On 18th July 2012 15 students from Years 11,12 and 13 together with three members of staff headed off on a four week adventure to Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java, Indonesia. Travelling with Camps International the group stayed at five camps where they lived and worked alongside the community. The group also got to stay in a jungle resort where they visited an orangutan sanctuary. All students that took part in the experience spent two years fundraising to pay for the trip with each earning 70 UCAS points. Below is a report by Ellie Gray:
Borneo was one of the most interesting and exciting things I’ve ever done, experiencing a different way of life for a month opened my eyes and made me realise that not everyone is as lucky as we are. No matter which camp we went to the staff were all so welcoming and helpful throughout the whole experience. The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the pygmy elephants feeding by the side of the Kinabatangan river, it was so surreal that just a few feet away were these beautiful animals. The five day jungle trek was very…challenging, 9 hour days in the humid weather was a definitely a struggle, but we completed it all in one piece, the first group in country to complete the jungle trek with no casualties!! I think that everyone would agree that we couldn’t have asked for a better time!