The Fiji Islands, Everyone's Favorite Pacific Country!
Here's why, according to well-known travel writer David Stanley:
Once notorious as the "Cannibal Isles", Fiji is now the colorful crossroads of the Pacific. Of the 322 islands that make up the Fiji Group, over 100 are inhabited by a rich mixture of vibrant, exuberant Melanesians, East Indians, Polynesians, Micronesians, Chinese and Europeans, each with a cuisine and culture of their own.  Here Melanesia mixes with Polynesia, ancient India with the Pacific, and tradition with the modern world in a unique blend.
Fiji preserves an amazing variety of traditional customs and crafts such as kava or yaqona (pronounced "yanggona") drinking, the presentation of the whale's tooth, firewalking, fish driving, turtle calling, tapa beating, and pottery making. Alongside this fascinating human history is a dramatic diversity of landforms and seascapes, all concentrated in a relatively small area. Fiji's sun-drenched beaches, blue lagoons, panoramic open hillsides, lush rainforests, and dazzling reefs are truly magnificent. Africa has such diversity, but there you'd have to travel weeks or months to see what you can see in Fiji in days.
 Fiji offers posh resorts, good food and accommodations, nightlife, historic sights, outer-island living, hiking, kayaking, camping, surfing, snorkeling, and scuba diving. Traveling is easy by small plane, interisland ferry, copra boat, outboard canoe, open-sided bus, and air-conditioned coach. Even with a month at your disposal you'd barely scratch the surface of all there is to see and do.
Best of all, Fiji is a hassle-free country with uncrowded, inexpensive facilities available almost everywhere. You'll love the super-friendly people whose knowledge of English makes communicating a breeze. In a word, Fiji is a traveler's country par excellence, and whatever your budget, Fiji gives you good value for your money and plenty of ways to spend it. Bula (Mbula), welcome to Fiji, everyone's favorite South Pacific country.
Excerpt from the Moon Handbooks Fiji (7th Ed) by David Stanley, Avalon Travel Publishing, ©2006. Used by permission of David Stanley and Moon Handbooks. To order your own copy of the Moon Handbooks Fiji, or the South Pacific Handbook (also by David Stanley), please visit our CyberBookshop.
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