Yearly Archives: 2013

/2013

Kavewa Island – Mangrove Reforestation and the Reefs

4 - 6 April 2013 A charming activity took the children of Kavewa by storm one overcast Saturday morning. All the school children from Kavewa Village had just come back home for the weekend from their boarding school in Drua Drua (another nearby island) when they were assigned to go pick as much propagules in [...]

Kavewa Island – Turtle Monitor

4 - 6 April 2013 Emosi Time, son of Kavewa Village chief is known as a Dau ni Vonu or Turtle Monitor. Emosi used to be a turtle hunter, catching turtles for turtle meat offered in traditional Fijian celebrations. Since 2011, Emosi has turned from the dark side and is now a guardian of turtles. Lifting [...]

Village Life in Kavewa Island

4 - 6 April 2013 Google Earth map of the Great Sea Reef showing distance we travelled from Mali Island to Kavewa Island. We departed Mali Island soon after our last amazing crab lunch to make it to Kavewa Island with the incoming tide, so we could dock right in front of the [...]

Mali Island – Diving, Spearfishing and Sea Snakes

2 - 3 April 2013 Google Earth - Mali Island, Fiji We had a grand opportunity of checking out the Great Sea Reef underwater while in Mali Island. Our Ligaulevu Village host Leone Vokai operates a brand new dive shop called the Great Sea Reef Divers and he invited us to go diving with him. [...]

Mali Island – Mangroves and Crabs

30 March - 2 April 2013 When we first received our shot list from Patricia Mallam of WWF South Pacific on what to document in the Great Sea Reef, one line jumped out like it was in ALL CAPS and in BOLD LETTERS. MUD CRABS!  Split level image of a mud crab (Scylla serrata) in the [...]

Days with the Chiefs – Mali Island (Nakawaqa Village, Vorovoro Island and Ligaulevu)

30 March - 2 April 2013 Mali Island Google Earth - Mali Island, Fiji The nearest island to Labasa Town is Mali Island, comprised of 3 villages on the island (Nakawaqa, Ligaulevu & Vesi) and 1 (Matailabasa) on mainland Vanua Levu. We visited 2 villages and experienced real Fijian life head on. [...]

Life in Navakasobu Village with Kava, Weaving and Fishing

30 March 2013 Navakasobu Village, Vanua Levu, Fiji Our wonderful guide and companion Koli Musudroka, WWF Field Officer for Labasa invited us to his village on Black Saturday. He had been telling us about the women in his village weaving a special kind of mat and traditional Fijian wedding costumes made of a reed locally called kuta. So we [...]

Happy Holi!

29 March 2013 Korowiri Village, Labasa, Fiji While the world I'm familiar with conducts solemn Good Friday activities celebrating the passion of Christ in quiet contemplation, another world celebrates a new year the Hindi way, with the festival of colours! Happy Holi! Yogi gets his first Holi colours! We had a free day on Good Friday [...]

First Day – Labasa, Fiji’s Northern Division

28 March 2013 Labasa Town, Northern Division, Fiji The incredibly efficient and fired up WWF South Pacific team in Fiji has given us a packed itinerary for our five weeks stay to document the entire length of the Great Sea Reefs of Fiji. Locally known as Cakaulevu, the Great Sea Reefs is the world’s third longest continuous barrier reef [...]

Whale Sharks of Cenderawasih Bay, Province of Papua, Indonesia

23 March 2013 I really believe in saying "it's better late than never". Well, this post is almost a year late but nonetheless, the experience is still fresh in my mind like it happened yesterday.  As we get ready to leave tomorrow for our next brand new expedition to Fiji, I thought it best to finish [...]