Blake and Deb in Fiji: Savusavu

The town of Savusavu surprised me in both good and bad ways. For a town of less than 5000 people with only one main street, it’s not nearly as sleepy as I expected. In fact it is downright bustling with activity. There is a dense conglomeration of shops, most of which fall in the category of “variety” where you can get your toothpaste, frying pan, bag of rice, tee shirt and screwdriver within a single establishment. There must be a dozen of these on the street, each with only a slight variation in available items. There are three businesses that are more properly grocery stores, three banks with ATMs, a post office, a few restaurants, modest hotels, a bus station, a couple of marinas, a small yacht club, and a variety of other business and government offices. There is also a great produce market that is open 6 days a week where we do the bulk of our food shopping. The town has pretty much everything you’d need with the glaring exception of a good (or even a bad) art supply store.

Savusavu isn’t quite as picturesque as the tourist web site suggested (surprise, surprise) – in fact it is a bit shabby and dusty, although in a cute sort of way. Paint is probably expensive here. But I am impressed that you see virtually no litter and no graffiti. And everyone is exceptionally friendly. So overall it should suit our needs just fine for our 5-month stay.