A humbling lesson in false first impressions

Her name was Cathy, late 40s, a kind person I had met the day before when I was downing a Fiji Bitter in front of my hut, hiding from one of those endless tropical downpours. She was sitting outside her hut, and after a quick exchange, I realized she was American. In fact, she was from the same upstate New York city where I grew up. Based on this coincidence, our rapport was instantaneous.

She came here, not to swim with the fish, but to find the tagimaucia, a rare climbing vine adorned with a vibrant array of flowers. Tagimaucia can be found only at Lake Tagimaucia, a volcanic lake hidden in the island's mountainous interior. Cathy suggested we hire a guide and hike up to visit the neglected flower. I had agreed to go if the rain subsided.

''One second," I said as I threw on a T-shirt and shorts, and opened the door.

''It's starting to clear up. You still want to do this, right?" Cathy asked. Standing next to her was a gentle Fijian man who was holding a long walking stick. Cathy introduced him as our guide, Semi Waqa.

To be honest, I was feeling apprehensive. I had just woken up, had nothing in my stomach, and lacked my usual hiking gear. In front of me, though, was a petite and confident woman and our pot-bellied guide.

''What am I worrying about?" I thought to myself. I'm a fit guy in my 30s who has done his fair share of hiking. I tossed a tin of tuna, a Swiss army knife, and a jug of water into my daypack and joined them.

''How long does this hike take?" I asked Semi. He said he could climb to the lake and back in 3 hours. Since he was wearing flip-flops at the time, I knew we could easily match that.

As we strolled up a winding road discussing Fijian tribal rituals, I felt comfortable with my decision. Later, we approached a creek, shallow but too wide to jump over. Cathy and I removed our sneakers and rolled up our pants to get across. Farther ahead, however, our dusty road faded and we saw that the stream had become a raging river.

''What happened to the trail?" Cathy asked.