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Gap year and career break to Patagonia

country:Bolivia, Chile, Peru
location:Patagonia 
departures:2010: 16 Sep, 14 Oct, 11 Nov, 9 Dec
price:From £3375 (12 weeks) excluding flights plus local payment of £550. From £4420 including flights from the UK
vouchers:Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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introduction to Gap year and career break to Patagonia

Travel through Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina for twelve weeks of Spanish lessons, Volunteer Projects and incredible expeditions including trekking to the end of the World.

Three phases make our trip:
1. Cultural Orientation and Learn Spanish
2. Live and work with a remote Inca community
3. Trek to the southernmost point of mainland planet earth

Map of expedition to Patagonia route Trip highlights
  • Travel Survival Course in the UK before departure
  • Three weeks of 1-to-1 Spanish tuition in Peru and Chile along with cultural orientation
  • Community development projects in Peru, work with the people and live their culture
  • Expedition through Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina
  • Two high altitude expedition treks in the Andes
  • 4 x 4 jeep crossing of the Uyuni salt flats
  • Amazon wildlife and jungle safari, Bolivia
  • Exploring the Atacama Desert, Chile
  • Volcano climb in the Chilean lake district
  • Glacier trek in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park
  • Adventure activities including mountain biking, surfing and white-water rafting
  • New friends and the time of your life!

    This is an all-inclusive itinerary, with full support and a range of services provided before, during and after the venture.
    a day in the life of a volunteer
    Polylepis Volunteer Project: Through out the day you will be working with locals constructing community centres for local families, mapping existing forests to provide ECOAN with accurate information about location and the size of these forests as well as planting Polylepis seedlings as part of the reforestation programme. This is a community dependant on the Polylepis tree, which in turn is a vital part of the Andean country side.
  • day-by-day itinerary
    Week 1-2:Language School Peru: Cusco. Stay with local Peruvian families whilst learning Spanish and helping a street children project with the Amigos Language School.
    Week 3-5:Community Development Project Peru: Andes and ECOAN Project. Saving endangered species through conservation and reforestation of the Polylepis highland forests in Peru. Building community centres to assist the isolated Quechua families reliant on Polylepis for fuel.
    Week 6:Expedition Peru: The Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. A 5-day trek through stunning Andean landscapes to Machu Picchu.
    Week 7:Expedition Peru: Lake Titicaca and La Paz. Head South and live with the people of Lake Titicaca , before entering Bolivia and exploring the markets of La Paz.
    Week 8:Expedition Bolivia: The highest city in the World and the Uyuni Salt Flats. Exploring Potosi, the highest city in the World, famous for its mines, metals and money. Head to Chile across the Uyuni Salt Flats and the Atacama desert.
    Week 9:Language School Chile: Language school in the Lake district. Pucon, volcanoes, lakes and Spanish lessons.
    Week 10:Expedition Chile: Villarica Volcano and white water rafting. Adventure activities in Pucon, before heading South to Patagonia and preparing for the trek in Torres del Paine national park.
    Week 11:Expedition Chile: Torres del Paine National Park. 9 day trek, including glaciers and the Patagonian ice cap
    Week 12:Expedition Argentina: Tierra del Fuego. Cross the Straits of Magellan to Tierra del Fuego. The southernmost part of mainland earth!
    how this holiday makes a difference
    This venture supports the Polylepis Volunteer Project. As well as our guides you are also accompanied by local guides and project partners. Groups are kept to a maximum of sixteen people, big enough to help the local communities, but not big enough to have a negative affect themselves.

    Back in the UK we also have our own environmental policy and we believe this is where responsible travel should start, prior to departure. It is simple things that help and perhaps the biggest impact in the office comes from recycling paper, as a rule where possible we print on both sides of paper and it is not until it is completely beyond use that we then send it to be recycled.

    All our development projects have been carefully chosen to satisfy several criteria. They are of definable and sustainable benefit to the indigenous community and allow us the opportunity to work in tandem with the host community. Funding for the projects comes directly from our Trust. For each person that joins us, we, as a company, give at least US $400 to the Trust. 100% of the money the Trust receives is spent on the projects.

    All development projects are over-seen by a resident Project Manager whose role is to co-ordinate the adventures, the funding and the project's objectives. We are committed to direct patronage within the local economies of the countries in which we operate. We pay local tutors to teach languages; accommodation throughout the adventure is in locally owned hostels or based in the project locations; and the entire expedition budget will be spent by the team at local "grass roots" level.

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    We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel.

    'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left).

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