The kava ceremony is lead by the young men of the village. Photo / Riah Jaye, Intrepid Travel
Think Fiji is all cocktails and coral reefs? Venture beyond the resorts and into Viti Levu’s remote highlands, where a trek with Talanoa reveals a deeper, wilder and more culturally rich side of the islands, writes Ben Tomsett.
If you travel to Fiji, you might want to stay at a resort along the beach, maybe somewhere with a swim‑up bar and strong Wi‑Fi.
However, for those of an adventurous disposition, there is another side of the island that offers up an alternative perspective – the rugged interior highlands of Viti Levu.
It’s here that Talanoa Treks, a locally run and independent travel outfit, leads multi-day journeys, designed to support local livelihoods, preserve Fiji’s cultural and ecological richness and show you a side of the island few visitors see.
Taking a short drive from Suva into the Nadrau‑Navatusila district, the lush mountainous terrain gives way to a succession of remote villages where the skies are wider and the rhythm of life is slower.
As you take the unsealed roads through rainforest, climbing higher into the mountains, you will pass many villages and bear witness to the idiosyncrasies of a life born from an ancient land.
You’ll pass farmers leading horses along the roadside – crossbreeds of Australian Thoroughbreds and British Clydesdales, known for being small, hardy and strong.
Emerging from the rainforest, the omnipresent downpour you may have thought unending comes to a sudden stop, as if you have passed through an unseen barrier, and you enter the drylands.
Here amidst, nestled in the bosom of a wide-sloping valley strewn with golden kunai grass (not unlike the landscapes one might find in Central Otago), is Naga – a welcoming hill‑station village.
Inside the community hall, where you’ll spend the night, preparations for a feast are already underway.
Outside, children watch curiously as you arrive, and a lovo pit (an underground oven lined with hot stones) has been burning since early afternoon.
Your hosts are the locals who live here, farm here, raise their children here, and lead you through the rituals of hospitality. It’s all part of the ethos of Intrepid Travel, which works with grassroots operators to ensure the benefits of tourism stay in the very communities that welcome you.
Before the meal, you’re invited to join a kava ceremony.
The villagers gather with you in the hall, the young men are given the task of preparing and presenting the earthy broth. You sit cross-legged on a woven mat as a large wooden tanoa bowl is brought forward and placed between the legs of one of the young men.
The root powder, made from the pounded kava root and gifted by your guide, is strained through cloth and stirred.
The first bowl is offered – here, you are to clap once before accepting it, raise your bowl high before swallowing the warm and bitter liquid in one go before setting down the bowl and clapping three times. A ritual repeated with each serving.
The flavour is soil-like, numbing the lips and tongue slightly. What might seem acrid at first quickly becomes familiar.
By the time the kava bowl runs dry and the feast is unveiled (root vegetables like taro and cassava, pineapple and cucumber, palusami, kumara crisps, and foods that evoke a cuisine influenced by Fiji’s Indian population like roti, tamarind chutney and various curries), you feel less like a visitor.
You will spend your night in the village where you ate – in the community hall, on a mattress on the thatched floor.
If you drank your kava and made the most of the food on offer, you will sleep soundly through the noise of the Fijian countryside – hunting dogs, lizards, and time-blind roosters.
The next day, you’ll hike from Naga to a village called Nabutautau (often spelled “Nubutautau” on older maps), nestled in a valley near the headwaters of the Sigatoka River
The trek stretches about 11 km, guided the entire way by local hosts and the terrain is varied. You’ll climb modest ridges, descend into grassland flanked by ferns and king palms, and cross clear mountain streams; the guides often stopping to point out medicinal plants, edible tubers, or culturally significant trees.
Close to Naga, you will stop near the “Sharing Stone”, which your guide will tell you about.
To wit: In 1867, a group of Christian missionaries made their way into the highlands of Fiji for the first time, determined to bring the gospel to remote inland villages. Among them was Reverend Thomas Baker.
He and his team journeyed upriver and then hiked into Viti Levu’s interior. After reaching one village, they spent the night before continuing toward the next, unaware it would be where they met their end.
Although some Fijian chiefs in other regions had begun to embrace Christianity, many Highlanders remained deeply rooted in their traditional beliefs and were wary of foreign influence. Tensions were high, and while the chief of this village initially showed hospitality by allowing Baker and his team to enter, things quickly soured.
According to oral history, Reverend Baker committed a serious cultural offence: he touched the chief’s head. In Fijian custom, especially among highlanders, the head is sacred and must never be touched, least of all that of a chief. The villagers were outraged.
Those who witnessed the act, warriors, elders, and others sitting nearby, saw it as a grave sign of disrespect. A commotion erupted. Though nothing happened that evening, a plan was set in motion and the next morning, the villagers decided Baker would not leave alive.
He was taken down to the river, to a site now marked on maps as the “Sharing Stone” and killed, likely by stone axes.
His body was dismembered and, according to accounts, shared among members of the village – hence the name of the stone.
Then, since the highland villages valued kinship, they returned Baker’s body to his fellow missionaries.
However, the version you read in a history book will likely differ in details. Since much of the country’s pre-colonial history wasn’t written down, it was shared verbally from one generation to the next, resulting in multiple perspectives.
In 2003, Nabutautau hosted descendants of Thomas Baker in a formal “sorry ceremony” (known in Fiji as matanigasau or ai sorotabu).
Village elders wept as they presented 100 rare sperm-whale teeth (tabua), woven mats, and even returned Baker’s possessions - his bible, comb, and the soles of his sandals to his relatives, who had travelled from Australia and the UK.
This journey through history and memory leads you to Nabutautau, where past and present come together.
The presence of wandering domestic fowl signals you’re close to Nabutautau as you puff up the final incline and traditional thatched huts and bures (among the more modern buildings) come into view as you crest the ridge. Here, the villagers welcome you once again with warm smiles, a kava ceremony, and a feast.
Intrepid Travel invites you to walk the tracks of living history, meet the land and its people, and leave a lighter footprint through connection, not consumption.
You won’t leave this journey with a poolside tan or souvenirs crafted for tourists. Instead, you’ll carry something far more valuable: a genuine connection to Fiji’s storied history, an appreciation for its people, and the knowledge that your visit supports the communities who open their homes and hearts along the way.
Fiji
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Nadi with one stopover with Air New Zealand.
DETAILS
Intrepid Travel |intrepidtravel.com
16 Day Samoa & Fiji Adventure, price starting from $9819.
The New Zealand Herald travelled as a guest of Intrepid Travel.