I had the most amazing experience of my life on this trip. Even though parts of the actual trip were slightly different from the itinerary, such as activities in Tamandua the Jungle Retreat, we still had a really fun time, and generally seeing all of the amazing sites. Occasionally, we had issues with our accommodation being unavailable through the hotels fault not Gapforce’s, and we ended up staying in different places which was a hassle. However the amazing, fun guides we had sorted it out as quick as they could, and Leaders like Colin and Raul also made sure we were safe. In places such as Quito where it’s more dangerous, they were well knowledgeable and made us as safe as possible. Money belts are really important so defenitely bring one!

The South American Explorer has been an amazing experience a memory that I will remember for life. I have had highs and lows on this trip. The highs are getting to the top of Machu Picchu. Another high is Yanacocha. I had amazing time there and wanted it to carry on. A low is getting altitude sickness for both of the treks. Another low would be having my biking accident in Banos. In this experience I have made friends for on this trip. This trip as been the best to end a year of traveling around the world.

I did this trip just before everything locked down and I can safely say this was the best trip of my life. The treks have amazing views and are hard enough to make seeing machu picchu rewarding but not too tough for those who want an easier walk! The itinerary for this trip is completely action packed with ziplining, white water rafting, paragliding, horse riding and so much more and it's all made so much easier by the gapforce organizers who make signing on to these trips safer and much quicker. The way the trip is run is also quite loose in the sense that we generally had one thing to do in a day and could spend the rest of the day exploring. The kinds of people this trip attracts are amazing and I'm sure there will be no issue with making great friends on it!

I would definitely recommend going in for the full 7 weeks you would not regret it!

I couldn't recommend this trip more highly. I was so nervous to go previously as I didn't know what to expect with the people and dynamic of the trip but I can definitely say I have made some friends for life. The trip is well organised with a high standard of accommodation (all the hostels/ hotels were fun and good quality). The trip was a lot less regimented than I expected which was good, there was the perfect amount of free time for you to go and do your own thing and the group leader was reasonable but not strict. All the activities we did were so worth it and were all very well organised. The leader was friendly, fun and organised and kept everyone in the loop about what we were doing or where we were going. South America is a beautiful continent and the experience was made better by the opportunities that SA explorer gave us.

I chose this program because I wanted to travel through South America, see a lot but also do some volunteering work. This program combines these two aspects very well, with the first three weeks consisting of a lot of travelling, the next three weeks a lot of working and the last week travelling again. You see a lot of both Peru and Ecuador and get a great feeling for each country. The volunteering work was very interesting and you definitely learn a lot. In general the atmosphere on the trip was great, the travel group was pretty small and very nice. I think that this trip definitely helped me growing as a person and learn a lot of new things

This trip included everything I could’ve hoped for, from Spanish lessons to hiking and volunteering in the animal center. Our guide Colin did everything to make our experience even more enjoyable and was a real asset to making the trip this amazing. He organized extra activities such as yoga in Lima and made sure we had the best busses for each journey. The hostels were great and we got to see the best parts of each city/town. Colin made sure we were safe throughout the trip. Glad I booked it with Gapforce and will recommend it to everyone. I absolutely loved every bit of it!

I absolutely loved this program! I was really scared going into it because I’ve never traveled alone before but I had nothing to worry about. Everyone I met was fantastic. They were down to earth, nice, and so much fun. I can not describe how beautiful Peru and Ecuador are, I’ve never been anywhere like it. There are definitely challenges along the way but they are very “character building” and I am so thankful for them. The trek to Machu Picchu was tough but you get so much closer along the way. Also you get to go to relax in a hot spring and go zip lining! My favourite part was definitely Yanacocha, I could literally stay there forever it was such an amazing experience. Banos pushes out limits as we went rafting and jumped off a bridge! The only thing I’ll say is that the spanish lessons were a bit of a let down. I was in the basic group and we didn’t learn anything. I heard the advanced group did a lot though. I definitely recommend this trip for everyone but especially people who wanna get out of their comfort zone and meet fantastic people along the way:)))

I had a great time on the South American Explorer program. I only did the 4-weeks, but I really enjoyed everything in the program. I’d have to say my favorite activity was the Salkantay trek to Macchu Pichu, despite it getting hard at times, it was a great experience and very rewarding once you stood overlooking Macchu Pichu. The culture is so different from my own and it’s very humbling and exciting to be immersed in the indigenous culture here. The people are very nice and I would one hundred percent recommend it for anyone looking to do it.