The archipelago of Fiji, the islands of the genuine smiles. The archipelago is formed by more than 300 islands and four main islands: Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Kadavu, where live a mixture of peoples, cultures, religions and legends.

In a rented car I travelled across all the villages of the Sigatoka Valley on the island of Viti Levu, where in all the villages by which I crossed I was invited to the ceremony of drinking the root of the kava plant.

It is a question of sitting down around a bowl. They reduce to dust the roots, and later this dust is dissolved in water. Before drinking it, they realize their prayers and songs, and then they clap their hands two times and offer the bowl filled with kava which I must drink in one gulp. I remember a bitter taste and with effects lightly euphoric. The act was eminently social, its preparation and consumption lasted about two hours.

Everywhere I went, I always felt the extraordinary friendliness of the Fijian, which received me with the resounding traditional greeting, bula, the sincerest welcome greeting that one could receive.

And as the culmination of the trip, I could not turn down a short stay on the small island of Leleuvia and its crystal-clear waters.