Quest Overseas

I went away to Kenya in summer 2012. I needed to refresh after a difficult year at university- and wow did Quest Overseas help me out.

The work was completely different to anything I had taken on before. To assist, not just financially, but physically, to the African Sand Dam Foundation showed me how volunteering can be done.

Not only was the project itself incredible but the general organisation was superb. My Project Leader, Rose, was inspirational and really made the most of our time.

Quest Overseas deals with every applicant, volunteer and ex-volunteer in a personal, caring manner.

Not only have I stayed in contact with Quest Overseas since returning to the UK, but they took me on board, trained me up and I am now an expedition and project leader for them. They like to invest in their own.

I had an incredible time with Quest this year doing the Villa María gap project. The project was so fun and full-on and it felt like we were doing something really worthwhile. One great thing about the it was how we'd do a wide range of things, from going to the pool to putting on cinema nights to performing as clowns. Everybody from Quest and all of the Peruvian locals that I worked with were fantastic, as were the volunteers. We still keep in touch regularly, and having worked together made the expedition all the more fun.

The expedition was so incredible and I did stuff I'd never do otherwise, such as white water rafting and cycling down death road. There were so many highlights for me, including the inca trail and Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Huacachina and La Paz.

I would thoroughly recommend Quest Overseas to anybody who's prepared to try new things wants to have an experience of a lifetime.

I was part of the ambue ari south america expedition back in 2011 and still think about it all the time! Quest Overseas are one of the many organisations ive been away with, and definitely stand out as one of the best. The leaders are so great, so helpful and such great company, and the group you are with becomes your family. This particular trip stood out for me above dozens that I had looked at for working with animals, purely because it is was with a non profit organisation, and is all about the animals. You get a hands on experience with some of the worlds most incredible animals, and you know you are helping them. Ambue Ari and Jacj Cuisi were the two animal sanctuarys that we worked with, and I miss them so much even now. The people there are amazing, and the work that they do is just incredible. I can't wait to finish university so I can get back out there! If you are looking for a wildlife project to get your hands in to, I strongly recommend this one, as it will stay in your heart forever.

I traveled with Quest Overseas to Villa Maria in 2011, it wasn't a hard decision for me when choosing who to take my gap year with, Quest just stood out as a transparent, genuine company who truly care for each of their projects and have been working a long time to build up their reputation overseas.

We organised and ran games and holiday activities for the deprived children of Villa Maria, a large slum on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. face-painting, dance routines to backstreet boys, you name it! Each day ended with an hour in the local pool being used as human climbing frames by dozens of excited kids.

The language phase in Ecuador before we went to Villa Maria also helped massively just with basin conversation with the children and when you were out in the town and things. There was great nightlife which our Spanish tutors took us out on so we got to see the REAL Ecuador as opposed to the tourist trail.

I would definitely go back and recommend Quest Overseas gap year trips to anyone looking for a gap year trip that involves volunteering and lots of fun. The Quest Staff and local staff were great creating the right balance between providing advice,support and direction and allowing us freedom and independence.