KING’S School students from Chester have been following in the footsteps of Paddington Bear.
Following 18 months of team building and fundraising, a group of fifth-formers and sixth-formers spent four weeks on a personal development expedition to South America, including Peru – the birthplace of the fictional bear.
The students travelled to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca and visited the Incan ruins and sacrificial table on the Isla Del Sol.
One team began the expedition with a challenging trek in the Andes of Bolivia, reaching the Laguna Glacier at more than 5,000m with the help of guide Eduardo. The team camped overnight, with temperatures dropping well below freezing.
The second team journeyed over the border into Peru, trekking in the Cotahusai Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world.
In Peru the teams took part in projects including raising a vegetable bed, levelling a football pitch and constructing a stone path. They also worked with the community in the Sacred Valley.
The group also visited the city of the Incas at Machu Picchu.
Next year the King’s School expedition will be to Madagascar to visit a school funded by King’s over the last few years.
