On Friday 7 March, we held a fabulous fundraising quiz for the 2026 World Challenge expedition to Peru.

There was a delicious meal of Peruvian chicken or black bean chilli with corn on the cob and arrocito (Peruvian rice), before the main event – a fiendish quiz set and delivered by Mr Daughton.

14 teams competed for the trophy, including several table of staff members, but in the end it was a parent group, ‘Eva’s Trivia Trekkers’, who emerged triumphant.

In addition to the quiz, there was a well-supported raffle with a wide range of high quality prizes, very generously donated by members of the Queenswood community.

In total, over £2,600 was raised to help students with the cost of the expedition – thank you so much to everyone who contributed!

Below, Sophie F (Year 11) explains what the expeditioners will get up to on their 21-day trip.

After the first day of travelling we’ll touch down in the ancient city of Lima, well rested before day 2 where we’ll have a guided tour around the city visiting the Pucllana Pyramid - built in the 4th century AD. We’ll also visit the city’s main hall, Franciscan monasteries and take in the beautiful ocean views at Parque del Amor.

Then in the next couple of days we’re going on a road trip to Arequipa, travelling down the coast of Paracus watching out for the pelicans and penguins. And we’ll finish off day 6 exploring Arequipa which is famous for its white stone.

On days 7 to 10 we’ll be contributing to our community-led initiative where we'll spend four days living alongside a community near Arequipa. Our tasks will just depend on what's needed most while we stay there. So we could be running creative workshops or supporting academic sessions by tutoring the children living there. No matter what we do however I can tell you that we are all so excited for whatever the days entail and cannot wait to absorb the culture of local life by learning how to cook some of their food and sharing our own culture through photos and games.

After leaving the community it is a breathtaking journey to Puno and Titicaca. The ancient city of Puno is a melting pot of cultures with its grand Spanish cathedral and Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake. We'll even be taking a boat to Uros to meet the islanders and learn about their ancestral weaving techniques, which I'm sure will be particularly interesting to our Textiles students. A little fun fact: Did you know that according to Incan legend, Lake Titicaca is the birthplace of the sun?

We will then be heading to Custo for days 13 and 14 where we will visit the Casa Concha museum and explore the Chinchero ruins where Incas believed rainbows were born. We will acclimatize to the city’s 3,500 metre high altitude by trekking from the main square to the Inca ruins at Sacsayhuaman.

Then we’ll trek in the peaks above Huarocondo first climbing to the Inca archaeological site of Wata and then following winding trails, mountain ridges and trickling streams. We’ll pitch our tents and doze off looking up at the beautiful starry night sky -but definitely not before a good few games of snap.

For the final two days before our flight we will visit Machu Picchu, a 15th century Inca citadel which is one of the most well preserved archaeological sites in the world. The whole city was built without any mortar or wheels so it's incredible to think about how they transported those 50-tonne rocks up the mountain. We will listen to our tour guide explaining the history and culture of the “lost city” and be able to wander around marvelling at all of the sites.

Then on our final day we’ll pack everything up and head to the airport thinking about how incredibly immersive and amazing the experience was. We will learn confidence, organisation, resilience and independence among so many other things.

Thank you so much for listening and for coming to this event and I hope this sheds some light on what our travels in Peru will be like.