Jam-packed with activities, the Fiji program constantly has students on the go learning. One of these activities is a day trip to a remote highlands village and a kayaking trip down the Luva River with Rivers Fiji.

Driving up into the highlands, our group stops in Nakavika Village, which 500 to 600 people call home. Homes and meeting halls, pictured right, comprise the village. Barefoot, smiling children run between homes, playing with their friends and kicking soccer balls.

Students participate in a traditional kava ceremony with village elders and Chief Leo, who has been chief since 1965 and is currently 68 years old. Chief Leo shares details about the village’s way of life and regulations, such as an alcohol ban every day except for New Year’s Day.

Proceeding down to the river’s edge, students gear up in life jackets and helmets for the kayak downriver on the Luva River. Wake Forest and University of Montana students, pictured left, were stoked for the paddle and ready to hit the water.

Students pass through class II rapids, mainly found at the start of the journey. However, the rapids’ intensity depends greatly on the rainfall in the preceding weeks. Some students rave about the wild rides while others wish the rapids had been flowing more to provide a bigger challenge.

Throughout the kayak, the group sees young Fijian boys spear fishing and playing in the water. And sometimes the boys will even wade or swim out into the river and jump in the back of students’ kayaks for a free ride downstream a bit.

Nothing can quite compare to impromptu encounters like that with the locals!