Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my project and would volunteer with Frontier again in a heartbeat. I was on the teaching project which was as challenging as it was rewarding (be prepared to be thrown in at the deep end). The project felt well organised but also was relaxed and enjoyable. The other volunteers and staff were all wonderful and were the highlight of my time in Fiji, The homestay was a fantastic experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Although there was an issue of bed bugs, Sarah dealt with the issue to the best of her ability and was extremely understanding (I cannot praise her highly enough). The food was lovely and all medical issues were dealt with extremely well. Every member of staff was absolutely excellent in every way, they made the whole experience wonderful and should be highly praised. The staff in London could have been more knowledgeable about the homestay, however this was a minor issue.
Frontier
Frontier has over 300 projects globally, offering unlimited opportunities to volunteer abroad. You could be spending memorable days scuba diving off the brilliant white beaches of Fiji or discovering South Africa on a conservation project with lion cubs! You can learn new skills, gain valuable qualifications and make lifelong friends.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Animal health and welfare project in Fiji.\
Everyone, volunteers and locals alike, were highly friendly and many locals would attempt to stop on the street to chat with you.
The accomodation was basic but suitable. Everyone had their own bed and the food each night was delicious! The tap water was suitable to drink, which meant that hardly any money was spent on drinks at all!
The project itself was enlightening, and very worthwhile. Sometimes the work could be hard, as you would see issues that would be very unlikely to arise in the UK, but the people and animals made everything worthwhile.
The weekends were packed full of tourist-like trips, and it was very interesting to see the difference between "Locals-Fiji" and "Tourist-Fiji".
The project was an amazing and rewarding time of my life, and I made friends with people whom I hope I stay in touch with.
My initial impressions and thoughts of this trip have been surpassed by what I have experienced in these past six weeks. As soon as I arrived at the Madagascar base camp I felt a warm welcome, with my fellow travellers, friendly staff and an impressive beach camp. The camp is well segregated into sleeping areas, science space and communal, relaxing area – and in all has a homely feeling.
I was impressed by the organisation of the marine project, and straight away I was involved in the day to day conservation activities (Advanced Open Water course, fish/coral/invertebrate lectures). Thanks to the Marine PI, I managed to go on satellite camp which was the highlight of the trip – amazing diving, great food, great company and a good atmosphere.
The diving in general is great and there is a good variation in marine life in all the sites that we survey which is good in comparatively understanding the degradation of the local coral reefs. I have thoroughly enjoyed my six weeks here and will come back for another frontier trip in marine conservation.
I had a pleasant and informative placement in Greece on the turtle conservation project. It's well organised and i left feeling that i had learned a lot and was in a good position to decide if this is a field i want to pursue further in the future. Thanks.
