Prost Deutschland 2007 took us to Germany in June and July. Our first stop was Berlin. The 3 days spent in the 'Divided City' was an experience to remember for ever. We visited the largest Jewish Museum in Europe, felt what life would be like in a fully-functional atomic bunker and saw evidence of heroic escapes from East to West. The kids learnt how to criss-cross this huge city – 7 times larger than Paris – by U-Bahn. Our transport were as varied as the activities we were involved in: a 240 km per hour Intercity Express journey, a leisurely excursion on a Rhine Riverboat steamer , a chairlift ride up the vine covered slopes of the Rhine Valley, a Seilbahn ascent up the Zugspitze, the roaring 4x4's adventure in the scorching desert of Qatar. We crawled around in the dark depths of the dungeons at Burg Rheinfels, slept in medieval castles, kissed the monkey in Heidelberg, took a dip in the choppy water of the Bodensee, played in fresh, powder-soft snow on the Zugspitze, felt the suffering at Dachau, rafted in the glacier waters of the Berchtesgadenerland, sipped hot-chocolate where Hitler drank tea at his Kehlsteinhaus high up in the Bavarian Alps and shopped and shopped and shopped! After a funfilled and awesome 18 days we returned with bags loaded with all kinds of goodies: from cuckoo clocks, to caps and shirts to tons of delicious German chocolate. It was difficult to say our goodbyes since the Prost Deutschland group became like one BIG family!
Andiamo Italia 2006
Andiamo Italia 2006 was a similar experience as Vive la France in 2004 but of course with the difference that it was Italy we visited. To make it even more special, we had the privilege to be part of the Soccer World Cup Final - when Italy won. What a day!
In Italy we once more limited the hours travelling – travelling at the most 3-4 hours per day (many days we did not travel at all). This time we stayed in Youth Hostels instead of camping with a sleeper coach.
Andiamo Italia 2006 was an amazing experience with new and different activities every day. Not only did we visit the 'must sees' in Italy e.g. art and monuments in Florence, Pisa and Milan, the romance of Venice, the history in Rome but we also visited a piece of South African soil, bought with blood during World War II, where relatives of tour members were buried, World War I trenches high up in the mountains, a medieval castle where kids and adults alike could dress up in armour, and many other exciting places.
Because we design our tours as active excursions, we also went white water rafting in glacier water at the foot of the Alps – a highlight for many tour members.
And what will a trip to Europe be without snow? So we ascended by cable car to near 3 000m where we hiked in high mountain terrain, spending a night in one of the oldest mountain hotels in the Alps.
From the Alps we travelled our longest haul back to the Mediterranean where we spent 2 glorious days in golden sunshine while visiting tiny fishing villages clinging to the rocks above clear blue water, hiking the Via dell Amore.
On our return journey we visited Qatar where we slept in the desert under the stars. We swam in the Persian Gulf, dune bashed by 4x4 with our guides and experienced an evening cruise on a dhow.
Memories to last a lifetime!
Vive la France 2004
Vive la France 2004 extended this type of adventure described above to any active teenager – not only to hikers.
During the European Summer of 2004 we spent 17 glorious days travelling through France on a sleeper coach. This tour was a History, Art, Cultural and Adventure experience.
The logic behind an European Tour, visiting only one country at a time, is to have as much time as possible with 'feet on the ground', amongst local people, taking part in activities that one has little opportunity doing in South Africa and minimising the number of hours spent on a coach travelling through countryside where one would rather have visited.
On Vive la France we visited the saddest of sites e.g. World War I battlefields, cemetery and memorial, the only Nazi concentration camp on French soil, the D-Day beaches where our guide pointed out to us that even in high summer nobody plays on these beaches because ' who would ever want to play in a graveyard?' We also had lots of fun canoeing through the million years old natural arch at Pont d'Arc, swimming in the Mediterranean, cheering the knights on at a medieval jousting tournament, visiting a Rock Concert with 80 000 French youth and enjoying the beauty and art of Paris.
On our way back we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Cairo in Egypt where we went to see the pyramids, museums and many other fascinating sites.
Swiss Tour 2003
Swiss Tour 2003
In order to also accommodate learners from outside our school community, Swiss Tour 2003 was organised by TES Adventure Travel CC. We once again hiked in high mountain terrain. At Zermatt we visited the ice cave and at Jungfraujoch we skittled and tobogganed down the snowy slopes at breathtaking speed. We hiked across glaciers and spent a night at 4000m in a mountain hotel where many experienced their first snowfall and that in the middle of summer.
Swiss Tour 2001
Swiss Tour 2001 involved more day hiking from base camps. We backpacked on 2 occasions into the Alps staying over in mountain hotels below the Jungfrau and the Matterhorn. The team attended a Swiss folk show where they experienced alp horn music, yodelling, flag throwing and folk dancing. We visited the Trummelbach Falls as well as the Rhine Falls, relaxed on river boats and ferries, swam in the glacier water of alpine lakes, glissaded down snowy slopes, visited a castle and spent time in medieval villages.
Swiss Tour 1999
Swiss Tour '99 was a backpacking expedition in the Bernese Oberland, where we backpacked across mountain passes and through valleys, accumulating 6 000 metres of height over a 10 day period! The view from the top of the Schilthorn was absolutely stunning. The snow at high altitude of summer 1999 was extraordinary and glissading (bum sliding) gave us that extra mountain experience. We stayed in many different types of accommodation: from dorm rooms of hotels, high altitude mountain huts, youth hostels, cabins to even in a barn. And to get to the mountain huts, we of course had to hike, -at least some of the way!