Natural Beauty

Even though Ba is not in a lush part of the Fijian country, it still has plenty of natural beauty.  Here are some plants and trees we walk by each day on our morning exercise routes -- they make life here more joyous.

A variegated Bougainvillea bush

Papaya trees are in most yards, called "Pawpaw" in Fijian

Beautiful Plumeria

We're finally getting educated on using coconuts and are loving them!

Banana trees are plentiful with various types available -- a large bunch at the open market sells for a little over $1US

We asked the Indian home owner what this large fruit was, he gave us a wonderfully long Hindi name which we couldn't begin to remember.  But these fruits are about the size of a bowling ball -- and very heavy.

A lovely Indian lady out in the early morning by her Jasmine bush

Every school has their uniform colors.  These young Fijians and many others pass by our home each morning on the way to  one of the 3 schools near us.

This lovely tree graces the downtown round-about

We're just coming into Mango season which is late this year due to bad weather during the blossom season

Another of the many varieties of Bougainvillea

Not pretty, but as we have commented before -- everything is on "Fiji time" here.  That means that you never know when something will really happen, begin, or end.  We figured this must have been a very long "Fiji time" lunch break for the drivers of this truck and the fast growing flora took over before they could get back to work!

Mango trees are big and we wonder how they harvest them before they fall and become bruised.  We see kids in trees but wow, these trees really tower above many of their neighbors.

Star Fruit

One of the bushes by our front door.  What's amazing is you see many plants which your recognize as relatively little "house plants" in America and find that in Fiji, they grow wild and are on steroids!

More front yard plants

Another beautiful Plumeria tree - we just love these

What beautiful creativity the Lord blessed us with

Every once in a while we pass by what appear to be some kind of cactus succulents -- they always seem out of place in Fiji

And finally, one of the thousands of Myna birds which dominate bird life here.  These rather plain looking birds are anything but plain in their beautiful LOUD and varied chirps, whistles, and ever changing calls to each other.  They are so loud that when we are on the phone or even talking with our kids in the US over the computer people can hear them in the background and they can make it so we have difficulty hearing who we're speaking with.  There are always lots of them (no loners in this bird group) and one day at Church they were so loud outside the building that we literally could not hear the speakers.  They might be pests to others but we just love them.  They are goofy in the way they lope along, sometimes up and down, sometimes sideways and they can walk sideways on a wire like nobody's business.  They also change up their sounds - like they are experimenting and mimicking other sounds they hear.  Their only flaw is that they don't seem to know when it's time for others to sleep and they often begin the cacophony at 4:30 or 5am.