Known only as “the lake” by our Bavu-an community, it is technically private property, but one generously let to those from our village looking to have a good time.

A trip to the lake is both long (20 minutes drive) and scenic. The following pictures might convince one of the otherworldly beauty, not so much the bumpiness of the ride.

A short hike off the beaten truck track, and we arrive at the lake.  Being an artificial lake made from the creation of a river, leading to part of the valley being flooded over time, the vastness caught us off guard the first time. For us, there was one way into the lake, and that was by the rope swing attached to a massive rain tree hanging over.

In the background of the previous and next photos, you can see little spikes jutting out from the lake surface. These are actually the tree tops from when the lake was flooded, and they do happen to have ample bum room for the tired swimmer who wants to rest on top of them.

It is possible to swim to the other end of the lake (which I did), and on the other side lie a bunch of wooden sheds and horses belonging to the land owners. Being the friendly folk they were, they took me to the center of the lake. With no trees to cling on to for rest, I thought that we had to paddle to stay afloat, but surprisingly we were able to stand on mushy ground. Turns out that the center of the lake used to be a hill, and so we were able to stand on top of it, albeit waist deep in water. I would love to have pictures for the aforementioned bit, but for obvious reasons you’re gonna have to take my word for it.

Fishing was also possible in the lake, with fishing line, an old bottle, a hook, and some fresh omelettes. I would swim out with my high-tech set-up (phone was too low tech for a swim), climb atop one of the many tree tops in the middle of the lake, cast my line out and wait. I learnt two things during my fishing experience:

1. Fijian fish do not like onions, but love omelettes. How they tell the difference is a mystery to me.
2. Fishing is fun, and being out there in the middle of the lake feels like a real disconnect from the rest of the world.

And if you look closely in the earlier picture, you can see me in at the right in the far background, waiting for a fish to come along.

And so I made it my personal mission to catch a fish during my remaining time in Fiji, but that is a story for another day. What did you think about the lake, would you love to come to a little isolated paradise like this? Leave a like or a comment if you enjoyed it, and have a nice day wherever you are 😀