Living the life… of shark bait … in Fiji

Anyone who knows me, at all, knows that I'm petrified of heights, sharks and prison.  But under the theme that you should do something that scares you each day, I signed up to dive with sharks in Fiji.  “Why?” you ask.  Because Ben and Jordan wanted to do it (and I am easily talked into things my sons want to do).  Plus when I agreed I thought it would be a simple reef dive where you might glimpse a shark in the far distance.  I was SOOOO very wrong.

The first clue of my total misunderstanding should have been when each diver was assigned their own dive master.  That seemed excessive to me... and a little odd. It was not until we were underwater that I realized each dive master had a large metal spike and their job was to remain close to you so they could hit the sharks in the nose when these giant predators swam straight at you. And swim right at you they did.  The dive boat dropped large chunks of fish into the water right by our heads and the sharks would swarm and fight and butt each other to get the food. (Note - We do not have the video of our actual dive yet, so I've borrowed some pictures from blogs of other people who did the same dive as us at the Bega Shark Reserve... this is exactly our experience... except our video will show me as the person cowering in the background trying to keep her head down to avoid a fatal encounter with a shark and grabbing her son's hand with a death grip).

I’m not exaggerating: sharks were fighting over hunks of food within 2 feet of us.  This was the most terrifying, National Geographic moment of my life. We literally swam with, around, next to, on top of, within a hand’s distance of dozens of bull sharks that were the size of Land Rovers.  They were all around us.

They swam so close their fins would brush my arm.  I saw their beady yellow shark eyes pass within inches of my mask.  I was so scared I was sure I would forget to breathe.  It was thrilling and horrifying at the same time.  As Ben said when we surfaced, if the trip ended right now it would have been fantastic.  Talk about an A+++++ experience !!!!

Besides the shark bait adventure, my favorite scavenges in Fiji were:

     Climbing the Sigatoka sand dunes: It was a straight climb uphill in soft, shifting sand that was as hot as lava. A true workout. But amazing views from the top. And the sky really is that blue.

     Markets:  We visited lots of markets: Nadi market, Suva market, Sigatoka market.  The vegetables and fruits on display were so similar to Barbados it was like being at home.

Except here, there is lots of Kava on sale at the markets. I’m not sure exactly what is in Kava but it makes your lips and tongue go numb and tingle for 1-2 minutes after you sip it.  And it tastes exactly like muddy water from a stagnant creek.  "Yum !!!!," said no one ever.

     Kulu Wildlife Park: We walked through the wildlife park and Jordan rocked the whole “I have an iguana on my shoulder” look.

     Cannibal Fork: The scavenge was to find and explain what is a  cannibal fork.  Naturally I thought it was an euphemism. Not so much.  They really sell wooden spiked instruments that were (hopefully in the distant past) used by cannibals to gouge out people’s eyes for eating. Nothing creepy about that.

       Mud baths:  We did a complicated - but remarkably enjoyable - multi-step procedure from being coated in mud (which felt exactly like  being coated with warm chocolate pudding ... probably someone's fantasy), to soaking in thermal pools to hearty massages by burly Fijian women.  Alan and Michael came with us this morning so it was extra fun to share the experience with them.

A few observations.  Bula means hello or welcome in Fijian so I had to take a photo of the Golden Arches welcoming us (and yes, it was a scavenge... I wasn't just visiting McDonald's for a quick Big Mac fix).

A quick comment on the Fiji attire:  Fijians are powerful, strong burly people.  When natural selection occurred, the very fittest of the fittest survived here.  Yet the main dress for these super-macho men is a skirt.  It was so unusual to see school uniforms that are the exact same for the girls as the boys: everyone is in skirts.

The Fiji leg ended at midday today and we then found out that our next destination is Melbourne, Australia.  Another fist pump moment as I've never been to Australia. Great itinerary so far. Two new countries in a row.  And best of all, I was not eaten by a shark this week. Life is good.