Leaving Vanuatu we saw steam arising from an active volcano on one of the many islands making up Vanuatu. Since sunset was approaching before we were out of the area, the captain told us we might see the orange glow from one of the other more recent volcanoes. We went out on deck at the appropriate time and despite being out for about half an hour, we didn’t see the glow she had told us to watch for. Without active cellular or wifi connection, we were unable to know when we were passing the actual volcano location.
We now had one day at sea before arriving at Suva, Fiji. Suva is the capital of Fiji. The island had more elevation than we had in Luganville. We hadn’t booked any side trips here but opted to walk around town a bit instead since it was close to where we were berthed.
There is a huge covered market building as we got off the ship. We walked though it, but found it was mostly a produce market. Locals were in to buy their fresh fruits and vegetables. Since we had been warned not to consume anything we couldn’t peel or wasn’t hot, we bypassed the market and headed to the main street.
You had to watch your step here, since it tended to have a lot of uneven places. We had heard from one of the other English passengers that he had tripped in Vanuatu and broken both bones in his lower arm. While they were able to look after him on the boat, it was a good reminder to watch our step. The day was hot and humid and most stores have no air conditioning. Finally we came to a four storey department building and headed inside to a look. Other than a couple of tiny souvenirs, we didn’t buy anything, we just browsed through. One thing I noticed in the women’s clothing area was one part was all saris, to meet the needs of the Indian women on the island. Soon we headed back to the ship for a shower and some lunch. The humidity was just too uncomfortable to stay outside.
Back on board we had a 6 day journey at sea before we reached our next port, Honolulu. See the next post for some of the highlights at sea.
Following Joyce & Paul's Travels in Retirement 