Program Reviews

At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this trip. For reasons such as only being 18; the fact Australia is on the other side of the globe; and a few others, I was worried I’d feel alone on this trip. However, that is not the case, the group becomes friends that will last forever. You learn to live with others, and you learn the challenges of travelling through a foreign country all the while having the support of your group leaders and new found friends. The trip itself is rather fast-paced. You head from one town to the next almost every other day. Once you arrive in cairns, you can unpack and relax, as moving around stops for a few weeks. The volunteering in cairns is not a piece of cake. You work hard for 4 hours a day. There is a lot of manual labour involved, but in the end, you can look back and be proud of what you and your group has accomplished. As for accommodation, you stay in hostels, but you are never with strangers. Wifi and power outlets are common and keeping devices charged isn’t something to worry about.

When I found this training, I knew I had to sign up. It would be intense, but I needed to do it.
From the first email to the first day in the training, the predeparture support was great, answering all the questions and giving advise.
The last four months have come and gone in the blink of an eye. Every day has been an adventure, every moment has been a challenge to step out of my comfort zone. It's been hard, intense and fun. And the end of this trip is only the beginning of the new me. It has inspired me to continue to push my limits, to be stronger. To stand up for the life I want. To open my eyes and face my fears.
I am going back with a suitcase full of laughter, crazy stories, lots of mud and some bullet ants.

What an excellent 4 months. I had looked into the course for 2 years, eventually I signed up. From the time you sign up to the day you finish you are supported by Gapforce staff.

I have found this course to be extremely fulfilling, it has challenged me in different ways; mentally and physically. I feel I have grown as a person, improving self confidence, interpersonal skills, understanding others and personal ability in the course content.

To those who are looking at this course, I would say to get the most from this experience you need to have a reason why you are on the course, it doesn't have to be to become an expedition leader but if you have a goal you have an overarching objective to reach for, this will help keep focus throughout.

The course content itself is varied, kept industry relevant, always evolving and suitably challenging.
From mastering cooking in swampy mud in driving rain, conducting sleep deprived medical scenarios in caves, shepherding your group around Costa Rica and Panama to spending days alone surviving in the jungle. You will be challenged but you get out what you put in.

If you want a challenging, life changing, self improving and once in a lifetime experience the Expedition Leadership Training course is for you! 4 months of your time extremely well spent.

Expect to be busy, tired, wet, muddy, smelly and deeply rewarded. You won't be disappointed!

I came into the ELT course not knowing if being an expedition leader is something I wanted out of this course. That being said and now having completed the course I can still say it was an amazing experience. Definitely is challenging and everyone will be challenged more at different parts of the course than others. But it’s incredibly eye opening in showing you what adversity you can push through and what obstacles you can overcome.

I met a lot of fantastic people on my team that will remain life long friends of mine. All of us had varying levels of experience with expeditions, hiking and camping to start this course. I was one of those who had less experience than some other members of my team but still played a crucial role on my team and very much enjoyed the course with them.

For me this course showed me that most challenges in life aren’t really all that bad. Especially when you have luxuries like a bed, bathroom and shower.

I signed up to this course not really sure what I wanted out of it but having always loved challenging myself, being outdoors and travelling the world. This course delivered that and more.

The last four months have been a serious test of grit and perseverance; from eating porridge every day for four months to trekking through beautiful, dense jungle for twelve hours a day; leading multi-day cycles around lakes and volcanoes and trying to stay awake through overnight cave rescue/medical training.

The instructors are awesome, supportive and experienced people who help you discover strengths you didn’t think you had. I’ve come away with a clear idea of the direction I want to take and relevant, industry recognised qualifications. The course packs a lot in so don’t expect to have a day off in the four months you’re away but who cares when you’re doing something different and insane pretty much every day!

Whether you’re interested in getting into the industry or not I cannot recommend this course enough. If you’re currently sat in a grey office wondering if this course is worth the investment then I can 100% confirm that signing up will be the best choice you make.

I signed up for the TEL course with no intention of becoming an exped leader. Despite this I still really enjoyed the course. It’s a really good opportunity to have adventures that are hard to come by in the normal adventure tourism industry.
The biggest issue with doing the course as someone who doesn’t want to be and exped leader is the amount of paper work. I understand that this essential for people wanting to go into the industry but for someone who doesn’t I found it incredibly dull.

But overall it’s a really fun and testing 4 months

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.

Whether you are a first-time, intermediate, or seasoned traveller looking for a chance to be exposed to surreal and lifechanging experiences, I encourage you to consider Interexchange's SACR program. After a month, I am still seeing new ways in which I have grown as a student, friend, and leader after the program. The biggest component to my endless bliss during the 8 day program was my endless curiosity which has stayed with me to this day. It is a true expedition for both the adventurous as well as those wanting to try that side of themselves out!