I had seen pictures of Fiji resorts on travel offers for many years so I was excited to see this country. We took the tender boats over to Dravuni Island on a warm humid cloudy day. Most of the people in the village are fisherman but when a cruise ship arrives the village turns into an open market and the fisherman offer island tours for $10.
A lot of the passengers went for swims and snorkeling, I chose to walk the beach and feel earth under my feet since I had been living on a cruise ship. The sand was mostly white with shells and coral everywhere. You could spend days combing the beach for shells and finding a lot intact. There are no resorts or hotels on this island only the small village of people making their survival off the sea. The positive of this is that the island is unspoiled to development and only one cruise ship arrives at a time. If you are okay with the lack of conveniences and open to exploring with a bit of adventure then you will find this an enjoyable island to visit.
After Dravuni Island we made two more port calls in Fiji at Lautoka and Suva. Our arrival in Lautoka was smoked filled so a little hard to get pictures or breath for me but the smoke cleared off and we were able to go into town and explore. When you arrive in a country by ship you see the real world not the world displayed in pictures for tourism. You see the depth of poverty, the working class and the reality of how a country treats its environment. I found that I had to keep this in mind and push myself to be open when a small voice inside of me said "no thanks".
Our last port in Fiji was at the largest city, Suva. Some of my new friends and I set off to explore from the ship by going through the fresh market. This was a lot of fun as we stopped to admire the amount of choices and at times to ask what the items were and how they were prepared as we had no idea. The locals were patient with us and tried to answer our questions.
The amazing think about being in a new country and exposed to new cultures for me is how it challenges me to be more open, more understanding and more forgiving of myself to just be in the moment at this time and place.