11/05/2023
Last month, as part of a group from AIP Collective, one of my daughters and I travelled to the remote village of Ha'api in the Solomon Islands for an incredible week.
Intermittent power, no mobile signal and really just the bare necessities. Food, water, shelter and community. Pretty much 180 degrees from a resort.
It was perfect. We loved it.
Truly a life changing experience.
I have never been so immersed in a culture and community in such a short amount of time. They live very simply, want for very little, and are some of the happiest people I have ever known.
Here's a short video of just some of what we experienced. Leana Hola (thank you very much) Ha'api village and everyone that welcomed us into your lives.
This kind of immersive experience is a) not for everyone, and b) not readily available, but if you're interested in this kind of escape check out Freedom Adventures because they have something in the pipeline for next year.
* There were many projects over the period, one of which was installing solar to the school for their power, another looking into protecting 500ha of pristine virgin rainforest from logging companies, but the main reason we were there is that Green Heroes is currently developing an app (Sea Turtle ID) which will completely overhaul how sea turtles are monitored, tracking their location, migrations etc. all through non invasive measures, leveraged by the power of citizen science. This will dramatically affect how management and policies are formed to protect these much loved ambassadors of ocean conservation. Follow the Sea Turtle ID page for more!
** We also spent 2 nights on Tetepare, known as 'The Last Wild Island' to watch how their traditional rangers care for the land and their turtles, gifting them with camera equipment to be a part of the app when it launches.
