Week Without Walls: our 7-day program for 11th graders
To watch a pdf of the presentation, click here
Program Introduction (for a Spanish version click here)
When emotional connections with nature are created and strengthened, personal development is enhanced. Our program “Six Days in the Patagonian Rainforest” for Nido´s 2023 Week Without Walls centers on excursions through the wooded trails of Katalapi Park, a Nature Sanctuary recognized by the Chilean government for its contributions to education, science and conservation. In this private conservation area in northern Patagonia, we offer a week of physical, mental and spiritual immersion and challenge in nature. Our program of environmental education includes many fun experiences and fosters curiosity, collaborative experiences and inner peace.
Aerial view of Katalapi Park
Katalapi Park is located in the first part of Chile´s Carretera Austral (Southern Highway), just 18.5 kilometers from Puerto Montt, the capital city of the Los Lagos region.
Students will work in teams to explore the temperate rainforest, stopping at work stations amidst the trees, fields and wetlands to observe, analyze and explore the relationships between structure and function in nature. Based upon these activities, they will reflect and analyze the relationships between and among human beings, individually and as a society, and discuss how their insights might orient their actions in future.
Sharing the bonfire
Our program lasts 7 days, including the round-trip flight between Santiago and Puerto Montt. It includes 6 days of activities in Katalapi Park and 1 day of excursions outside the park, to visit a biotechnology company created by a Nido alumna and a trip to the iconic Osorno volcano to learn about the history, culture and geography of the Lakes region.
Outdoor Education increases motivation for learning
The infrastructure at Katalapi Park is designed for groups of up to 22 people and we have considerable experience hosting this number of people. There are 2 rustic cabins with heating, bunk beds in shared rooms, common rooms, shared bathrooms with hot water and showers, a dining room, 2 open-roofed terraces, several kilometers of especially designed trails, and a recreation area. Our trails are safe, with no special hazards and thus minimal risk to visitors.
The learning objectives established by Nido de Águilas are very much in line with the objetives we establish for the school visits that we regularly receive. Using the methodology of the Experiential Learning Cycle in the context of the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals, we guide experiences of contact and immersion in nature, subsequently facilitating reflection upon the social, environmental and economic impact of humans, both individually and as societies.
History of Katalapi Park
Katalapi Park began as an initiative of the Corcuera-Vliegenthart family nearly 30 years ago, with the purchase of 24 hectares of forest land degraded by agricultural and forestry exploitation. Its mission has always been to develop and implement Outdoor Environmental Education and support scientific research projects within the context of restoration and conservation of the temperate rainforest – an ecosystem in peril throughout the world.
The Park has been managed by a not-for-profit foundation since 2019. Our principal source of financing is the sale of educational services: workshops for adults in science and environmental education, national and international tours by student groups, half-day visits by schoolchildren, a summer camp, and teacher training activities. Our staff consists of professionals trained to lead our programs.
For details of the program, please download the following files:
Program cost and reimbursement policy
