Fiji: Highlands and Islands

Meet up with your group at a pre-selected location at your home airport. Once everyone has arrived, check your bags and go through security as a group. From here you will board your flight and depart for your international flight to Fiji. This first day is counted as a full day of travel because the standard travel time to this destination exceeds 12 hours. This may change depending on your departure location.

Flight Details: Rustic Pathways will be happy to book your flight as an add-on service.

If your travel to Australia crosses the international dateline, you’ll likely lose this day to travel. Not to worry – you’ll get it back on your return!

Upon clearing customs and immigration, you will be greeted by Rustic Pathways’ Fiji leaders, and transported to your new home at our beautiful Eco-Lodge Base. After a round of icebreakers and introductions with the local staff, the group will receive an orientation about the days ahead. After unpacking your belongings in your bures, it’s off to the beach for a few hours of sun and fun. Once everyone has enjoyed their picnic lunch at the beach and has taken a swim in the crystal waters of the Pacific Ocean we’ll head back to the Eco-Lodge for the evening. 

In the evening, the group will participate in a formal sevusevu ceremony (a traditional welcoming ceremony) and begin learning the intricacies of cultural practices in Fiji. Dressed in your new sulu (traditional Fijian sarong or skirt), get to know our local staff while sharing a bowl of kava. This evening, the group will have their first of our evening discussions and reflections, this one revolving around the idea of “cultural norms” in preparation for tomorrow’s adventure to the Highlands.

After breakfast this morning, you’ll head into town to gather any last minute supplies before you head into the mountains, to a remote village deep in the Nausori Highlands. This area of Fiji is famous for its remote villages cradled in its mountain valleys—villages rich in cultural tradition and appreciation for the land. Because of the road conditions, transit to the village is usually an hour ride by truck or four-wheel drive vehicle. 

Welcome to the Highlands! The first part of any stay in a Fijian village is the sevusevu ceremony, where visitors present the traditional root of the yagona plant to the village chief. In exchange for this act of respect and gratitude, the chief then officially accepts the visitors into his village and assumes all responsibility for their comfort and wellbeing. 

After a village tour and introduction to our base house in the village, you will meet some other members of the village and get familiar with your new home for the next few nights. In pairs or small groups, students will be partnered with local families for activities offering the chance to get to know the villagers on a more personal level. Meals and nightly discussions will be held in the base house each night, but the students’ relationships with the local families will quickly become the emotional focal point of the experience. 

Overnight: Homestay Highlands Village 

After breakfast and a morning language lesson, roll up your sleeves and help the villagers with some construction. Because the villagers are working on this construction site throughout the year, the project itself will depend upon the timing of your trip. With the dedicated help of each clan in the village, construction has been humming along and the locals will be glad to have your help. 

There’ll be time between service sessions to explore the highlands area, visit a nearby waterfall hidden in the mountains, swim in the river, and share time with the local families. After dinner and your evenings’ discussion, spend time laughing and talking with your host families while taking part in a traditional kava ceremony. 

On your final evening in the village you will share time with your group and local friends at the Village Bure during a final farewell ceremony marking your last night here. There will be lots of laughter and tears, and you will be amazed how quickly you have grown attached to your new friends. 

Overnight: Homestay Highlands Village 

Say your final goodbyes to your village hosts and begin the journey back to the coast. Stop by Nadi for lunch and ice cream before heading onward to our Momi Bay Base. Walk to a historic park at sunset and enjoy the serene outlook as the sun drops below the horizon.

After breakfast you’ll board a ferry and take a four-hour boat ride through the breathtaking Yasawa Islands. Pass by some of the most beautiful islands in the world while enjoying a snack or ice-cream bar. Over the next four days, you will call one of these tropical islands home as you explore the white sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and lush surrounding hills. You will be without electricity while you sleep in large safari tents on cots, only a few yards from the ocean. Step off the boat and get to know a village that is ready to welcome you with open arms. 

After lunch, start orientation with your trip leaders and discuss what to expect during your four days on the island. Once you have finished orientation, throw on your swimsuit, snorkel, and fins and head out to explore the exotic marine habitats of the South Pacific. Head to Dollar Beach, nicknamed for its representation on the back of the old Fiji one-dollar note. Here you can often spot a multitude of fish, squid, and rays. If you are not up to snorkeling, spend time relaxing in the sun or pull out a kayak and paddle through the aqua waters. (*educators note: this “fun” snorkel time also doubles as our island safety briefing and swim test to prep for upcoming marine service activities).

In the evening, enjoy a kava ceremony with the locals from Somosomo Village who will make you feel at home under the bright constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. 

Overnight: Rustic Pathways Base Naviti Island 

Explore island paradise with new adventures—hiking at sunrise, exploring a sunken plane wreck, fishing under the night starts, kayaking on the ocean, snorkeling with manta rays (seasonal), learning a traditional Fijian war dance called the meke, and playing games with local children. Take an optional scuba dive to explore the best soft coral reefs on the planet.

Fiji has the best soft coral reefs on the planet and spending a day exploring the ocean can seem other-worldly, so can hanging with the wise village chief around a traditional kava ceremony.

Go on a final morning adventure and visit with your new Fijian friends before saying farewell to the Yasawa Islands and journey back to Nadi. Enjoy some of Fiji’s best pizza before returning to the Eco-Lodge.

At the end of each program, students reflect on their experiences and the issues they engaged with, and talk about how to apply this new understanding to their own worlds. During or after their closing discussion, groups participate in Rustic Ties, a unique and powerful activity that allows students to capture the memories and learning moments of their program to process and share with their communities back home.

Explore Nadi and shop for souvenirs for your family and friends. Enjoy your final meal in Fiji with a view of the sunset before leaving for the airport. Your Program Leaders will take you to the airport for your departure as you say goodbyes and reflect on your adventure.

If you are flying back to the United States, you will regain most of the time that you lost on the way to Fiji as you cross back across the International Date Line. This means you will likely get back to your home airport the same day, if not earlier the same day, that you departed Fiji!