Our visit to Viti Levu, main island in Fiji was very quick! The plane landed in Nadi, main strategic point to go to the several holiday islands located on the west side of the country. As soon as we landed we bought the "Bula pass", a 7 day boat ticket that allows you to get the ferry to go from island to island, and we got the next ferry to Mana island.
Buuuuuuuuuulaaaaaa Mana!!!! ( Hi Mana!!)
Mana is a small island in the Mamamuca group. As soon as you arrive to the island you can feel the hospitality of its people... they are the best when welcoming tourists !! they sing and play very noisily everytime that a ferry arrives... They run happily to the harbour with their guitars.... plenty of energy!!!
Bulaaaaaaaaaaa Bula!! Thank you for choosing our island!! These are the words that they consistantly use!
To the sound of the guitar we arrived to the Ratakuni backpackers resort... nothing really luxurious or special about the place but with the best local atmosphere ever! We liked it from the very best moment!
The day was sunny... was nearly sunset time....very nice evening after a very long trip from Sydney...nice change.. from cold Sydney to warm Fiji!!
A new experience... a new country with a new lifestyle... behind are the skyscrapers, fast food or the crowdy backpackers hostels... now is time for Fiji.. now is Fiji time!! This funny saying (Fiji time) refers to the peace and calm of the Fijian lifestyle.... they are so casual about time and things...they love not being stressed about anything... they are like this.. .they are Fijians! hahaha
They are very peculiar!!! 
The next day after a good rest from the long trip and with improved weather and new scenery we decided to explore the island. We started walking a bit along the near beaches and we ended up going around all the island!!! But it was definitely worth it! 
So there we were... we started walking. At the beginning we walked along a dirty and unkept area... and we were wondering... will all the island be the same? 
but we didn't believe so... so we continued walking and walking...
Nobody was around.... mystic silence around the island... we looked like the main actresses from a film of cast aways!!! 
And we continued walking... and walking for hours... and then we ended up going for a whole loop around the island... and at the end we found the surprise... Sunset beach!! 
... do you know those moments in your life when work and stress take over you... and that you close your eyes and for a few seconds you wish you could disappear and find yourself in a deserted island....
... so there we were....if we have to decribe with a word we would choose SERENITY!! 
It seemed as if human beings weren't there... or at least they were thousand and thousands of kilometers away.... 
A moment for ourselves... a moment where you think about you and your interior and you make that place yours... you own it for a few minutes.
Freeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahhahahaa
Just complete silence to listen to yourself!!
We don't want you to be jealous but encourage you to think about those moments in your life when the routine gets over you.. the sadness, the anxiety, headaches... in one of those moments close your eyes and smile.... and we don't mean that you need to fly to the other side of the world to feel better but you just need to stop that life rythmn that gives you the worst headaches: deadlines, mortgages, money, work problems...remember that you are the most important person in your life!!! You need time for yourself and time to dream!!! 
And after a few hours in this beach we came back to the resort...
In the evening we met a couple of guys who have been travelling on a boat for a couple of years now... they own a sailing boat and that night they anchored near the hostel that we were staying. So, we had a few beers together and after it... talking for hours...
... and later on.. karaeoke night!!! oh my god!!! the story returns... after Vietnam...no... i don't want to sing!! but "My Way" played and we had to do it!! :-)
And to close the Karaeoke night... Redemption song...
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? ooh!
Some say its just a part of it:
Weve got to fulfil de book.
Wont you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
...With Bob Marley and more than two Bitter Fiji (Fijian Beer) we went to bed...
Next day was cloudy.. we had a look at the activities board and we had jewlery making at 11am...so why not??
Later on we decided to visit the local school.... we just poped in at the break time...
But the break lasted just 15min...ohhhhhhhhhhhhh we would have loved to spend more time with the kids...
... so we continued with our jewelery making.. coconut, thread, seeds... we had everything to become rich once back at home!!! hahahaha Have a look at the local festivals.. you might see us selling some jewelery !!!
We really wanted to enjoy more time with the local kids so after school we went to look for them... and then we found them on the beach!!! there they were.. lots of them!! and we spent all the evening playing there ...
So funny!! they are very wild!! they jump from everywhere!! great craic!
A very nice evening with the kids... since Asia we didn't have these kinds of moments.... nice memories!
That night the staff at the resort organised a local dance to show all of us the different dances on the Pacific island...
Last day in the island.. the staff showed us how to prepare lovo. Lovo is a tradicional meal in Fiji with chicken and fish and vegetables... they bury the food with hot stones to cook it... ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm and with a very nice soya sauce....
In the afternoon we went to look for crabs for the competition at night time....and just on our way back we met Moses... such a character!!! He is a Fijian fisherman very popular in the village. We went fishing with him and we visited some of the closest islands.
So... after the fishing we came back to the resort. Just in time for the crab race!!!
...2Rapitenques had crab number 6....we didn't win any of the prizes but it was great fun!! Crab races hahahaha who invented that?
And last day in Mana arrived... such a pity.. seriously!! we would have stayed a few days more!! but the Bula pass had an expiration date so we needed to change island now...
Mana has delighted us with the kindness of its people, its local kids, its music, its traditions... everything that we missed when we were in Australia....
Bula Mana!!!!!!!!!!
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