Quest Overseas - www.questoverseas.com

Quest Overseas is an incredible program. Taking a gap year was one of the best decisions I ever made and that's because I chose to do it with Quest Overseas. It's the perfect combination of language study, volunteer work, and outdoor adventure. My personal trip consisted of three weeks of studying spanish and simultaneously having a great time exploring the amazing city of Sucre, Bolivia and the surrounding area. Then 4 weeks of volunteering in which I did some really rewarding construction work at an animal park and got to work with a Puma. I got to walk him and feed him, one of the craziest things I've ever done. It was absolutely incredible to get to know a big cat like that. Then 6 weeks of backpacking, rafting, rock climbing, sand boarding, surfing, mountain biking, and other awesome outdoor activities. No matter how experienced you are with outdoor adventure you WILL get to try something new. It was a crazy 6 weeks and I loved every second of it. I met friends who I will have for the rest of my life and gained the confidence to travel alone now. I would recommend this program to anyone, and I promise you won't regret it!!

Quest overseas was by far the most amazing experience of my life. Within only three months we visited a huge amount of country and did some incredibly amazing things. The people i met on the trip were absolutely brilliant and our leaders were both highly motivated, resourceful, friendly and exciting to be around. The reason i choose Quest overseas for my gap year was its project, we spent 6 weeks working on a building project in Tanzania on the slopes of kilimanjaro, this was incredibly rewarding as it was a well researched project that was actually something the local community wanted and were committed to the development of. While working it felt like we worked with the community as integrated members rather than being a group of outsiders stuffed on a site for a brief period of time.

The expedition part of the trip was absolutely amazing!! it literally felt like we did something incredible everyday, bunjee jumping, walking safaris, trekking, scuba diving, camping in the Botswana delta, tubing, bridge swinging etc. Although Quest is expensive i would definitely say it was worth the money, the reason its so expensive is that everything is included apart from flights, i barley spent any money while i was actually on the trip and a huge part of the cost is a massive donation to the project, without this donation the project is not possible as it pays for materials and wages etc.

I would not hesitate in recommending this trip to anyone who wants to travel widely, volunteer or just escape for a few months!

I recently spent three amazing months in South America with Quest Overseas. Quest provide the ultimate gap year experiences allowing you to learn a language, volunteer, travel and have lots of fun. The three month trip was comprised of three different phases and the group consisted of twelve young people aged 17-23 and 1 or 2 leaders depending on the phase. The three week language phase took place in Quito, Ecuador, We undertook 4 hours of Spanish lessons a day – a 2 hour one to one session and a 2 hour group lesson. When we were not learning Spanish we got to know each other through trips and activities in the afternoons. Activities included a trip to the equator, laser tag, salsa lessons and a treasure hunt around Quito. Each weekend we travelled out of Quito to see the rest of Ecuador including a weekend at the Cloud Forest and a fantastic weekend at the beach in Mompiche. The second phase was the project phase, a month of hardcore volunteering. We organised and ran games and holiday activities for the deprived children of Villa Maria, a large slum on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. We visited two communities a day, playing games and activities ranging from football and volleyball to jenga, colouring and painting. Each day ended with an hour in the local pool being used as human climbing frames by dozens of excited kids. Several evenings a week we would also organise Film nights where we would take a projector to one of the local communities and play a film for the children – Despicable Me seemed to be everyone’s favourite film. Every Saturday we organised a feria (fair), which involve dressing up in costumes and running a range of games where children could win sweets as prizes. Sundays saw the group put on costumes and face paints and perform group dances at the Sunday show. During our last week we swapped toys and costumes for safety gear and power tools constructing a new classroom at the Quest school. And if that doesn’t sound tiring enough, we were also responsible for buying and cooking all our meals and keeping our accommodation above the Quest School clean and tidy. The trip ended with the awesome expedition phase. We travelled through Peru, Chile and Bolivia and finally back to Peru stopping along the way at some of South America’s most breathtaking landscapes including the Bolivian Salt Flats, the pampas, the Atacama Desert, and the Ballestas Islands . In six weeks we undertook 3 treks lasting 3 to 4 days each, as well as sandboarding, white water rafting, kayaking, ice climbing, horseriding, cycling, swimming with pink river dolphins and much more. It was an amazing and action packed three months. Quest did a great job of organising everything and ensuring that everyone had an enjoyable and safe trip. The leaders created a great balance between providing support, advice and direction and allowing us freedom and independence. The office staff provide excellent advice and support before you leave the UK and stay in contact with the leaders whilst you are abroad. Furthermore you know where your money is going, the project donation goes towards materials and equipment you will need when volunteering and provides for long term financial support to the project. The main cost of the trip may seem expensive but it covers all food, accommodation, transport and activities whilst in South America. In conclusion, it was a life changing experience that I will never forget and I recommend Quest Overseas to anyone looking to take a gap year before or after university.

Quest Overseas is probably one of the few volunteer gap year programs that offers volunteer projects that actually benefit the community. For the 6 weeks that i was helping on a building site in the kilimanjaro region of Tanzania i was very aware of and involved in the positive effect we were having on the local community. Quest makes volunteers give an £850 donation to the project. This paid for our food, accomadation, building supplies and wages for the local builders. None of this money went towards quest. The only money quest takes is for the 6 week travel after the project. This whilst being fairly costly is probably one of the best tailor made trips you can find for that price. We did an amazing number of things, all highly enjoyable. Safari, scuba diving, bungee jumping and many other activities were all part of the trip. I had an amazing time and would recommend Quest to anyone without hesitation. I haven't found any other companies that offer either such a genuinely beneficial project or enjoyable travel. The support we received from our 2 group leaders was gerat as well. Without question worth every penny and at the end of it you have actually helped accomplish something beneficial.