Bouma Waterfall and Lavena Village

We took a day trip to Bouma Waterfall. Note: If it’s sunny outside on Taveuni, don’t be fooled into leaving your rain jacket behind. It will always rain. Then it will rain again. And just as you’re feeling dry, it will rain again. We made the short walk to the waterfall, and swam for a while. Angie and her husband Leone, who are giving up their house for us to live in while we’re in Natokalau Village, joined us. 

Our next stop was Lavena Village, where we sat and ate lunch. Most of the group took a 3 hour walk to another waterfall, but Holly, Alex C. and I decided to stay behind and hang out with people in the village. The lady at the visitor’s desk invited us in to shower and change, and made us tea and cake. It was just what I needed after spending the morning soaking wet. They drink lemon leaf tea, which is just what it sounds like. A few leaves from a lemon tree soaked in hot water. I might plant a lemon tree when I get home, just so I can make this tea. (Okay, I’ll ask Jay to plant a lemon tree when I get home.) The kids in the village were playing hop scotch, and looked surprised when we knew what it was. I talked to a nice woman named Toufa, who asked me to take a photo of her with her son Sammy. She asked if I would mail the photo to the school in the village when I got home, so that’s on the top of my to-do list. We ate dinner in the village once everyone returned. They prepared our meal in a traditional lovo, or earth oven. I watched them take it out of the ground. We also played with kids on the beach as the sun went down. These kids are so good at entertaining themselves with the simplest things, and all of them seem to be so happy all the time. There was a sweet dog with 2 different colored eyes that followed me around ALL day. I went from a “no dog touching” rule, to a “one finger only” rule, to a “YOLO, I’m cuddling with all these dogs” rule in a matter of minutes. Oops.