Koro Island

We arrived at Dere Bay after a lively - and fun - 6 hour beat from the Cousteau anchorage near Savusavu. Here we found some of luxury homes dotting the mountainside, but few people.

Koro Island

The first evening here, the sunset was magnificent and included an elusive green flash.

Makogai

Dalice village was formerly the site of a leper colony - actually the ethnic Fijian leper colony, as the Indo-Fijian leper colony was about a kilometer west in a separate location.

Dalice

The graveyard at Dalice is somewhat cared for by the current residents all of whom are employed by Fijian Fisheries in giant clam cultivation and re-introduction.

Makogai Giant !!! Clams

This guy was the biggest of the cultivated clams - the ones on the bommie (large coral head) in the bay were even larger.

Rural Kids

These children were playing in this dugout when we arrived. The boy at the bow began wailing uncontrollably; his parents on shore explained with a shrug and a grin that he was frightened of us.

Makogai's Highways

The roads around the island are now all grown over leaving little more than trails. This giant banyan tree grew near one of the trails.

View from Makogai

To the west of Makogai lies the cloud shrouded island of Ovalau where the former capital city of Levuka sits.

Replica

The Uto Ni Yalo (heart of the spirit) is one of seven replica sailing catamarans plying the Pacific today.

Uto Ni Yalo

This photo shows some to the carving on the ship's bow.

The "Paddle"

This primative rudder is all that is used to steer the ship. Two men are assigned to the rudder during the watches when the sea is heavy. The men use lines lashed to the rudder's steering end to control the rudder.

Intricate Inlay

There is a lot of intricate hand carving all over Uto Ni Yalo.

Green Turtle

This poor guy had been caught in the lagoon and kept in a seawater tank for most of our stay. The day before we were leaving, they tagged and released him. There was a smaller turtle still in captivity that was awaiting a tag since they had run out.

Another Boring Sunset

The mountains of Viti Levu popped out from the background one evening as the sun set while we were anchored, awaiting the weather to moderate, at Naigani.