THE GUIDE - Rough Guide to Fiji - page 280

Sigasiga Sands 885 0413, theultimateparadise.com ; map . Private plantation resort set
among coconut palms, with a huge lawned area beside a beach. There are two pretty thatch-
roof bures available for short stays, plus a two-b edroom holiday villa for long-term rent. Both
come with kitchen facilities. Bures US$60 ; villa US$175
Yau Kolo Camping 885 3089, [e-mail] ; map . Basic dorm lodge with
ample room in the spacious gardens to pitch a tent, although there are no kitchen facilities -
home-cooked meals can be arranged. There's fair snorkelling and a narrow beach across the
road, and a 15min trail leads to a small water fall. S ometimes closed around C hristm as. Rates
inclu de br eakfast. Camping (with own tent) F$12 ; camping (with hired tent) F$20 ; four-bed
dorm F$20
The Natewa Peninsula
The Natewa Peninsula is almost severed from the main chunk of Vanua Levu, connected
only by a kilometre-wide sliver of land east of Savusavu. To the north of the peninsula is
Natewa Bay, while to the south is the Somosomo Strait separating Vanua Levu from Taveuni.
At the eastern end of the peninsula, ferries to Taveuni and the two smaller islands of Kioa
and Rabi depart from Buca Bay .
Salt Lake
Twenty seven kilometres east of Savusavu, the Buca Bay Road reaches the narrowest part of
the peninsula and the turn-off to Salt Lake , a brackish lake fed by the mangrove-lined Qalo-
qalo River which boasts excellent fishing and birdwatching.
ACCOMMODATION: SALT LAKE
Salt Lake Lodge 828 3005, saltlakelodge.com ; map . Overlooking the Qaloqalo River,
accommodation here consists of a lodge, a beach house for couples and a bure. As well as
fishin g from the p ontoon , kay aks ar e available for drifting up and down the river. Lodge
F$356 ; beach house F$300 ; bure F$124
Natewa Bay
East of Salt Lake, the Natewa Peninsula broadens and features increasingly dense rainforest
teeming with endemic birdlife - it's one of the few places in Fiji to spot the rare silktail , a
tiny black bird with a speckled blue head. A 4WD vehicle is needed to explore the region as
the roads here are terrible, especially during the rainy season. Two side roads branch off to
the fishing villages of Drekeniwai and Vuasivo on Natewa Bay ; ask around at either village
to hire a boat and guide to search for spinner dolphins , commonly sighted in the bay - ex-
pect to pay around F$120 for an hour.
Buca Bay
The Buca Bay Road finally hits Buca Bay at Loa village, from where dirt roads branch off
north and south along the coast. The road north heads through a dozen fishing villages to
Nabuka at the tip of Natewa Bay, facing Rabi Island. Two kilometres south of Loa is Natuvu