In the lobby of the Outrigger we were serenaded with the traditional farewell song "Isa Lei" (again this is an abbreviated clip, but I promise next time I’m bringing a bigger memory stick.) As always, I got teary eyed listening to people that I really started to think of as friends wishing me well.
Here, Barbara and I are wearing our fancy new tye dye shirts, as we made our farewells to the staff. By the way, if you want to know which of the handsome men in the picture are available, Fijian custom states that single people wear the flower in their left ear and married people wear it in their right. Good information to know.The Shangri-La Fijian Resort
Our final property was the Shangri-La Fijian Resort. To be totally honest, and I know I shouldn’t admit this, I was not looking forward to this property as much as the others.
It is Fiji’s largest resort, and even in Fiji people kept saying to me “The Fijian? They have a lot of kids there.” I’m not so much a fan of kids (or even adults) in large groups, so I was totally worried this would be what I call “meet market tourism” at its worst.
Of course a bad day in Fiji is still a pretty good day. But I needn’t have worried, because I just loved the place.
Options on Two Sides
See if you can picture this. The resort lies on the tip of a small peninsula and so has an ocean side and a lagoon side. The ocean side (which tends to cater more to adults only) has the fabulous views we’d come to expect of Fiji. Because there were less formalized activities on this side, it had a more remote, romantic feeling to it.
This the section is where the hotel placed its private gazebo, where couples can book a romantic dinner for two overlooking the ocean. The lagoon side, which is more protected from tidal influences, is set up for families, with a dedicated swimming area, activities center, hair braiding, beach cafes and a host of other things to add to the to do list.
We ended up in rooms overlooking the adults-only pool, and naturally my first thought was “thank goodness.” But I’m so contrary, I ended up spending most of my time in the more crowded section of the resort.
On the "family" side is where we ultimately decided to have lunch. Really, there were too many dining choices for us to experience them all, but we liked the informal feel of this restaurant. As had become our tradition, we enjoyed tropical drinks for two, with a fabulous lagoon view in the background.A Relaxing Afternoon by the Adults-Only Pool
In the afternoon Barbara visited more jewelry ladies but I’d already blown my shopping budget and decided to have a nice massage in one of the pool-side bures. At first I was a bit stressed about having to disrobe in what was very much an open environment, but the massage therapist was very professional and it wasn’t a problem. When I first lay down I worried about who might be looking in at me in my semi-nude position, but soon after she started, I stopped caring.
After the massage we had enough time for tropical drinks. Can you call a blended ice mocha tropical? With the cute little umbrella in it, how could it be anything but? We drank them poolside as we watched the sun start set.
Eventually we meandered along the tide pools to commune with the sea life. I even saw something that looked suspiciously like a sea snake, but later I learned they were sea cucumbers. With my love of snakes and all, I just wasn't thrilled to see any three-foot-long, tube-y thing, and there were plenty of them.It’s the Fijian People
It is quite easy to become fast friends with most of the people you meet in Fiji. I truly believe the people are what set the country apart. You feel like you’re visiting family when you come here. You’ve heard me mention numerous people by name in this blog, and I left the country feeling like they were all my new best friends.
At the Shangri-La, the sales & marketing director, Lata was no different. By the time we had dinner, at Kalevu, the resort’s fine dining establishment, we were laughing like old friends. In a country where two-hour meals are common, we found ourselves dining well into the third hour.
I even felt comfortable enough to admit my substance abuse problem to Lata. You see, I can't stop collecting the fabulous shampoos and soaps they have here. Every resort has given us high-end products like "Pure Fiji," "L'Occitane," and other deluxe and designer names. Rather than using the product I'm collecting them all to use them at home when I need a little mini Fiji vacation. By now, I need a small bag to contain my whole collection.
After dinner, Barbara and I checked out the 80s night disco, but as always found ourselves nearly comatose from all the food we consumed, so soon headed back to our rooms to catch some well-needed rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment