Day Thirteen - Hiking, Mud Baths, and Presentations

Today was our last full day. We started the day early with breakfast at 7. After breakfast, I had a chance to meet with Ulla, the nat geo expert, and decide/choose my top 10 photos for my final presentation. Initially, I was worried what Ulla would think of my photos because she is so talented. Ulla was impressed by the composition of my photos and the vibrant colors in my photos. She said I had the best photo-composition out of the group. That was really cool to hear her feedback. After everybody got a chance to meet with Ulla, we set out for the day’s adventure. We went to a village and had to bust out the sulu’s. I thought we were done with those.. smh. Of course we had to be welcomed into the village with a Kava ceremony when we met the chief. Kava tastes like dirty water. I don’t understand why Fijians are obsessed with it. We went on a hike up to a little waterfall. It was nothing compared to the waterfalls we went to on day three. I didn’t really feel like swimming and getting wet but we still took a few pictures on the rocks with the flag. The worst part of the hike was that I could not for the life of me find my Chaco’s anywhere, so I was forced to wear flip-flops. Don’t worry it gets worse. There was horse poop every five feet along the trail. Honestly the trail was so small and so uncivilized I don’t even understand how the horses got to such narrow places to dump. Whatever.  On the way back down, Mrs. Simon slipped and fell and it was hilarious. When we got back to the home base area where we started, we had another not edible lunch. Classic. I had 2 pieces of pineapple and that’s all. Our next activity was something I’d never done before. We arrived at this mudbath place. It was so fun and weird and awesome. They had buckets of mud to lather up. It quickly turned into a mud fight, which was of course awesome. Jacob was covered from head to toe in mud. People had mud literally all over their bodies. We took pictures with the Nat Geo flag and Lisa and Brett made Chase and I be the models because we are always the ones laughing the most. The mud dried and it was hard to move, so thank goodness we were smiling we put it on our faces. I felt like I had Botox or something. After finishing that photo shoot with Lisa and Brett, we had to get in the rinse off the mud pool. The bottom was DISGUSTING. And I had to stick my head under mud water to get the handprint of mud out of my hair (thx Chase). After we got most of the mud off, their was a separate mud pool for cleaner people. This one was boatloads better because it was warm and had a rocky bottom. Holly Hartman did not let us put mud on her (lame), but she did get in the second pool. Mrs. Simon didn’t get in at all. Classic. We had handstand contests under water and also had chicken fights. Lisa and I totally won. Around 5ish we got back on the bus and headed back to Smuggler’s Cove. On the bus ride back, I played monopoly on an app with Alex Cooper and Chase. I was the thimble, so that’s probably why I lost. When we got back, we ate dinner and they surprised us with a cake. Then they came and sang the ISA ISA song. That song gets me every time. After dinner we got to hang out and do whatever we wanted. We got to present our final projects to the whole group. Our final projects consisted of our top 10 pictures from the trip. It was amazing seeing everyone’s finest pics and hearing what everyone learned. What I learned on this trip was that photography is way more than just taking a quick picture of someone or something. Photography involves a social skill that requires connecting with people, learning their story, and then making the picture. After dinner and presentations, I spent time on the beach with my friends doing light painting and hanging with Ulla and listening to her amazing stories. I started to feel really sad that the trip is coming to an end.

Top Row left to right: Claire, Bora, Mariam, Elizabeth, Meghan, Chase, Ulla, Alex Long
Bottom Row left to right: Jamison, Katie, Madiha, Jacob, Lucy, Grace, and Alex Cooper

Chase giving me a mud hug

the second mud bath that had a friendlier bottom. 

photo of first mud pool. photo by Lisa Hornak

the village we visited. chase and i are holding up walking sticks they cut for us. Well, I stole Ms. Hartman's stick when she left it behind. 

Bora and I smiling by the mud pool. 

In Fijian, "moce" is pronounced "Mothe" and it means goodbye or goodnight.