Namosi Eco Retreat

I am traveling solo as a female in Fiji. The host was super responsive to all my questions right from the day I was leaving Lautoka to get to the retreat using public transportation. The eco retreat came to me with high recommendations from the locals and I would agree it matched the experience I had during my stay. The warmth, care from the host, his team and village people in opening their village life to outsiders is truly special and much to learn in living simple (without electricity, without technology) and focus on human interactions. I was there during Xmas and had the chance to enjoy the day with the village kids - swimming the river, cooking and sharing meals.

Namosi Eco Retreat was a great place to visit after already spending 2 weeks at a few beach places and Mana Island resort. It felt like a little window into the life of what a regular Fijian living in the countryside experiences. The hospitality of our hosts, and the local people living nearby was superb. We spent 2 nights there, and that was enough time to enjoy visiting the local school, swimming in the river, go hiking, build a bamboo raft and at night , watch the locals perform some dances and songs for us. We ate some lovely local dishes, and slept well in our comfortable rooms. The design of the rooms are simple, lovely and bright. Mattress and pillows were great, and felt cool with out any need for a fan due to lots of mesh screen all around the room. I would recommend a trip to this place.

I‘ve spent three nights in the Namosi Highlands at the fabulous Eco Retreat in Navunikabi - a truly precious place. It‘s a very modest, villager run stay in a beautiful environment, activities included hiking, rafting (on a self made raft) and swimming in the creek an intro to kava harvesting. The (mostly vegetarian ) local food is excellent and the people were more than welcoming, especially on the last night, which was kava-time including some brilliant music and dancing from the entire village. If you are not into or want a change from the all inclusive luxuries of walled in hotel resorts and you don’t mind or enjoy getting your feet wet crossing the creek to get there, Namosi Eco Retreat is for you. Thanks to Danny, Silvia, Dan, Lela, all the villagers of Navunikabi and most of all Khoshi for being so generous and welcoming. Unforgettable days.

Visited with our family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children 9 & 11. We stayed 3 nights. Our children didn’t want to leave! They loved playing volleyball with the local kids in the mud - slipping and sliding was a highlight, playing in the gardens and building “turtle island” in the river with river rocks. We also loved our room and listening to the river flowing all night long right next to us. Everyone from the village and the retreat were so inviting and the ladies from the kitchen cooked the most amazing local food - the fern fronds were so tasty. Bring some jam to add to the yummy breakfast doughnuts. If you like coffee though bring a couple of pre-mix packs to go with hot water - but take your rubbish home they don’t need it there. We crossed the river a number of times even while 1 of us had a broken foot! Loved the local village visit - it’s a beautiful village with so many friendly locals. We tried cava, raw sugarcane, cacao and built a lovo hot rock oven. We visited in July and hit some rain. It wasn’t really cold but it would have been good if we had brought some rain jackets with us. We drove a 2WD with clearance. It’s a spectacular drive along the valley.

What an amazing experience! From the fabulous journey up through the mountains, to the exciting river crossing (aided by the nimble staff and village locals) to the comfortable and peaceful lodge setting. Truly something we will not forget. A play, sleep, eat repeat adventure! Our principal host was in Suva during our visit, but Vita and Kuta were the perfect hostesses, nothing was ever an issue for them, and they put everything in to making sure we had stacks of fun and adventure, combined with full bellies during our stay. We took a trip to the nearby village in the beautiful rain to watch the guys and gals play some exciting footy. So cool to see the girls in amongst the action, we were sad to have missed their training, they sound like a great team, and we look forward to hearing how their season goes! Logistics. We hired a 4 x 4 and we could have done it comfortably in an SUV as well, but appreciated the extra grunt. It was easy to find with google maps route downloaded. The ladies took our electronics to their village for charging overnight as the lodge is not set up for charging appliances. I loved having hiking boots, a sarong, shorts/shirt for swimming and a hand fan for the heat of a small hike. Definitely recommend having two full days (three nights) as an ideal minimum but you can do it with just two nights and one full day also.

Glorious, remote location on edge of a village in the spectacular Namosi Highlands, with delicious local food, a dedicated and helpful local team led by our ebullient and knowledgeable host Danny. It was a real and meaningful break giving us an experience of another way of life, so we relaxed, slept well and felt fully refreshed and inspired.