in the search for Roza...my horse

My search for Roza, the stallion that got stolen from our farm end July, lead me to the island of Waya.  Information gathered suggested that two horses were uploaded on a barge about 3 weeks ago and taken to this island...  Our local Police  Department were involved after the information gathering and when it was confirmed that a dark brown horse and lighter horse were indeed taken to the island, the Police took over...

Getting to the island turned into an adventure...

Because I am not police, I had to make my own way there.  I used the cargo boat from the resort and made my way to the island.  Fortunately it was a smooth ride....

It turned out to be an unsuccessful mission....I was sooo bummed!

 This farmer farms on the slopes of the island....hard life! 

I was sooo convinced it was my horses!

 

The police was absolutely great.  They helped and followed up, most were completely out of their comfort zones.   It is not everyday that their jobs entails searching for horses on remote islands....using open, long boats.....

But there was a good side as well.  We visited one of the most beautiful islands of Fiji, Waya.  Ways actually has 3 islands in close proximity - Waya, Wayaseva(small waya) and Kuata.  There are resorts on all of them. 

 Kuata resort is a backbackers when glamp tents - dorms and more luxurious tents and camps.  I loved my stay there.

 

This is a view of the tented dorm that I stayed in. 

 a view of Wayaseva,  the second largest island in this group of 3 islands.

so, although my horse is still gone....




I got to meet lovely people and spent a very enjoyable time ...

horse rescue

So, the drama with SPeedy, one of our horses started early one morning.  Because it is so dry, rains are late this year... I have kept Speedy untied.  He is older now and we did not want him to loose condition...so he is free to roam....

Well, he followed some other horses home one night and did not come home....I searched until dark and continued the next morning....

O boy, was I shocked to find him stuck in the mud - right up to his neck!  and Murphys law -  yes, the skies were dark blue with rain looming.

 

The hole was not easy to reach for a digger , and our good friends Pierre Guyot and his son Rupe were not very hopeful....

 

 

 

 Pierre started to dig , but before he could reach the mud he had to make a ramp of sorts....

It took hours.  But eventually we managed to free a very weak horse from the mud.

 

 Speedy was ravenous and just wanted to eat. I hosed him down and took a looong shower myself.

 
 
The next morning he was very sheepish but recovered well despite his ordeal.

 

 and my horse is still gone.  The stallion got stolen end July and there is not a week that goes by that we don't actively look for him....one of these searches took me to a beautiful island, Waya, but more about that in another blog post....