Expedition to Yagasa Levu
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Tue 30 Sep 2014 18:09
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Last night we had lightning and thunder, a tropical
rain and the landscape lit by flashes of sharp light.
Good for the village that they finally got
some water.
This morning we loaded 4 guys from the village and
and their gear, One White Tree had another 5-6 people and their chain
saws.
Husquarna of course. The purpose of the expedition
was to go to an atholl north of Fulaga were they will cut trees for three
days.The tress will be used for making different things like Kava bowls and
other nice stuff. Most is sold i Suva and brings a good income to the
village.
The problem is that on the island where they live
there are no big big trees (hard to believe), on Yagasa Levu you can find them
and they need to get there. The village has only one longboat and it is
to dangerous to run over open water with one engine. It is done sometimes
but with a big risk involved. As One White Tree had done the journey once we
joyned in this time and it is nice to be in a new spot, an uninhabited island in
an uninhabited atholl. Now that might sound like you are coming to an empty
space on earth but as a matter of fact there is more activity here right now
then in the Fulaga atholl. A group of men have built a camp on the other side of
the island and they came over soon after we anchored and socialised. They asked
for fresh water and salt. Now if you do not understand the mentality here you
might be offended and think that these guys just come up to you and beg. Far
from it. As the late afternoon go by our men from Fulaga build their camp and we
do our things. I go kayaking and realise that this place is cave heaven. The
kids will love it. The water is all christal clear, I can see the bottom clearly
at 10 meters depth, I mean clearly. We clean and make the dishes and Ellinor
starts a washing project for our sheets and clothes, thus meaning we all get
involved but she is truly the hard worker on that. I prepare dinner and the kids
play on deck. Soon it get's dark and as I do the dishes after the meal I can
hear an outboard roaring in the dark. It comes close to us and the kids yell
from deck that somebody wants to talk to me. With my mindset it is easy to think
"so what do they want now?", well guess what, they have prepared a big fish for
us! The guys we just gave water and salt have cooked a fish the size of my leg
in a pot! It was still in the big pot and it looked; how shall I put it- not the
way we would have made it. I told them we had dinner already and told them the
guys in the camp would probably love it, so off they went and asked if we want
one tomorrow instead, I told them we would love one but we can cook it
ourselves.Yes we are picky, we make things more complicated, I know, we take off
the head, and the fins, and the skin and the bones, but that's the way we are
used to.
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