Fiji: Sun, Sand, and Island Service with Rustic Pathways

This trip was a once in a life time experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about the ocean and its ecosystem. I went into this trip wanting to figure out if marine conservation was something that I wanted to study in college and this trip helped me form a concrete decision. Although I went into this trip knowing a few people I came out of this trip with many new friends. Do not sign up for this trip if you are thinking that Fiji is an island paradise where you will become a tanned goddess, Fiji is a paradise but we did a lot of work. Much of the work consisted of snorkeling, fish counts, reef checks, giant clam measuring, hiking, and crown of thorns removal. Fiji is a developing country so don't expect warm showers. Come into this trip with an open mind and a desire to learn about a culture and make new friends.

I did the marine service and adventure trip. This was my first rustic trip and it was a good one! The trip was a little disorganized at times which was hard, but overall it was good. I wish we did more community service, because what we were doing was really fun! Highly recommend if you're looking into marine biology because this trip really covers lots of that. The fiji people are the best people you will ever meet, and seeing fiji was really exciting because it's so beautiful there. The places we stayed were always right near the beach and usually we had beds or cots. The food was pretty good and the coral reefs were amazing!!! Anyone who chooses this will have a great time!

Hi my name is Joey. This summer I went on a RP trip called Big Fiji Explorer. The activities were amazing and so were the people. I made friends that will last a lifetime. I enjoyed every second of this trip even the plane ride! We went to the highlands, to the beach, zip lining, white water kayaking, staying at resorts, scuba diving, and much more. I would recommend this trip to anyone. This definitely backs up Rustic Pathway's new statement "Travel changes everything". This trip definitely changed me and I would go back any day. Rustic Pathways is also super helpful when coordinating the trip, whether it is figuring out your schedule, coordinating flights, having allergies, etc. Big Fiji Explorer, so far, was the best experience of my life. I would not change anything during that trip.

I traveled to Fiji with Rusic Pathways in the summer of 2013. It was the experience of a lifetime. The journey began with landing in the airport, and immediately getting rushed to a boat to take us to our island destination. On the boat ride I met travelers from all over the world. The island we stayed at was beautiful. It had really nice people, and the food was amazing. We slept in tent-huts which weren't the most comfortable, but when you're in Fiji, who cares, right? We went scuba diving, and saw many types of tropical fish. We were able to snorkel amoung manta rays and observe just how huge they are. We went on a magnificent morning hike and saw the sun rise from the highest peak of the island. If was truly breathtaking. As a vegetian, I never felt confined to what I could eat, because the cook accommodated to my needs very easily. Later on the trip we went back to the main island and were able to shop at local markets and buy delicious treats. We hiked to a waterfall where we were able to relax in the pool at the base and admire our surroundings. We also walked to a beach with black sand, and then took a boat ride out to see Dolphins jump in and out of the blue ocean waters. Honestly, it was the best trip of my life.

This travel will bring you great, unprecedented experience. It offers you many opportunities to help people, to do things that you have never done before.
You may feel uncomfortable staying with strangers in the same room for so much time at first, but you will be used to it after days and days being together as partners. After all the trip, you will certainly become friends with them and contact them even after the trip.
The counselors and the locals are all very welcomed and full of passion, you do not need to worry a lot. They will help you and care for you.
The views here are wonderful!

The balance of adventure and community service on my trip was amazing. My favorite adventure activities include zip lining, kayaking, hiking, scuba diving, and skydiving. The community service on my trip included doing reef checks, measuring seagrass, and playing with the kids at school. I loved every part of it because I got to experience the real Fiji. Living in the village was my favorite part because I met some of the nicest people ever and had never felt so welcomed by strangers before. The staff were the greatest everywhere we went especially the leaders because they knew when to be strict for our safety and how to have fun.

The worst part of this trip was arrival day- too many kids in one space and we all felt very uncomfortable and awkward. There wasn't much guidance by staff on what to do or what the plan was for the day. There wasn't enough space for everyone to sit for breakfast so it became really awkward for the newbies to find a table. There wasn't much of an introduction to the base and it was not a very good start to the program. The bares had lizards all inside of them and there was evidence of other animals eating snack food- possibly rats. We also had 12 girls sleeping in our room at one time, which only comfortably could sleep 10. However, the service projects and the other activities (I did island hopping) were insane and so fun. After the ice broke with the other kids we found that we really liked each other, but some icebreaking activities on the first day instead of just a beach day would have been really nice.

My daughter had a completely different time with another agency; she was miserable on this trip. First off, we were not told that she would be sleeping in tents and hostiles. She needed to pay for every trip to the bathroom, never mind that her back was killing. There is also a lot of hiking on this trip! As soon as they got off the plane they had to hike over an hour carrying their luggage. Their luggage would be stored at a nice hotel and then they needed backpack to their tent! Many of the kids were sent here by rich families as punishement for their bad behavior. Little did the parents know, there was no supervision and these bad kids would sneak out at night and go drinking. Many of their water bottles were filled with alcohol. They saw 5 tarantulas and at one point about 4 of the kids were playing with a poisonous snake and the staff said nothing about it. My daughter also had conjunctivits the whole time and many of the kids were sick. If someone hurt themselves they were basically told to suck it up. Not a good program at all. My daughter went to provide service and have a wonderful experience and now she says that she will never return to Fiji because she had the worst experience of her life. If you are looking for a place for a bad child send them here, otherwise choose somewhere else.