Fiji is one of those faraway romantic places one dreams of when bogged down the day-to-day grind of life, a reverie of a place to escape and unwind in the midst of tranquility. Little did I know how accurate my vision would be of our actual getaway.

Fiji comprises 300 islands in the South Pacific. Deciding which island or islands to visit proved a bit daunting. The international airport was on the main island and to reach other islands involved either smaller planes, boats or helicopters, all of which added a significant cost in time and money to the trip. I opted to search for accommodations on the main island and decided on Wananavu Resort on the sunny north shore. It was a 3 hour drive from the airport and combined with the 11 hour flight was the shortest in duration with respect to travel.

We arrived at Nadi airport in the wee hours of the morning, so we spent the ride to the resort catching up on some much needed rest and sleep.

Upon our arrival and after a brief check-in, we were ushered to the dining area for breakfast which was happily a traditional American fare of bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes.

Nourished and reenergized, we headed to our beachfront bure which was a fairly nice sized room.

It had a front outdoor porch and inside, there was a king sized bed with an air conditioning unit directly above it.

There was also a sitting area on the side of the room and the bathroom with a walk in shower was directly behind it, adjacent to the bedroom.

We immediately unpacked our bags, grabbed our swimsuits and headed to the water.

I was shocked at how remote and isolated our location was.

It was very quiet, and there was nobody on the beach or in the ocean. It was as if we had the entire resort to ourselves.

For the next week, we swam in the ocean as well as the pristine pool on-site,

practiced yoga on the front porch of our bure, worked out with our TRX in the room, walked on the beach,

had many refreshing drinks and were served beautifully presented food.

The resort provided an eclectic selection of meals with some being the traditional American fare intermingled with Indian inspired dishes, paying homage to the commingling of cultures on the island.

In addition to the resort activities, we partook in a few off-site excursions. My husband went on one full day dive trip and on the other days, we snorkeled, went on a picnic at a neighboring island and

took a tour of the outdoor farmers market.

We learned a bit about the Fijian culture and was shocked to hear that cannibalism was in fashion for some time and that Indians were once brought over as indentured servants to work the fields. After a period of time, the Indians were given their freedom, and they used that opportunity to start their lives and through hard work and perseverance, successfully surpassed the Fijians in monetary success, causing a bit of resentfulness amongst the natives.

All in all, Wananavu was a wonderful place to decompress and get off the grid. The lush landscaping, the rustic bure and the serenity of the resort provided us an opportunity to recharge our batteries.

We have very fond memories of the one place in our travels that gave us the freedom to live a slower pace of life by providing us an environment in which we could immerse ourselves in the beautiful, peaceful, natural surroundings that we have come to know as Wananavu.

Wananavu Resort

Volivoli Road

Sun Coast, Fiji

https://www.wananavu.com