hello, how are you, cheers etc) and couldn't have been happier to see us. The kindergarten class sang two songs to us and took photos with us and hugged and kissed us as we left. We also got to visit the local village where we took part in a traditional welcome ceremony and drank 'Kava' with the local villagers. These were definitely the friendliest people I have ever met in all my years of travel. Always a smile pasted on everyone's face and loud Bula's shouted from all around! I was not surprised to find out that the Fijian people are the friendliest people on Earth.
When we went to the islands, it surprised me how different the beaches were. For the classic beach goer, I would recommend an island as the beaches were fantastic. Because Fiji has so many islands, they all have a different feel and different properties to choose from. On the islands, the people who work at the hotels are almost all local Fijian's. The thing I loved about that is they teach you how to speak Fijian. In school they learn all about the musical arts so most of them sing and/or play instruments as well. They serenade your dinners outside under the stars, beside the beach, and as you eat the incredible food they offer. The food was surprising as well because the Fijian population consists of people from all over but mostly Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and India. There were constant changes in the menus at the hotels and some of the menus actually change every day; making meal times a constant adventure!
It was hard to see the merit of going so far (from Canada to Fiji) for a beach destination, until I actually went and realized what I was missing. I have spent a ton of time in Mexico and the Caribbean and this was not just another beach destination; it was a whole new world! It is a beautiful place not to be missed!!
Interested in learning more about the friendly culture of Fiji? Tiffany Mcleod is an International Travel Consultant at our Sunridge Mall location in Calgary, Alberta, and can be reached by E-mail or by calling 1-855-241-7637.
