We had to visit Manava village to present 'Sevusevu' to explore more of the islands and inlets near there.  To get there we anchored in a very sheltered cove which could hold 6 small yachts and took the dingy around to Mavana's pig and cow farm which was run by a chap called Ruben but is now run by Sotea.  He greeted us on the beach and then took us on the hours walk through the forest to Mavana Village.  We were very warmly greeted there and presented our Sevusevu plus some things for the school.  The village looks very well to do and neat and tidy.  This is not surprising as it has produced a Fijian President and a Prime minister it has also had a lot of money donated by the Canadian Government to reclaim land and make it look manicured.  Nevertheless life contiues there more or less unchanged for centuries.  There was a feast going on as one of the village elders had died and the wake was huge with many other villages taking part in the feat.  We were invited to join in and eat. So a place and food was set out for us on mats with a cloth under the awning, out of the sun.  It was only the females eating, but our chaps were expected to join us...   We had fish, cabbage, taro (a type of root) which is a bit clawy on the mouth, some meat.  We were given forks but everybody else ate with their hands.  In another area there was an old small marquee where all the guys were drinking Kava and playing music on their guitars singing traditional Polynesian/Melanesian songs.  Some of the women persuaded Bianca and I to dance, I caught my foot in a hole and nearly went flying much to the huge amusement and laughter of the all the ladies.  The children were fascinated by the cameras and wanted to have lots of photos taken.  We were invited to the men's tent and were offered Kava which we had a couple of coconut bowls of, deadens your mouth, makes it a bit numb and tastes like dish water, but had a mild soporific effect on you.  After awhile we made our excuses to leave.  On our walk out through the village we were greeted by Allan who is American and Mexican (his Mum is Mexican) he told us his family were building a house on some land on the island across the water from the village and meanwhile they were renting a house in this village.  They go back to California every now and again but his parents prefer to live in Fiji.  He spoke fluent Fijian and of course Spanish and English, he goes to the local school for the older boys in the village on the opposite island.  Allan and the boys accompanied us back to the beach and our dingy a long, hot walk, the boys picked up one of the village horses and road it bare back behind us.  When we got to the beach they climbed a coconut tree and gave us all very refreshing coconuts to drink.  Sotea also gave us a Sour-sop fruit which is spiky with white flesh and tastes sweet sour.  It was a wonderful experience, meeting a very happy and very generous village.

Part of the path goes along the beach 

Old village house 

Some of the village children

They love posing for the camera

Lunch of fish, meat, veg and Taro root laid out for us

Being encouraged to dance by the village ladies

The men's tent where music was played and Kava drunk

The long, hot , hike back

The boys who came with us used some of the village horses

Climbing a tree to get us some coconuts

Hiking through the jungle

Aqualuna still safely at anchor.