Two seasons: “How many seasons are there in your Fiji Islands?” a visitor asked a local Fijian. “Not many but only two- summer and winter”, was the reply, “but they don’t arrive in a specific time. It rains, the winter comes; it doesn’t rain, the summer comes.” Another Fijian’s answer was, “We’ve just day and night; we’ve warm & cold days and nights; they come without notice”. Actually Fiji has one of the most wonderful climates of the world. It rains almost everyday and the roads grow cleaner. The trees are always green. The buds and flowers get a renewed life everyday. Dust is almost absent because rain and
ocean air blow them out. Therefore, houses don’t need air conditioner or heater. Just an electric fan is enough to keep a room comfortable. There are plenty of hills from where you can view the marvelous beauty of mighty Pacific.
Rental houses: If you wish to live in Fiji Islands, Viti Levu-one of the major islands
is the best option. You may reside in Suva, the capital or in other town like Namaka, Nausori, Ba, Rakhi Rakhi or in Nadi. All the towns have their semi-rural areas with good residential facilities. The rent of an apartment is 300 FJD a month. Many of the houses are made of woods. There are not big villages but wherever there is one, this is very beautiful with a plenty of trees, water supply and with a social brotherhood.
Land and Roads: As there is plenty of rain everyday, the land is very fertile, so fertile that the plants grow quicker than in any other country. If you rent a house, you m
ay plant some flower plants or vegetable plants in the yard and they will grow in a week. The grass grows so quickly that the grass cutters are always busy to pluck them around the country. In Fiji there is a good road network. All the towns and villages are within the road network. The roads are not bigger but they are clean and have up and down with a little curve. There are forests with no wild animals. If you drive through a village area, you’ll find village folk sitting by the roadside with the plenty of ripe mangoes in basket for sale. You can satisfy yourself with the fresh mangoes. You can also buy vegetables from the roadside vendors in the villages.
Business Opportunity: Fiji doesn’t have any good and big factory and company. Therefore, they have to depend upon the imported marcendise from abroad. If you’re a businessman and would like to make import or export busin
ess with Fiji, hurry up. A hub of Chinese, Indian, Australian people are doing very good business in Fiji. For setting up a business establishment in Fiji Islands, you may contact FTIB, Suva. www.ftib.com.fj
Everyday a lot of foreign tourists are entering the country. So, setting up a resort in in any island is a very good idea. You may also make a share business with a local Fijian people. For, legal consultation you may contact: Sunita Sami, chief consultant, Pooz Travels. www.pooztravels.com.fj There is high speed internet connection in Fiji.
Foods: Fiji grows almost all kinds of vegetables. ‘Taro’ and ‘Dalo’ are the typical foods. Butcher’s shop is everywhere. Indian and Pakistani rice is available in supermarket. It’s better to cook food in the house for family than to dine in the restaurants. For, in restaurants the cost is much higher. Coconut is found in plenty everywhere. For only 1 FJD you may buy six coconuts in a village market.
School and College: There is a good number of schools and colleges. There are some universities. English is the language of instruction in almost all institutions. There are also some boarding schools with good hostel facilities. USP (University of South Pacific) has its big campus in Suva. www.usp.com.edu Hundreds of foreign students are pursuing their higher studies in USP. For admission, any overseas student needs to check Fiji High Commission for necessary visa requirements before arriving in Fiji Islands.
Transportation: Fiji has 333 islands both small and big. To go to other islands the visitor may travel by boat, ferry or airplane. To travel inside Viti Levu, buses, taxis, motor bikes are available. From all towns there are regular bus services to Suva, the capital. For overseas travel, Fiji has plenty of tour operators. Many airlines like, Korean Air, Fiji Airlines, Australian Air, New Zealand Air operate their services in Fiji. Nadi and Nausori are the international airports in Fiji. Nausori is for small aircrafts whereas Nadi for bigger ones. Many cruise ships operate their services with Suva. There’s a regular ship service from Australia and New Zealand.
Recreation: A few small parks are there in Fiji. But the best option for recreation is walking by the sea beach. It is very luxurious and comfortable to have a sunbath by the Pacific shore. You’ve the option to ride a speed boat. Really it’s fantastic to swim in the ocean water. During sunrise and sunset, Pacific looks exquisitely beautiful. How fantastic it looks when high waves break against the sea shore with buzzing sound. The only cinema hall is ‘six cinemas’ in Suva. For tourist information you may visit the tourism office in Victoria Street, Suva. They supply booklets with sufficient information.
Social Customs and Security: Crime rate is very low inside Fiji. But after nightfall a foreigner should avoid walking through dark places in villages with valuables. There is a few record of hijacking. Fijian people are very happy in their social life. Wherever they meet other they simply say ‘Bula’ means ‘hello, how are you?’ They never miss a smile while meeting other people. After evening, villagers love meeting in village gathering for gossiping and story telling. They sit for a couple of hours and enjoy. They make their typical juice made of some sort of powder. They put the brown powder in a big bowl, add water and make a liquid. The host and guests sit on the floor upon a mat around his bowl. The host takes a bowl made of coconut shell. Then the host makes two claps and hands over one bowl (coconut bowl) of juice to the guest. Before receiving he bowl, the guest makes two claps. After giving the juice to the guest, the host again makes two claps. The same continues till the emptying of the juice. Most interesting thing is that in some villages, it is customary to clap three times during the drinking session whereas in other villages they clap two times. People enjoy much during Eid, Puja and Christmas. They wear black dress if some one expires and join the funeral.
No comments:
Post a Comment