Primary 4 – Chosica (3 days)
For many pupils, this is their first extended period away from family and home. Pupils are accompanied by teachers and student leaders (S5). Activities include: problem-solving, a very popular climbing and rappel activity, the “Adventure Walk”, as well as team sports, archery, camping, cooking, swimming, kite-making, t-shirt making, group work and completing their unit of enquiry.
Primary 5 – Paracas (3 days)
Paracas is a popular tourist destination due to its magnificent coastal scenery, an abundance of wildlife and National Park. The pupils rotate through 4 half-day long activities:
A trek in the National Park exploring the coastal desert landscape.
A climbing and rappelling activity.
Wake-boarding combined with a lesson from a local scallop diver on life at sea and basic SCUBA diving.
A visit to the offshore islands where they see a great diversity of bird life and a large population of inquisitive seals, followed by an interaction with local students at the local school in Santa Cruz.
The students also set their tents and camp, make pizzas or cook their own noodles, and also have moments where they reflect on their experiences in the HELIX journals. These diaries are a private place where the students can record their experiences during Outdoor Trips, and also where the S5 Leaders can guide the younger students through targeted reflections. This might be simply having the younger students write 10 tips for living in a tent, or an exercise exploring respect, empathy or effective teamwork. This journal will follow the students through their Outdoor Education until they become Leaders in S5, where they can then use their diary to remind themselves what the trip was like, help them empathise with the younger students and even describe their own experiences to the group of students in their charge.
Primary 6 – Lunahuana (4 days)
P6 pupils, teachers and student leaders (S5) camp in a beautiful area by a river surrounded by mountains. The activities include: white-water rafting, trekking, climbing, rappel, zip-line across the river, cross-country mountain biking, orienteering, an Inca archaeological visit and initiative activities. Pupils also complete a Service and Environmental project alongside children from a local primary school, and a Service Project will feature in each Outdoor trip from here on.
Secondary 1 - Santa Eulalia (5 days)
Teachers, student leaders (S5) and pupils camp at Las Gambusinas in Santa Eulalia. The campsite is surrounded by towering mountains with an alpine stream running through the property. Pupils complete a trek and camp out in the foothills of the Andes (Huariquiña) carrying what they need for the walk and cooking their dinner and breakfast on camp stoves. Activities in Huariquiña include a ropes course and zip-line and also a canyoning/rappel activity down the enormous canyon. Pupils also visit the Kis-Kas water park, go mountain biking and rock climbing, visit a local school for interaction with the local students. Finally, all of the pupils participate in a Service project and an Environmental project involving the local community and a Primary School.
Secondary 2 – Huaraz (7 days)
Huaraz is located in the heart of the Andes and the pupils are surrounded by majestic snow-capped peaks, many over 6000 metres high. Teachers and student leaders (S5) accompany the pupils. Pupils again complete a challenging trek to the village of Pampacocha, where they will stay two nights. Here they undertake a Climbing activity, a Service project at the local school, and various Cultural and Agricultural activities in this Quechua speaking community, such as dancing, plowing fields, learning Andean cookery techniques and learning Quechua. Once back from Trek, the pupils enjoy other activities including mountain biking, rafting, canyoning, rock climbing and rapelling.
Secondary 3 – Tambopata - located in the Tambopata River – Peruvian Amazon (5 days)
The pupils and accompanying tutors and teachers from the Upper School stay in an eco-lodge in the middle of the Amazon jungle, far- away from computers, mobile phones, and other modern distractions and are able to experience the majesty of the tropical forest. For all of our pupils, this is an unforgettable experience and, for some, life changing. Great emphasis on this trip is placed on preparing pupils for the Ecology part of the Science IGCSE examination they will take in Secondary 4. Some activities include: bird watching, boating down the Amazon River, tree-canopy zip-line, climbing to the top of an observation tower in the heart of the jungle, a nightly expedition to hear the sounds of the jungle, and the ever popular insect and fauna activity. On the final day on the way out from the Lodge, we stop in the community of Infierno and undertake a Service project at the local school, and enjoy creating gifts of bracelets and necklaces made from natural materials from the jungle, instructed by the Ese’eja speaking inhabitants.
