This spring, the 11th and 12th grade class embarked on a trip of a lifetime! The students spent three weeks immersed in Chilean culture. The trip was one part backpacking and wilderness skills, another part Environmental Science, and a third part Spanish and Latin American history.
Students began the trip with a pack on, hiking the new Patagonia National Park. In this pristine, turquoise-lake filled landscape, they reinforced essential skills such as river crossings, navigation, and back-country cooking and hygiene. From there, they did a farm-stay and learned more about hike the region’s ecology and geology along the way.
Throughout both backpacking components, they discussed Chile’s land management issues: the balance of wilderness and farmland, river preservation, and the national park vision. Finally, they traveled to Santiago and Valparaiso, where they learned about the nation’s history, both traditional and contemporary, brushed up on Spanish, sampled seafood, and walked art-filled streets.
To view photos of this trip click Flickr
Written by Emily Shoff, Trip Leader and Upper School Humanities Teacher
