Exactly a month ago I last wrote how amazing my time in Thailand had been and how excited I was for my project in Fiji to begin. Today, I’m back at the same hostel I was then, sitting in the same spot and writing you once more. Today though, I’m going to tell you my Fiji story. A story about how I lived on the tiniest of islands, Caqalai, and met family I never knew I had.
Caqalai
Most of you will read this title as “Kakalai”, which up to a month ago, so did I. When you ask anyone in Fiji where Kakalai is, though, they”ll give you a strange look and probably think you’re insane. The way to pronounce it, is “Thangalai”.
On April 29th I met all the other new volunteers and started the 6 hour long journey from Nadi to Caqalai. After hours of sitting on a bus and another hour of travelling by boat, we arrived at our tropical destination. My first impression was: holy guacamole, this is one tiny island. It takes you about 20 minutes to walk around the entire island, so yes, very tiny.
There was a completely different vibe than we had on Atauro and I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy my time on Caqalai. Sounds spoilt, I know. Living on a tropical island in the middle of Fiji and not being sure it’ll be fun enough. Brat. Timor had just been such an amazing experience and I got to meet so many incredible people that, in my head, nothing could beat that. So many things were different. In Timor, we stayed at an eco-lodge but on Caqalai, we were in charge of base. We were in charge of everything. The volunteers clean the place, the volunteers prepare most of the meals and the volunteers are in charge of compressing tanks, cleaning the dive shed and making sure the island is a nice place to live. Staff doesn’t really do anything. They just sit in the office and make the board once a day. And probably eat loads of cookies.
So in general: it was totally different from Timor. In the end, it was different in a good way. Where’s the fun in living in your comfort zone, right?
On the first day we had our “Sevu sevu”, which is a traditional Fijian welcome ceremony involving “Kava”. Kava is a drink based on water an grounded up root and tastes kind of like dirt. Dirt with a bitter aftertaste. It’s not bad actually, and it comes with a very nice evening.
Life On Base
If by now, you still think volunteering is “like going on a long term holiday”, I’d like to punch you in the nose. Or throat. Or stomach. Whichever hurts more, I guess. We work hard, all day every day. We work hard to keep base running smoothly and we work our butts off to try and conserve the oceans so future generations can enjoy them as much as we do.
Every morning around 6:15, our alarms went off and the day started at 6:30 with duties. For some it started with making sure the life-vests and emergency kits were on all the boats, for some it started with making breakfast and for some it started out setting up their dive gear.
After breakfast – which was usually either eggs or porridge – the divers and snorkelers got ready. For those who don’t understand why anyone would ever make porridge, let alone eat it because it’s the devil in food-form, there was always the option to get some breakfast crackers from the pantry, a jar of peanut butter from the kitchen, and go nuts (get it? Nuts, haha). Or course, I always went for the cracker option.
From this moment on, our days were filled with so many different activities. All throughout the day people were coming back from and leaving on both snorkels and dives. Every week 8 people went into the village to teach at the local schools and we spent lots of times in lectures or learning more about what was in the lectures. Never a dull moment at Caqalai, you always had something to do.
In the evenings, the gally team made dinner and the rest of the group usually hung out in the common room playing games, watching movies or just chatting away. Below you can find a couple of pictures taken at base ranging from our common room, where we spent most of our time, to the dive shed and the inside of our Bures, which were the “houses” we lived in.
Oh, did I mention our island dog, Reena? Or our puppies, Skye and Spear? Yes, we had island puppies. And they’re the cutest things ever.
The Science
Diving and marine conservation are the reasons we all ended up at Caqalai. As I’ve been very spoiled in the places I’ve gone diving, Fiji is just another location I can now add to that amazing list.
Everyday we participated in two “water activities”, which were either dives or snorkels. For most of the vols, the first couple of weeks were filled with dive training. As I’m a Divemonster already, I headed straight into the science part. Luckily for me, I’d been a Benthic Boss in Timor, which made it possible for me to make a quick change and become a Benthic Babe on Caqalai. Even though there were some minor differences in methods, within a little over a week, I was survey ready and got sent out to collect data.
Next to reef surveys, we also participated in “Nudi surveys”. Before you freak out and think that we’re all pervs, nudi is short for “nudibranch”, which is a type of sea slug. They’re super colorful and super cool! Next to this, we also went out on “COTS” snorkels, in which we survey how many “Crown of Thorns Starfish” we see. Some nasty-looking starfish that eat coral. As my themesong says: “I’m an animal, I live in a colony. Oh please, don’t step on me”. If you’re not supposed to step on it, why would you eat it instead?
The Weekends
On the weekends, we got to take a break from science and diving. We had the option to stay on Caqalai or to get off the island and visit a place around the area.
On the first weekend we all went out to Suva, the capital of Fiji. We all spent the entire weekend eating food that’s not aubergine, spinach or dahl and going out. We had an amazing time. Although I felt like an awkward third wheel every once in a while, most of the weekend was a great success!
On the second weekend, we all ended up in Suva by coincidence. Cyclone Ella was predicted to come over Fiji so we were all evacuated to the mainland. We spent the weekend cooking and going out. Because what else can you do in Suva?
On my last weekend on the island, I decided to stay and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. We spent one day on the island “next door”, Laleuvia, going snorkeling and paddle-boarding. And, above all, we spent the day eating lots and lots of amazing food and bacon. Sooooo much bacon. I believe Harry ate about 10 slices before suddenly realizing how sick he felt. It was a great day.
Next to Caqalai there’s an even tinier island, Snake Island, around which it’s great to snorkel. During low tide it’s possible to walk out to the island, although I do recommend to wear shoes. I got about 10 cuts on my feet because the water was too deep to wear flipflops and rocks hurt. So shoes, not flipflops, shoes.
Anyway, Alice, Kate and I walked over and snorkeled back. Oh, and Eva. She was there too. It’s a pretty f-ing far swim back, but thanks to Chris’ “swim training” in the morning, we swam back like champions. The corals are amazing out there, and we saw the BIGGEST tabular coral I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Mandatory selfie sessions delivered a couple of great pictures, with Caqalai in the back.
The People
When you spend a month living on a on island smaller than my footprint, you’re bound to get the know the people you live with really well. But, just like in Timor, everyone thought I was super scary and mean when they first met me. Something to do with a “resting bitch face”.
After a couple of days they seemed to notice that I really am a nice person, so after the first person said “hey” to me, the rest followed and we all became great friends.
I’m amazed by how fast friendships grow when you travel. Especially when you meet people who are like-minded, open to new things and adventurous. It’s only been a couple of days since I last saw everyone but it feels like ages. It just doesn’t feel right.
After the first two weeks, we had to say goodbye to a first set of friends. Ben, Tasha, Dave, Sean and Juho left the island to go back to real life. As tradition upholds, we made a group picture just before they left and threw coconuts at them as the boat was sailing away. Just a week later, we had to say goodbye to “Das House”, so we thew coconuts at Tanja, Lukas, Joel and Kai. Only seven days later it was out turn to leave.
Diving
As we can’t really take pictures while doing a survey, I don’t have any to show you what diving around Caqalai looks like. The only times we really took out our cameras, was for “open dive deck” on Fridays and during our very last fundive.
Last Thursday, on our very last day on the island, we all went out to do a fun dive. No science, not surveys, just fun. Of course Chris had to ruin it by coming with us, just like he ruins everything. As always, we went out with a BANG. We all dressed up in togas and set out to the dive site “playground”, a place almost none of us had been before.
That BANG was HUGE. We had the best dive EVER. We saw 3 turtles and about 7/8 sharks, both grey reef sharks and white tip reef sharks. Everybody just spent the entire dive laughing. I spent the entire dive having to clear my mask because I was laughing so much, it just kept flooding. At one point, Kate got an air bubble stuck in toga and it wouldn’t come out. It was downright amazing and we couldn’t have wished for a better ending to our time on Caqalai.
Hugs, Kisses And The Future
After 4 weeks on a tropical island, my time to leave Caqalai had finally come. And by finally, I mean that time went so fast I can’t believe it’s already over. As we said our goodbyes and hugged each other, we all promised to see each other in the very near future. By near future, I mean October. We’re all going skydiving together and going diving in the UK. I mean it, we’re doing it.
A last shout out to all of my fellow vols. Each and every one of you made this experience as amazing as it’s been.
Big hug to my Pippin and partner in crime. Still can’t believe you were dumb enough to look at Gandalf’s ball. But it’s okay, Merry’s here for you. I’m going to miss our swim training sessions.
A big thanks goes out to the staff team, who make every day possible. Jax, thanks for being the rock of Caqalai. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Ellis, Caqalai won’t be the same without you. Your enthusiasm is what kept us going every day and I honestly don’t know how future vols are going to survive without you. Chris, thanks for nothing. And everything. Thanks for still sending me pictures of the puppies, thanks for teaching me the drysuit spec when you get back and thanks for Sally.
That was it, you guys. My big adventure is almost over. In a couple of hours I’ll fly out to Micronesia, where I’ll see the best man I’ve ever known, my dad.
Write you soon.
Fi(ji)
Far Away Fi 