We had a great couple of days facilitating guide training with the Forestry team at Colo-i-Suva last week. Right now that feels like a lifetime ago.

We adapted our community guide training package to fit the needs of the Forest Parks and Nature Reserves department within the Ministry of Forestry. At their Colo-i-Suva headquarters we covered a broad range of topics: from looking at different categories of visitor, to visitor expectations, dynamic risk assessment, group management, briefing, interpretation of the environment, and key conservation considerations.

Thankfully we managed to dodge the afternoon showers, and conduct about one third of the training outdoors in a practical setting. We even encountered groups of cruise ship passengers who we could practice on.

If you live or are visiting Suva, Colo-i-Suva Forest Park is a great place to visit, and it’s well worth arranging for a Forestry ranger to take you around. Our recommendation would be to ask them to take you on the Waisila waterfall track. You’re unlikely to meet anyone else and guaranteed to discover something you didn’t know! By parking your car at the top, you can do a 6km circuit down the tracks, then up the service road.

The Forestry team are so knowledgeable, and it’s a great place to catch sight of the Masked Shining Parrot and lots of Fiji’s other endemic birds. You’re guaranteed to discover something new! Remember to take a few minutes to stop, breathe, and listen to the sounds of the forest.

You can email [email protected] to get more information or arrange a ranger, or just call in at their office on the opposite side of the road to the main park entrance.