Arrival:
Departure:
at 23:59
The Fiji archipelago is at the cross roads of the South Pacific. In the days of sailing ships, it was known as "The Cannibal Isles," where mariners carefully avoided its fierce warriors and perfidious waters. Thankfully, Fiji's pagan days live only in the tales recalled by tour guides - in rituals such as firewalking, Kava Ceremonies and in renditions of tribal drumming, dance and song. Fiji is an exotic destination, with 333 islands that provide an exciting adventure or peaceful repose. The northwest region, where the sun shines almost every day and a tropical shower ends as quickly as it began, is home to the majority of the resorts. Suva, the political, administrative, educational and commercial center, has a backdrop of lush rainforest maintained by the inevitable "tropical downpour." The people of Fiji are the most multiracial and multicultural of all South Pacific island countries - this being reflected in churches of all denominations, mosques, temples and shrines. Built around a reef-protected natural harbor, Suva, with its colonial buildings nestled alongside modern commercial venues, shops and local markets, parks and residential sprawl, is home to nearly half of Fiji's urban population.