The trip is organised into four phases:

1) the acclimatisation phase, getting used to being in a third world country;
2) the volunteer phase, where the group volunteers on a project in a local community;
3) the trekking phase, where the group pushes all kinds of limits and embarks on a 5 day mountain trek through the Andes; and finally
4) the rest & relaxation phase.

Prior to the trip, the two major projects organised in 2011 were fundraising for our volunteer phase and our practise trek weekend through the Waitakere Ranges where, in the middle of winter, 9 students and 2 adults went on a 20 kilometre trek through the incredibly muddy and wet Waitakere ranges, carrying all of the Ecuador gear.