Day 438: December 12, 2025 – At sea, between Fiji and Samoa

We are making our way out of Fiji, but a thousand “Bula Bulas” are still echoing in my head. Walking through any town in Fiji, every person—taxi drivers, shy young women, old men sitting around shooting the breeze—calls out a friendly “Bula Bula!” Bula translates to “life” and is the equivalent of hello/welcome. I’ve grown so fond of the greeting, I’ve started using it with my shipmates on board!

Red-vented Bulbuls, with their little scarlet butts, are a common bird in this area, along with mynas and parrotfinches.

Here are a few more random moments from beautiful Fiji.

Full moon over pier where our tender docked. A bit of our lit-up Odyssey is visible in the background on left side.

With my friend Ben and his mom Proletta at Sri Siva Subramanya Swamikovil Indian temple. We had to cover up knees and shoulders to go inside the temple.

Inside a church in Denarau with a local woman who gave us a tour of her village.

While hiking in the Colo-I-Suva rainforest, Charley and I got caught up in a rain shower, so we hitched a ride back to the bus stop in the bed of a police truck. (With my camera harness strapped on, I look like one of them, don’t I?) The kind police entourage (I think there were 5 of them in the truck?) will represent Fiji in the Faces of the World gallery.