Hello to all of our blog readers and a very warm welcome to this week’s International Summer Camp Montana blog!  Camp is buzzing with activity and there is lots of work underway that will be completed over the next 2 weeks.  Though the sun is not shining in Crans-Montana today, summer is definitely here and soon it will be time to welcome campers from far and wide to camp!

This week’s blog focuses on the excursions that we take campers on; not every day is spent here at camp!  There are lots of exciting adventures possible not only in the Valais region, but also within a few hours drive of Crans-Montana.  Each of our four sections have two excursions during their stay at La Moubra.

An excursion day begins with a good breakfast like any other and there is just enough time to collect a packed lunch, as the entire morning and afternoon is spent outside camp!  Then it is time to board the bus and get en route to one of our thrilling excursion destinations.  Here are some examples of where we go;

• Lausanne – for a trip to the Olympic Museum and shopping in the city.
• Zermatt – a chance to walk through the beautiful ski resort and catch a glimpse of the World famous Matterhorn.
• Saas Fee – step on to the Glacier and touch snow, whilst also exploring the ‘Ice Grotto’.
• Château de Chillon – take a step back into history at the castle on the shore of Lake Geneva!
• Aqua Parc – a real favourite of both campers and staff!  Why not try the water-slides if you are feeling brave enough?
• Geneva – a visit to the Red Cross Museum and shopping in the city are on the agenda.
• Bern – see the capital city of Switzerland and its magnificent architecture.  An opportunity to shop is also part of this trip!
• Happyland – just for the Juniors.  A day at a theme park in the Valais with some really exciting rides!

During the excursions, counsellors accompany their campers for much of the trip.  Juniors and Pioneers are supervised at all times, whilst Champions and Seniors are given a little more ‘free-time’ during shopping visits or in the Aqua Parc for example.  However, a meeting point and time is always agreed and campers are always in groups of 3 or more if unsupervised.

The excursion program is rotated each year.  This means that if a camper were to come back in the same session each year, their excursion program would be different from the year previous.  The only question is, ‘where would you like to go?!’