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5 Months

Mixed Core Programme

School Handles The Theory. We’ll Take It From Here.

Five months in Zimbabwe. A proper schedule. High standards. Real responsibility. You’ll work, build, lead and solve problems in an environment that expects more than good intentions and decent grades. Plenty of people leave school looking impressive on paper. That’s usually where it ends.

Duration

5 Months

Price

$11,500

When

17 Aug – 11 Dec

Ages

17 – 21

THE CURRICULUM

The Stuff Nobody Taught You. All of It. At Once.

Five months of learning by doing. You will weld joints across multiple methods and metals. Wire circuits, fault-find electrical systems and install plumbing from source to drainage. You will construct walls, mix mortar and understand how buildings actually come together. In the bush, you will identify species, track animals, learn bushcraft and survival, study ecosystems and work alongside conservation practitioners on a working game estate.

You will train hard – running, strength work, circuits, endurance hikes and fitness testing that measures real output, not just effort. You will earn a certified first aid qualification. Behind a camera, you will learn aperture, composition and storytelling, then edit professional-quality photo and video content. You will write and deliver presentations, debate on your feet, pitch business ideas Dragons’ Den style and manage a project through every phase from planning to delivery. You will learn how money works – not in theory, but by building income statements and tracking cash flow.

WHY THIS COURSE?

Preparation That Actually Prepares You

There is a version of the next five months where you wait. Wait for university to start. Wait for clarity. Wait for someone to tell you what comes next. Mixed Core is the opposite of waiting. You leave with a first aid certification, technical trade credentials and a portfolio of media work that demonstrates professional capability. You leave knowing how to present an idea, challenge it, fund it and deliver it. You leave having cooked for a group, led a group, failed in front of a group and earned trust from people who started as strangers from four different countries. The programme runs through some of Zimbabwe’s most extraordinary landscapes – Victoria Falls, the Matobo Hills, Chimanimani, Lake Kariba. You will raft, climb, ride, hike and camp in places that demand something real from you. The experience is formative, but it is also strategic. You return to university or work with direction, with proof of what you can do, and with the kind of confidence that only comes from being tested and finding out you were more capable than you thought. That is not a gap year. That is a head start.

What’s Included?
  • Accommodation at La Rochelle Country House (twin/shared rooms)
  • All meals (estate-grown, home cooked)
  • Transport, gear, camping kit, permits
  • Expert facilitation with top educators and certified field specialists
  • 24/7 support from staff
Accommodation & Meals

The accommodation is based at La Rochelle Country House, a working botanical estate in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands, that serves as both home and launchpad for unforgettable journeys. We have full access to Falcon College facilities including the school sanatorium, swimming pool, tennis and squash courts, sports fields and gymnasium. Meals are generally freshly prepared, home cooked meals, made with estate-grown seasonal ingredients.

Exclusions
  • Flights and other travel costs
  • Visas and visa related expenses
  • Visas and visa related expenses
Download the Information Pack Here

Ready for the Ultimate Life Experience?

★★★★★

“Before the Quest Program, I was unsure about what I wanted to do with my one wild and precious life. Now, at the end of the most incredible five months of my life, I have a renewed sense of self-worth and direction, confidence in my capabilities, and have tangibly improved physically, socially, and psychologically. Quest has provided me with a “warrior foundation”, one that has prepared me for my further “quest” into life, and for that, I am eternally grateful and finally feel ready to start a new chapter.””

Kristen, Mixed Core 2022

Never in my life have I felt so close to so many people at once. I am used to finding friends in different friendship groups and buzzing between them, sort of aware of my solitude, but Quest really gave me a family of friends that I feel I have a true place within; where I am valued and understood and accepted.

Anu, United Kingdom
Mixed Core 2024

Personally I can’t see Quest ending because it has moulded me into the person I am right now and when I go back home. Quest has been an incredibly influential force in my life and even though I don’t feel it now, I have progressed and grown so much and I almost can’t wait to come back home just to truly see the difference in myself.

★★★★★

Carrie, United Kingdom


Mixed Core 2024

On my journey to achieve here at Quest, I have fallen, made mistakes, been immature, but I have never stayed down. I pride myself in shaking it off and working EVEN HARDER to make up for those mistakes, and some.

★★★★★

Lane-Hans, Canada

Mixed Core 2024

Physically and mentally I have never felt stronger. I arrived here fragile and often lacking the energy or willpower to do things I felt were out of my control or comfort zone. I feel confident in my abilities and I now know that I can do hard things, even if I fail in the beginning, even if it takes multiple tries and it feels like hell.

★★★★★

Arabella, United Kingdom

Mixed Core 2021

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