Take a day away from the resorts and book a tour with Fiji Eco-Tours. One of my favorite day excursions that we did in Fiji was a half-day trip to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, the Mud Pools, and a local village for lunch.

At the Garden of the Sleeping Giant there were amazing orchids everywhere, which was a delight for me since orchids are my favorite flower. The driver said it was good luck for lovers to come here and the area was often used as a wedding venue. I can see why! Along the path there was a beautiful pond area covered with water lilies and frogs swam in the waters.

The walk up the other side of the valley was brilliantly green, covered with trees, ferns, flowers, and moss. The whole area smelled refreshing. Part of me didn’t even want to walk because the sound of my footsteps sounded intrusive to the serene sounds of the streams. As we arrived back to the main entrance we had glasses of chilled juice waiting for us.

The Tifajek Mud Pools was just the relaxing experience we needed in Fiji. Our tour guide walked us around the small property showing us the water source for the hot spring. It comes out at such hot temperatures you could cook your food right at the source. The water is then funneled to a pool (mostly to cool down the water to hot tub temperatures).

Right next to the hot spring is a mud pool where the mud boils up out of the ground. We enjoyed rubbing the mud all over us and letting it bake and harden in the sun. You can feel it start to pull your skin taut as it dries. We then washed it all off in the hot spring and finished off the experience with a 20 minute massage.

The half day tour ends with a lunch in Nalesutale Village. We visited after their Sunday mass. Within the church we were welcomed with a Kava Ceremony led by the men of the village. They were interested in where we all came from and what our lives were like. After the Kava Ceremony we ate a very filling lunch of fried eggplants, lamb sausage, fresh wild pineapple, spinach and potatoes.

Our tour guide was amazing. He gave us little facts about the villages we drove through and even offered to take us around Nadi on the way back to the hotel. Unfortunately, we had to head back and pack since we were flying out the next day.

Highlight of the day: The mud pools and hot springs.  Con: Since it is an Eco-Tour there was no air conditioning in the van.