How to arrange: The person in charge of electives seems to change quite frequently! At time of writing, I’d recommend contacting Dr Anjie Naqu (naqu.angeline@gmail.com)
What to bring for the hospital: The hospital was lacking in simple things like urine dips, pregnancy tests, alcohol gel, BP cuffs. I also took a BNF which proved useful!
What to bring for yourself:
there are computers in the doctors office. If you want to use your own laptop be sure to bring an ethernet adaptor.
BNF app on phone
Oxford Handbook of Clin Med + if pos, Ox handbook of clin specialties + tropical medicine
Snorkel- there’s loads of snorkelling just off the resorts. They rent out snorkels but you can save some money bringing your own!
Sun cream and insect repellent- only one shop sold it for a massive premium
Respectable clothes for hospital and about town
I brought a lifejacket as very few boats seemed to have them
Water shoes- lots of coral around so these were useful to avoid getting cut
Tuppaware + any food you’d particularly like (there’s a limited selection here! Spices and pulses would have been useful + cereal/ oats)
Plenty of books- not much to do in the evenings
How to get there: There’s a new flight going direct from Brisbane to Munda every Saturday. From Munda, Gizo is only a short 15 mins flight/ to save money you can get the bus to noro and catch a boat if you have time to play with (they can be hard to track down if you’re not in the know!) Otherwise, go the traditional route of Brisbane-->Honiara, then Honiara-->Gizo.
Gizo airport is on a separate island to the town, so you need to get a boat across. The Gizo Hotel puts on a boat for the airline staff which costs 60 sol dollars. Drop the Gizo hotel an email to check it will be there. Otherwise, there are some other less official boats going between the two.
Where to stay:
I stayed at the Catholic complex. Email office@catholicgizo.org to arrange. V cheap and they’re welcoming and friendly. Added bonus of beautiful singing from the church! The apartments have 2 rooms, each with twin beds, so if you want to save a bit of money you could group together.
Eating: Cheapest food is at the market (everything else has a premium as it’s imported!). Not a huge variety of fruit and veg. There are several Chinese shops selling all sorts. Wing Sun is probably the best of these- if you’re after a few home comforts you can find them here, although at quite a premium! If you want meat, the main option is fish from the market, however you’ll have to gut it yourself. The chilli “soltuna” is very nice and an easy alternative.
Something we struggled to find was wholemeal bread- this can be tracked down at “daily bread” (only on selected days) or “bulk shop”.
Not much choice in terms of eating out
-Gizo Hotel does good pizza as well as offering a more formal menu
-PT109- more of a bar really and watch out not to get there too late. I never ate there but heard it has great lobster
At the hospital: There are 3 general wards (male, female, children), a labour ward, theatres, outpatients and ED. The ward rounds and outpatients happen Mon, Weds, Fri while theatre occurs on Tues and Thurs. The surgeries are generally v simple, unless there is a visiting team (which is fairly often!). We found ED to be the most useful for learning- the history taking is a bit simpler with the language barrier, there’s a quick turnover and variety of presentations and you can get more stuck in. If you’re interested in obs and gynae, there are plenty of births and Anjie will let you help out on the post-natal ward round.
There’s not always a lot happening. There were a few days where we recognised it was going to be futile for us to hang around with so few patients. Most of the time there’s enough to get stuck in though. The doctors are friendly and keen to teach.
There is some outreach work- just ask the doctors. It's a great way to see more rural areas.
Free time:
Note: there’s no beach in Gizo itself. The coast is largely lined with shops/ shacks.
Resorts: There are various resorts within reach of Gizo that will let you go just for the day. -Sanbis- probably the cheapest option. They run a free staff boat leaving Gizo Hotel Pier at 11:30 (ish!) and coming back 16:30. You can get a cheap pizza there for only £6 or the fish and chips is good! - Fatboys- a little pricier. Call up to arrange a transfer, which they’ll charge you for. Nice spot and good food. - Imagination Island- again call up to arrange a boat over. Run by a lovely Australian guy. He only charged us 150sol for the day inc lunch, drinks, use of paddle boards, boat transfers. Best snorkelling of all the resorts. - Oravae- a little pricier as it’s further away, but worth a trip. Beautiful secluded spot and nice family feel. They let us use one of the bungalows over the water for the day and the traditional kayaks.
Hula dancing: While I was there, there were hula dancing classes at the Gizo Hotel every Thursday from 5-6(ish)
Diving: I’d never dived before but tried a couple of dives at Dive Gizo. The Solomon Islands are one of the best spots in the world for diving! Lots of wrecks and fish everywhere! Dive Gizo had a great instructor when I was there, but I think the instructors change around a bit so make sure to have a chat with them first!
Church: Well worth a visit to church! The singing is amazing and it’s so touching to see everyone dressed up.
Cycle around the coastal road: Dive gizo rent out bikes (not the best, but rideable). If you follow the coastal road, you’ll pass some lovely villages and beaches. It’s a nice way to get out of the town. I’d allow a good 6 hours to get round to the other side and back, but a couple of hours will give you a flavour.
Munda: I travelled there by catching a boat to Noro (tend to leave Gizo around 1pm Monday and Friday. Return Noro-Gizo at 7:30am Monday and Fri). It’s a little hit and miss! Then catch the bus for 20mins to Munda- it leaves from right by the pier. At Munda, you can organise trips through Agnes Lodge (if you’re craving a coffee by this point they do fab filter coffee!). I went to Skull Island and a couple other uninhabited islands. Of interest also is the war museum- a guy has collected random bits and pieces from during the war and brought them together in his shed. Quite a spectacle! It’s not *hugely* different from Gizo, but a bit prettier and nice to see a different part of the Solomon Islands
Kolombangara: We did the hike to Mt Rano on Kolombangare (organised by Dive Gizo). We stayed at Hambere Homestay the first night then camped the second. I’m not sure if I’d recommend it as it did seem pretty dangerous to be honest. It’s an incredibly hard hike- we’d all done a lot of hiking before and struggled. One of my friends got bitten by a venomous centipede! I’ve also heard a few horror stories! There are apparently some other more comfortable hikes that Hambere offer, as well as showing you some cultural activities- this might be a better bet! I think some other students after us went to see the crater at Simbo island instead?
Tetepare: I didn’t make it here, but it sounds amazing. It’s all about conservation. 2hour boat from Munda, which is v pricey unless you get a big group together.
Makira banana festival! My next-door neighbour was telling me about this. Worth looking into if you're about in August!