Gapforce

This was an amazing experience and I have learned so much along the way. The Oceans Unlimited dive shop is super welcoming and there is a big sense of community among all the divers. The instructors give you all the tools to help you succeed and are very nice. Quepos and Manual Antonio are beautiful and have the best sunsets I have ever seen. Staying in a homestay is wonderful and is a great way to immerse yourself in the culture. Highly recommend to anyone interested in becoming a dive instructor!

The Gapforce Expedition leader training is a great adventure and an entry into the outdoor industry for those wanting this.
The leader training is mainly focused on leading groups of young people aged 18-25 on long duration trips around the world.

If you are looking for Jungle survival skills, leadership training, adventure, team spirit and general adventure this course is a good place to start!

Extract of letter to home:
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“we have spent some incredible time with the Bri Bri tribe and gathered all the info we could. Really interesting! Build with Vines, Made spears & bow and Arrow, Learned Friction fire, Animal snares, a thousand types of animals and plants. We were on night fishing / hunting with Mynor (Bri Bri ) and caught Crabs and crayfish.

The jungle have started to feel like a “Forest instead of an Alien and totally overwhelming place. 😊 I get up every morning to the sound of howler monkeys, shake my boots for spiders and scorpions. I lift my backpack to se if a snake has made a home under it.
After that, I put on my wet work Clothes and prepare for another day 😊

It sounds dangerous and alien and it feels like that in the beginning, but the truth is that you “Tune in” and that the nature here is mostly friendly. I observe tarantulas and see them more like you would see a forest mouse in a European forest – notice how is runs away and is afraid of me.

I enjoy the sight of unbelievably beautiful poisonous frogs and all the other stuff here. 😊

There lived a sloth next to one of our camps – I call him Alfred :D There is a lot to write! , bullfrogs the size of a rabbit, turtles crabs, parrots, Tapirs, 100 spiders and snakes etc.

That being said, there are plenty of challenges here and this is a rough environment to be in. I have stated to eat 300-400g of peanut butter a day to maintain my weight somewhat, but despite that I would recon that I have lost 5-10 kg of weight.

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Can only recommend the training: Pack your bags and go into the jungle :)

In total a great experience with amazing people but a few points that could be improved.
- At least 2 -3 Nights at every place , 1 night was way to short and really stressful e.g. not 3 weeks in Cairns in the end but at every other place longer stays and splitting the volunteer work onto different places and also different projects
-the volunteering didn't include any animals and was really monotonous ,no variety, really boring
-more meals provided throughout the trip for the amount of money we paid

This was one of the most challenging, adventurous and fun experiences I've ever had. I learned so much about myself and developed so much as a person and as a leader. The instructors were fantastic - being incredible supportive throughout the programme, helping each person work towards their goals, challenging us in every way we needed and brought learning to life. The activities and training were great, tailored to what the outdoor industry is like today, and giving us to many unique experiences. I had so much fun every single day, worked with a diverse and inspiring team of people and so inspired to enable others to experience the outdoors in the best way possible.

This was a well organised and administered adventure.
Both the staff in the office in the UK and the instructing staff were professional, supportive and polite.
There are a lot of moving parts on this kind of experience which will take a great deal of organisation. It went smoothly and without a hitch. Any issues which did arise were with outside partners rather than Gap Force or their staff.
The accommodation and food were often better than was described and therefore expected. It is a Jungle based course, so accommodation in the jungle is as expected. When not in the Jungle, it is better than I expected.