8/10 Very good
18 April 2017
Booked Navotua, got Malakati.
Although we booked Navotua homestay, our conformation email said we would be staying on the other side of the island at Malakati, so this review is of Malakati Homestay.The villagers were nice and welcoming, interacting with the children was our highlight and the proximity to a swimable beach was great.There were a few mishaps at the beginning of our stay which left us kind of sour.Firstly, the change in location was a little unsettling as we researched Navotua only, however, in the end Malakati was nice.There are a few people in charge of the homestay, on and off the island, so there is a lot of miscommunication between contacts.We booked for 2 people, however, when we FINALLY got to the island, they were surprised to see 2 of us and had only prepared one coconut and one flower necklace (not a huge deal for us) Our email also mentioned brining Kava to present to the chief, which is understandable, however we brought the powder, as we've seen been presented on other village tours. When we got to the village, our contact said that the root is preferred. We kind of felt like idiots.Also, once on the island,we were told that $10FJD each was also to be presented to the cheif.This was not mentioned in the email so we were left dumbfounded when we were told this new information.Malakati has only been running for less than a year so I think the villagers are still trying to figure out what tourist want out of their stay. Overall, great experience. We loved it.
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