Cyclone Yasa Relief Plea - OSC Amanzi-Wai

Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa hit the OceanSouldiers camp Amanzi-Wai, in Fiji on December 2020

After years of planning followed by yet more years of construction, our eco-resort Oceansouldiers 'Amanzi-Wai' opened its doors to our first international guests in early 2019.

Not long after - the  global Covid-19 pandemic reared its head and international borders were closed in early 2020 which saw our operations grind to a sudden and unexpected halt. Whilst the pandemic resulted in the cancellation of a nearly booked-out year, we resolved to use this time to continue to build and improve the resort operations creating additional accommodation and infrastructure (including a stunning beachfront yoga platform) while we awaited the return of international flights. This time also allowed us to connect and host local ex-pat guests from within Fiji who repeatedly travelled to the resort to experience its incredible unique environment, and the wide range of activities we have on offer.

Unfortunately it turned out 2020 wasn't finished with us yet...

In early-December a tropical low formed in the South Pacific between Vanuatu and Fiji which had the potential to affect the Fijian islands. It soon was upgraded to a tropical cyclone and from there the news just got worse. Within 24 hours had intensified from a category 1 to a severe category 5 system and was now tracking for a direct hit on the islands.

On the 17th December Severe Category 5 Cyclone Yasa made landfall over the Fijian Islands with sustained 10-minute windspeeds up to 250km/h recorded, leaving a trail of complete devastation across the archipelago in its wake. The path of the storm passing almost directly over Yacata island where Amanzi-Wai is located.


Thankfully the OceanSouldiers team onsite, run by fellow director Chad Kockott, his girlfriend Steph, Eddie Vulakoro, the staff and our OSC dogs have survived the storm unharmed.

The camp however has sustained extensive damage to our buildings and critical infrastructure and a substantial clean-up and rebuild process now lies ahead.

The clean-up effort has already began in earnest with progress made clearing debris, fallen trees and stray objects which have been washed or blown into the resort. However the rebuild of our buildings and infrastructure is going to be a long and unfortunately expensive process.


THE WELL | OUR NATURAL WATER SUPPLY - Our first priority is to restore our natural spring fed drinking water supply - this has been damaged by the storm surge and will require a new well to be dug,  new storage tanks and a new pump - which has been destroyed by the storm.


OUR OUTDOOR EN-SUITE BATHROOMS  
Our iconic, outdoor tropical bathrooms have also been completely destroyed  by the storm and we will set about rebuilding these with solid concrete platforms and cyclone proof structure so they can be more resilient for any future events of this nature.  



SAQA - OUR FIRST FIJIAN BURE WE BUILT  
Saqa (Fijian for Giant Trevally) is still standing but sustained substantial damage to the structure and the roof. We will rebuild this and equip it a sturdier roof strapped and anchored to the bedrock as we have done with the main bure which miraculously has survived the storm in reasonably good condition. Progress has already been made with repairs to Saqa (below) but there is a long way yet to go.



OUR 5 STAR SAFARI TENTS STANDING STRONG. 
Our South African built, high-end 5 star engineered Safari tents, which provide the majority of our  new style accommodation were designed and engineered with this type of scenario in mind. They are cyclone rated to withstand winds up to 170km/hr however given that Yasa was a Category 5 cyclone with wind gusts reaching 300km/hr,  the call was made early to disassemble these and place safely in storage to prevent damage.


TENTED CAMP DECKS SUSTAINED CYCLONE DAMAGE.
Our hardwood decks which these are erected on have sustained some damage but work is underway to repair these.


A DEBRIEF FROM CHAD & STEPH ON THE STORM AND HOW THEY MADE IT THROUGH.
Chad  and Steph and the fur babies bunkered down for the peak of the storm overnight in our storage shed which was built sandwiched between two large rocky outcrops providing natural protection from the elements. This luckily provided sufficient protection and the shed (and contents) was unharmed.

NEW BUNKERS NEED TO BE BUILT FOR EMERGENCY CLIENT PROTOCOL & SAFETY.
However this event has highlighted the need for us to construct a purpose built evacuation shelter for our staff, and guests if necessary, to be able to shelter in place on the island in any severe cyclones in future. So we plan to further upgrade this shelter to be more larger, more robust and more comfortable to shelter in for a 24-48hour period if necessary. In line with improving safety and resilience we will also be investing in a satellite phone for emergencies when there may be communications outages.


WE GOING SOLAR & SAT-PHONE
As part of the rebuild and as a sustainability initiative we had already planned plan to switch the resort to be fully solar powered in early 2021 with a solar array on the point backed up by a lithium-ion battery set. This will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions as well as improve resilience by avoiding the need to rely on fuel deliveries from the monthly barge which is sometimes cancelled during severe weather.

A Sat-Phone is also something we need to purchase as comms are often literally shut down for days before, during and after most cyclones. 

OUR AMAZING ORGANIC FARM WAS DESTROYED.
Our organic farm on the island which was our main food source (aside from our fishing adventures) for the delicious meals served up daily at Amanzi-Wai, has been near totally destroyed by the storm and is now unrecognisable, after so much progress was made this year on a bounty of organic fruit and vegetables.  However quick progress is being made with clearing the debris and timber and the fertile volcanic soils of Yacata and the tropical sunshine will have these crops back in short time.


WE ALWAYS LOOK AT THE POSITIVE.
As with most things there are some silver linings, and courtesy of TC Yasa we now have a much faster internet connection due to the thinning of the trees between the resort and the Digicel tower on neighbouring Kaibu island! There is also no shortage of natural fallen timber for our future building works, and our beach has been upgraded to a much wider sandier version of before thanks to the storm surge.


2021 MOVING FORWARD...
We look forward to hopefully welcoming guests once again in 2021 and will be working tirelessly to have Amanzi-Wai ship shape and ready to host immediately once flights resume - or even before for some of our guests already in Fiji.

In the meantime any assistance which can be offered towards the relief effort and the rebuild would be greatly appreciated. Being an international resort we received no government assistance during the coronavirus pandemic which saw our income for 2020 completely wiped out just when we so badly needed it right after opening the resort to guests. Then to see all our efforts near destroyed in 24 hours by the brutal force of mother nature is heartbreaking.  However we have resolved that this will not slow us down, and instead we will reshape Amanzi-Wai to be more resilient, safe and comfortable for our future guests in light of this event. Work is very much already underway but with only Chad and Steph (and a big chainsaw)onsite and continued restrictions by the Covid pandemic, we will need financial assistance to acquire labour and materials from the mainland.

We want to continue to give back to the local community of Yacata through our operations and remain an employer of the local Mataqali people. This time we ask for your assistance in getting back to where we were prior to Yasa, and continue to promote ethical and sustainable tourism in this beautiful unspoiled paradise on Yacata Island in this remote part of Fiji.

We are offering the following in return for your generous donations:

All donors will have their name inscribed on a memorial hardwood table in our main lodge carved from one of the trees which fell in the cyclone.

A - Donations of AU$1000 or more will be eligible for 50% off when booking accommodation at Amanzi-Wai on their next trip.

B- Donations of AU$500 or more will receive a commemorative TC Yasa 'Amanzi-Wai' vesi hardwood chopping board made from trees felled by cyclone.

C - Donations of AU$300 or more will receive a USD 100 clothing voucher to be used in our Ocean Souldiers apparel store. 

D - Donations of AU$100 or more will receive an Oceansouldiers Cap, chosen at random, as a gift (these are gold btw.)