A few kilometres past Waimicia, along with the Ra stretch of the King’s Highway, a “Savulelele Waterfall” billboard points you to a road that crawls up to the province’s pasture-rich hinterland.
From here, 25 kilometres of dirt road travelling will lead you to Nabalesere, a picturesque village perched on rugged mountainous terrain.
Considered the gateway to the magnificent Savulelele, it is here where you’d be required to present your sevusevu and orient yourself for what will perhaps become your indelible insights into remote and rustic Fiji. Legend has it that Savulelele was the subject of rivalry between warring tribes in old Fiji.
One story contends that an ancestral God from Rewa sent his warriors to overpower its owners after hearing it roar from a distance.
According to the village elder, Paraone Nakewa, Nabalesere, which sits at the eastern side of the greater Tomanivi Forest Reserve, inherited its name from a type of grass that grew in the village during ancient times and had the supernatural ability to sing.
The village is frequented by rain so an AM visit is highly recommended.
However, this does not mean you cannot enjoy observing water drop free fall from a towering black cliff during heavy showers.
In fact, as I discovered, that rain can add to the waterfall’s spectacular freshwater display and amplify sounds that reverberate in this jungle paradise.
Savulelele is not for the faint-hearted or the kind of place you’d like to explore with a 149.7kg frame on a drizzle-drenched day.
But being the avid adventurer that I am, I made it.
Following the presentation of your sevusevu, you’d be free to briefly mingle with friendly villagers before ascending a winding track that snakes its way through the sides of a deep gorge, over streams and past subsistence plantation.
Take time to inhale the thin high-altitude air while you relish nature at your every disposal. It was raining cats and dogs on the day I visited Nabalesere so the upward hike that would have been a stroll in the park during a sunny day, proved to be somewhat back breaking.
Fortunately, the aesthetic beauty that enveloped me removed my mind from the challenges of the climb. Green walls greeted every turn the eye considered – fruit plants, grass, native and introduced trees, bushes, vegetables, bamboo and evergreen shrubs – all making their bold presence in the unrelenting rain.
“This track took a while to fix after TC Winston,” Aminiasi Raika, my dreadlocked tour guide remarked.
Along the way beaten tracks gave way to wooden steps, some turning like a spiral staircase while one made a bold crossing over a small ravine.
As the winding track inched closer to Savulelele, the thunderous sound of falling water got raucous and unruly.
I could not stop marvelling at the steep cliff faces that stared blankly into the air, unconcerned about the precipitation that was keeping me soaking wet.
Aminiasi started shouting when we reached the foot of the waterfall.
“This place is sacred so we have to alert the guardians of the place and tell them visitors have arrived,” said Aminiasi.
“It’s as if we are begging the waterfall to reveal its beauty and protect us from harm.”
Shouting by villagers also helps remove mist on a wet day and drops more water during dry spells.
This allows visitors to take good photos.
On the side of a rock face, midway up the cliff, two visible cavities caught my curious eyes.
From a distance, they seemed like natural dents on the rock but on close inspection, they looked like they were dug out.
“Those belong to the three ganivatu (Fiji Peregrine Falcon ) that nest at the waterfall, a mating pair and an offspring.”
“For many years, we only saw two birds. Now they have a young baby.”
The ganivatu can be seen on our two dollar coin.
Fiji has only a small population of less than a 100 pairs of Peregrine Falcons.
To many rural Fijians it is the subject of folklore and mythology.
Fiji’s Peregrines are restricted to nesting sites on large cliffs the stoop of the Peregrine Falcon, as it descends on its intended victim, is believed to be the fastest speed attained by any bird.
The moist floor of the waterfall, meandered by black rocks and wild ferns, is home to the Fiji tree grog called ula.
Compared to the introduced cane toad, the ula is relatively small, smooth and moist-skinned. It has relatively longer hind legs and can leap over a distance of one metre.
From the waterfall, Aminiasi pointed westwards to a nearby hill.
“Beyond that hill is Navotusara, the site of our ancestors’ first village. From there they moved downhill to a place called Vunigacigaci before finally ending up at Nabalesere where we now live,” he said.
“On top of this cliff there used to be a plant we call vaulele which has to do with the name of the waterfall and our connections to the villages of Taulevu and Nabena in Naitasiri.”
Listening to Aminiasi was a pleasure, especially the way he carefully wove in aspects of his village’s culture and history during his explanation on Nabalesere’s eco-tourism initiative.
“I thank God for giving us this beautiful waterfall. It has allowed us to share it with people from around the world and at the same time provide us with a source of sustainable livelihood,” he said.
With much reluctance, the trip ended in a huge clap-clap session with village elders. It was the village’s spring cleaning week so the grog bowl was impossible to evade.
“Before we started charging fees, we used to give every person who visits Savulelele four bowls of yaqona. We called this bai ni savu, our token of appreciation for visiting our village and its waterfall.”
The sound of downing four bowls of murky water all at once made me weak but the jokes and coaxing from my tauvu gave me the strength to endure.
“Thank God it’s 2019,” I told myself. Nabalesere also has an old bure foundation that belonged to Manu one of its great warriors.
Manu is believed to be an ancestral deity that had an outward body covering termed waqawaqa in the vernacular.
Villages believe Manu had scabies on his body to hide the fact that he was fair and handsome.
Talanoa Treks organise tours to Nabalesere, which is also the furthest destination in the dedicated hiking company’s one-day trip from Suva.
The village is also Talanoa Treks’ starting point for the forest portion of longer hikes, with a rough 19km old village track following steam and ridgelines through the forest to the western side of Mt Tomanivi.
