Savusavu, Fiji, is on the second largest island. Our tender landed us at a local marina, so we had to walk along the docks to get to the buses. I took the “Village & Kava” tour.
The village was about an hour from “downtown” (Savusavu has around 6000 people).
We started at the kindergarten. It had the expected stuff – I did not see anything unique.
As we walked to the church, the guide told us they use the cruise money to build this church and school. Which is kind of cool.
Rather than a bell this church has a traditional drum to call the faithful.
We then gathered at the village community hall. Here we saw various dances, but first we went thru a Kava welcoming ceremony. The locals take this serious, so no photography. Kava is made from the roots of a local bush. It tasted kind of grassy.
Driving back to the tenders the bus stopped by what I thought was a city park, as I saw barbecue smoke and folks eating. Turns out it was not a barbecue, but a small hot spring. Seems Fiji has several.
That evening back on the ship we had a the every-cruise-segment “Venetian Society” meeting, which is Silversea’s loyalty program. I received my 350-day certificate, which means I get a free 7-day cruise, that I can schedule in the future. I’ve been told to save them for expedition style of cruise, which costs more.
But to bring me back down to earth, the #1 person on the ship started on Silversea in March 1998, has been on 177 cruises since then. Their total is 2898 days!