Andalucía has so much offer visitors. You can spend weeks in the region and still only scratch the surface! In March, Colonel Frank Seely Academy visited on a tour of the region and Steve, Blue Stamp Travel’s Managing Director was lucky enough to tag along. An action-packed four-day tour took in four towns along the Costa Del Sol and inland in the mountains inland. Steve also picked up some fantastic examples of good practice for teachers running trips abroad – check them out below.
Day 1 – Málaga
After an early start, we landed in Málaga and took a short hop to the old town where we visited the central market to practise some Spanish whilst purchasing lunch. There were a lot of enthusiastic requests coupled with some pointing and learning new names for different fruits and snacks presented in a beautiful format. Did you know you could buy ‘Fresa Blanca’ (white strawberries)?! The fresh fruit and buzzing atmosphere in the market was certainly a good way to wake up and arrive in Spain. Students were given a quiz to take in the market to identify different stalls and find prices for different produce.
After a visit to the well-preserved ancient fortress of the Alcazabar and Málaga port, it was back on the coach for 20 minutes to travel to Benalmádena and a buffet dinner – a welcome sight!
Day 2 – Ronda and Mijas
It was an early breakfast to make the most of the day in Ronda and Mijas. Ronda, famous for the stunning views over the valley and old bridges, is a tourists’ dream – loads of opportunities for photos and some amazing places to eat and drink. Students practised asking for their meals in Spanish and tried some adventurous dishes from the Tapas menus. Of course, we also managed to try almost all of the ice cream flavours between us!
From Ronda, it was back on the coach to take us to Mijas, famous for its donkey taxis. The weather was incredibly kind to us – not a cloud in the sky – meaning we could see the coast and take in all the vistas.
Day 3 – Benalmádena
Day 3 was a bit different. Starting with a Flamenco lesson in Benalmádena, learning the classic Rumba rhythms, we built from simple clapping and some creative hand-waving to a fully choreographed dance-off complete with shouting and stamping. We almost burned off the ice cream calories!
From the high-energy dancing to a more zen experience, observing the butterflies at the Mariposario (butterfly farm). It was quite beautiful watching hundreds of varieties of butterflies and moths flying around the dome looking for places and people to land on. It was a dramatic change of pace and a chance to recover from dancing.
After another great photo opportunity where we could see Gibraltar and Africa in the distance, we headed down to the teleférico (cable car) station. After a quick stop at Carrefour to pick up a picnic lunch, we took the 15-minute journey to the top of the mountain where we enjoyed a guided visit around the hilly paths. Good footwear and leg muscles are a must!
After returning to the hotel, we took a trip to the beach for a sunset game of ‘chaos’ and ball games whilst others took in the fresh air and rested their feet.
After another lovely evening meal, it was time to turn in. There was not a peep from the students after lights out. After such an eventful day, it was straight to sleep ready for Day 4!
Day 4 – Benalmádena Port
A short trip on the local bus took us to Benalmádena to spend some time in the port area and another meal at the local restaurants. Refreshed and refuelled, we headed back to the hotel to get the coach to the airport for our journey home.
It was a fantastic four days with the students and staff of Colonel Frank Seely. An incredible group of young people led by an energetic enthusiastic, caring group of staff.
Some top tips to take away for planning your next trip:
- Staffing your trip with a mix of school colleagues can really add to the experience for students. Not every member of staff has to be a classroom teacher: support staff in school can bring valuable skills to enhance the trip and as an added benefit, it may reduce staff cover costs.
- The phrase “Earned Autonomy” was new to me. The concept is simple and it was executed fairly and consistently by the trip leader. When students demonstrate that they can follow instructions, keep to time, respect others around them etc., they earn free time when visiting cities. If they can’t do these things then they have to stay with staff or have reduced free time. Phrasing it in such a way that free time with remote supervision is earned, not expected, made it feel like students were expected to behave responsibly. It worked: the students really understood and respected the structure that the staff implemented.
- Using What Three Words as a tool to agree on meeting points helped students. It requires very little time or explanation to simply tell students to make a note of the location so that they can find their way back easily each time to meeting points.
- Using phone alarms for meeting points was another very simple and effective technique. Before students headed off to explore, each student set an alarm for 5 minutes before the meeting time. No one was left waiting at any point – incredible! (I am sure that the school’s culture of conscientious students also helped a lot too!)
If a trip like this appeals to you, why not find out about planning a trip to Andalucía with Blue Stamp Travel? Contact us to discuss your requirements or submit an enquiry and one of the team will be in touch.
