Alpha 2 - Macho Trek

From Back - Noud (Netherlands), Shona (Northern Ireland), Asher (Scotland), Nic (England), Christophe (England), Stu (Isle of Eigg, Scotland)

Second Row - Scarlett (Switzerland/England), Chris (England), Stevo (England), Jo (Scotland), Kelvin (Hong Kong),

Frount Row - Rachel (England) Anna/Me (Australia)

One of my favourite things about the Macho trek is that it leaves from right here at Fieldbase. This means the fieldbase crew can "enjoy" watching the last minute preperations before waving the team off on their adventure. This time the team were pretty much under control and headed off by about 7am, well they got about 20 metres before Steve's backpack broke and they all returned.

So far the team are doing brilliantly, despite the continuation of the rain. They are receiving their first food drop tonight at the La Esperanza Rangers Station after a day in the jungle. This group will be doing more wildcamping than the others and their first major milestone, The Dragon, is just days away. We will fill you in on their latest adventures when Rachel and Chris return tomorrow.

How Amazing is the New Blog!!!

I wish wish wish I could take credit but in this case it was the fabulous Niall and Ross (Macpherson) who spent an entire day, when they could have had free time, to make our blog look so sleek!

So in their absence I have promised to keep the blog entries flowing.

THANKS A MILLION

MUCHAS GRACIAS

Meeting the 08J crew

Over the next week I am endevouring to post profiles on members of the expedition - this may be a gradual process as I wait for responses via the radio, but I've loved these responses so far - hope you do too!

Name: Pedro
Age: not for public view

Country: Argentina

Highlight so far: Seeing water running through the trench in Achuapa

Missed the most: Family and friends, and watching Liverpool storm the premiership

Do differently on return: Not pack so much useless stuff when travelling

Name: Rose Drew

Age: 26

Country: England

Highlight so far: Walking over the rim of the crater on Volcan Cosiguina and looking out over trek route and Pacific Ocean

Missed the most: simple luxuries like a bed and hot showers

Do differently on return: Have more confidence in self

Name: Ross McKenzie

Age: 29

Country: Scotland

Highlight so far: Finally having the opportunity to climb Volcan Cosiguina and remembering just how lucky I am to do this job.... oh and working with Anna!!!

Missed the most: Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and watching the Hibees

Do differently on return: Try to be more like Anna!!!

Name: Georgie Thomas

Age:18

Country: England

Highlight so far: Trekking - The Waterfall at La Lira

Missed the Most: Family

Do differently on return: Flush toilet paper down loo and be happier in life in general

Name: Viviana Aguiliar

Age: 23

Country: Costa Rica

Highlight so far: Returning to the community in Nicaragua where I worked as a venturer, meeting great people from around the world, and getting to know more of my own country.

Miss the most: Facebook!

Name: Jamie Buttery

Age: 19

Country: England

Highlight so far: Chance to work out plans for when I get home

Missed the most: Family!!!

Do differently on return: Go out and get a job and be more active.

Name: Ross Macpherson

Age: 18

Country: Scotland

Highlight so far: Meeting and getting to know everyone on Raleigh

Missed the most: Family and friends and good old Scottish banter

Do differently on return: Be less materialistic and less focused on myself and more on other people...oh and shower less!!

Name: Valerie Crasemann

Age: 18

Country: Germany

Highlight so far: Trekking through communities in Nicaragua and meeting and playing with the kids

Missed the most: Family

Do differently on return: Be more appreciative of everything, get more out of life, and build a long drop in the back garden

Name: Niall Mullan

Age: 19

Country: Northern Ireland

Highlight so far: Showering "el natural" in La Cangreja

Missed the most: Meat and Milk

Do differnetly on return: Eat on a more modest budget

Phase 3 - Allocations

Alpha 1 - San Lucas Island

VMs - Pedro, Cam, Rose for first half to be replaced by Roly
Annabel Roberts
Natalia Guzmán
Valerie Crasemann
Niall Mullan
Ross MacPherson
Holly Winser
Vincent Skiller
Georgina Thomas
Jamie Buttery
Mick Van Oorschot
Juriaan Boogaard

Alpha 2 - Macho Trek

VMs - Stu, Stevo, Nic/Rachel/Anna

Noud Louwers
Joanne Miller
Asher Murphy
Shona McGuigan
Scarlett Storr
Christophe Thomas
Lyan Suárez
Ka Ming Lee

This trek will start at Raleigh International’s fieldbase in Turrialba and proceed through the Rio Macho Forestry Reserve for the first week passing through Tapanti National Park. After climbing up to nearly 3,000 metres the group will then follow the ridges of the Fila de Bustamante towards Cerro Dragon. From here the group will aim for Cerro Turrubares before heading down to the sea at Playa Hermosa where the groups will spend a couple of relaxing days at this beautiful beach, famous for its nesting turtles.

Alpha 3 - La Cangreja

VMs - James, Libby, Viv















Emily Waterhouse
Andrey Vasquez
Jennifer Lane
Nathan Evans
Harriet Cottrell
Alastair Burgwin
Matthew Evans
Margaret Cameron
Rosemary McGinley

La Cangreja is one of Costa Rica’s newest National Parks which owes its name to the striking 1,305 metre peak Cerro Cangreja. The park has a mixture of Tropical Humid forest and Pre-Montane forest with a number of species of plant found nowhere else in the world which makes the area important for research purposes and for conservation. The park is also blessed with amazing waterfalls only to be found through exploring the forest. At present the government is developing the facilities in the park and during the expedition Raleigh venturers will continue the trail for wheel chair users to allow all visitors the chance to enjoy this stunning tropical forest.

Blogging - Anna's how to guide

It has been brought to my attention that some people's messages are not coming through!!! Instead some (including those posted by my mum!) have gone directly to an email address, never to be seen by blog control, and as a result not making it onto the blog, nor passed down the radio to our intrepid travellers!!!

I think I know what we have been doing wrong. After each blog is the "comments" section. You have to click on "comments" not the little envelope in order to leave a blog message. Clicking on the envelope allows you to send on that blog entry to friends, family and colleagues. Ideal for bragging!!! So simply click on comments and if you don't want to register you can use the anonymous call sign and simply sign off on your message. I really hope this makes sense, and I hope this leads to even more messages on our blog. As you can see Niall and Ross have done an amazing job on their blog makeover. They spent almost all day yesterday and we are so pleased.

I am loving the blog, I think it is a brilliant way to connect even more people to what we are doing here, the lessons we are learning, the friendships we are making and the experiences we are living. Your messages also give the most amazing boost to people so please keep them coming.

Alpha 1 are literally packing their bus now and so once they are away, the clean up is done, and I have had my 5th coffee of the morning, I promise to write about our new Alpha 2 and 3.

Saludos
Anna

Changes for Alpha 1

As you are probably aware, we have had an unprecedented amount of rain recently and as a result the road to Roca Quemada (where we are building the school), has been cut off. Although repair work is currently underway we are unsure of how long this will take. We have therefore decided to deploy Alpha 1 to a different project.

After spending the last 2 days in Field Base (much to my delight because I love having them here) Alpha 1 will deploy tomorrow to San Lucas Island. San Lucas is Costa Rica's equivalent of Alcatraz. A prison island until 1991 it was left abandoned for several years before being declared a wildlife reserve in 2001. Raleigh has worked on the island on several occassions, and Alpha 1 will return to help develop the island's limited infrastructure, paint the ranger station and clear one of its many beaches. The island is an incredibly beautiful and very special place and Alpha 1 will be lucky enough to be its only inhabitants - except of course for the howler monkeys, crocodiles, deer, spiders, snakes and a couple of rangers. The group will sleep out in bashas from which they will be able to watch the sunrise over the ocean each day. This will certainly be a once in a lifetime experience.

San Lucas has an incredible story which I will endeavour to share with you over the next few weeks, but in the meantime check it out on the internet.


As I mentioned we at Fieldbase have loved having Alpha 1 here. They are truly a fabulous group of young people who have dealt with the delays, the uncertainty and the unexpected changes with great maturity and an open and positive attitude. They have helped out massively here and I will never get tired of saying how great I think they all are.

Georgie, Natalia, Abbie, Niall, Ross, Juriaan, Mick, Val, Holly, Jamie, Vince, Rose, Roly, Pedro and Cam - We wish you a wonderful phase.

Sad Goodbyes

Changeover was tinged with some sadness for the expedition as we said our goodbyes to three truly awesome guys - Ollie, Scott and Steve. Guys you have had a massive impact on a lot of people, thank you for all your energy, your commitment to the projects and to the group, your leadership and your friendship. Such brilliant people you will be truly missed. The very best of luck on your next adventures, take great care of yourselves and stay in touch.

Foam Party Fun at Changeover

We have just finished one of the best changeovers I have ever been involved with. With a wonderfully relaxed environment, it was a chance for all of us to celebrate what we have achieved, and recharge our batteries ahead of Phase 3. Our highlight was probably the foam party, the photos say it all!!!

Reflections from Miraflor - Alpha 3

Maribios no match for Alpha 2

For the past 16 days Alpha 2 have trekked over 280km through communities, up and down volcanoes, along very dusty tracks and even crossed a few rivers.

Along they way we have seen the most amazing sights ever such as sunrise and sunset at the top of Volcan Cosigina and the most gorgeous pine looking forests you have ever seen. As we had just walked on average 22km a day we dreaded the fact that we had to put up the tents so we used all the Spanish that we knew and managed to wangle nights in community centres and schools in the villages that we passed through.

The locals were fantastic, always helping us to find somewhere to sleep and some even cooked for us which just comes to show no matter what they have or don’t have they are eager to help. I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank them all, as for me it made the trip.
Eventually, despite numerous blisters, mosquito bites, scorpion bites and some good cases of D and V, Alpha 2 arrived at their final destination, Mechapa, with their heads held very high indeedo.

Ross MacPherson

Sunrise on Volcan Cosigina - surely a sight never to be forgotten

Alpha 1 - Digging a trench and so much more

Alpha 1 have arrived back at fieldbase after a fantastic phase! We managed to break our target of supplying water to one house in the community and in the end installed taps in not only two houses but also the local school. After 15 days of digging, we had an 1800m long trench and were called ‘record breakers’ by Brigado Sosa, President of the local farmer’s cooperative and link between us and the community. He praised our ‘brigade’ for achieving more on a phase than any other water project in Achuapa. Rhys and Pedro eventually won the rock competition with a rock that took four people to move - unfortunately none of Roly’s rocks quite met the mark. The community gave us a huge send off, with singing and a piñata and many of the local men grabbed the opportunity to ask the girls to dance. We were all very sad to have left the community behind after being welcomed with such kindness by all the families, and there were a few tears, but I think we are all glad to see the back of the rice and beans!

Emily - Alpha 1

Calling All Bloggers

Here at field base we have created a real life blog spot where we have posted your comments onto the board for everyone to read over changeover. This is in additon to them being read over the radio - so if you would like something to be posted on the wall please get blogging!!!! I can't tell you how much your messages mean to people, (including me!)

Saludos
Anna

Final Night Celebrations in Nicaragua

So the time is coming for our Alpha groups to bid farewell to their host families and communities and begin their 2 day bus trip back to Field Base. Tonight each of the groups are celebrating in different ways.

Alpha 1 - Are making a final push to complete as much of the water project as possible. The size of the project and some unexpected delays means that some of the work will be completed by the community in the next week or so, nevertheless the group managed to connect the first of their pipes yesterday so that water did indeed flow. Today they are hoping to connect the pipes to the school building where their fiesta will be held tonight - this would be a great way to end! They have also been practicing their performance for the party when they will each sing their national anthem - New Zealand, Argentina, Northern Ireland, Australia (represented by resident Roly), Netherlands, Costa Rica and England will all be represented - not sure the community are ready for this!!!

Alpha 2 - After a massive day (over 30kms) yesterday the group have now arrived at the beach!!!! They began their morning on the top of Volcan Cosiguina - they tell me the sunrise was unbelievable, and that the views were fantastic. Can't wait to see the photos as the crater is truly spectacular and from the summit you can see all the way to Honduras on one side and out across the Pacigic Ocean on the other. The group will have a day to relax on the beach before they rejoin the other two groups en route to field base - Congratulations Alpha 2!

Alpha 3 - are finishing off painting the outside of the rangers station, completing the outside kitchen (which they have built) and tying up all other lose ends from the multiple of tasks they have completed. Tonight the El Cebollal community will kill a pig in their honor, there will be a huge feast and no doubt plenty of singing and dancing.

Meanwhile back here at Field Base the rain continues!!! 5 days straight now - we're hoping the venturers will bring some of that Nicaraguan sunshine with them!!

Hasta luego
Anna (Deputy Expedition Leader)

Messages from Alpha Groups

For Emily's mum and dad - so sorry for not mentioning Em on the blog huge oversight on my behalf- she is a real star and is amazing on the radio doing some excellent SITREPs - Em is always in great form and is doing brilliantly as ever!

For EJ - It's amazing out here, but love and miss you all. Thank god for Craig! love Abbie

Cam sends lots of love to Tim - she is currently climbing a volcano and you know how much she loves volcanoes!

Mags sends love to family and to Jules - she is continuing to do brilliantly!

Ross sends love to all his supporters - mum and Cherlie and Laura and his uncles and aunties - I personally love the messages you guys send and love reading them on the radio!

Stu sends lots of love to his two girls, he is showing your picture to the children he is meeting in Nicaragua - they always say that you are Muy Bonita!! Also a big hello to the Isle of Egg (that comes from me too, I love hearing all the stories about the island)

To the Spencer clan - thanks for all your messages, I know Jen sends you a lot of love and she and we all appreciate your support


So the gang will be back on Sunday evening - we are expecting them at around 5pm, when they will be greeted with Rosie and Sandra's speciality - the BBQ. Highlights of this changeover will include a foam party, our skits and a follow up (grudge) football match - volunteer managers and staff vs venturers - the venturers (especially Ollie) are keen to make up for last changeover's defeat when the older members of our expedition doubled their score!!

Everyone will head out again on the 26th November and we will be returning to Roca Quemada to complete the school and to La Cangreja to continue with our jungle camp and path building, as well as heading out on trek.

Remember it is not too late to put something in the post for your loved one- letters are like gold out here! and there is always the electronic means as these guys will have internet access on both Monday and Tuesday (24th and 25th)

Oh I forgot to tell you - the earth moved here at fieldbase last night - I woke to a moving bed but decided it must have been the wind! Rachel my fellow fieldbaser pointed it out this morning and suddenly it all made sense- an earthquake! The epicentre was in Panama where is measured 6.5. Never a dull moment.

Saludos
Anna

But what about Alpha 1??

Supporters of Alpha 1's might be wondering where are the updates on those guys- well we don't have any photos as yet (they will be here on Saturday) but I can let you know that they are doing brilliantly up in the very remote Los Playones in Achuapa. The team have completed over 1.5km of trench which is very impressive given the difficult terrain they are digging through. After some delay their builder has arrived as has the cement and they will begin work on the water pump and tank today.

Los Playones is very isolated, and Alpha 1 are a long way from their creature comforts. The Rio Grande is right at their door however, and all are enjoying swimming and bathing there on a regular basis. Both venturers and VMs are enjoying the unique experience of living with families, Asher tells me that her little brother is a real character and is teaching her some new dance moves - should be interesting. Noud is speaking a lot of Spanish and has impressed everyone with his linguistic skills, while Libby is still refusing to share the only bed on offer with either Roly or Pedro who are still on the floor (quite right!). Jo is doing really well and sends her love to everyone and Hattie and Shona are settling into the Raleigh lifestyle with ease. Jen is also having a great time and sends her love to all the Spencer clan (yes I have been passing on your messages) Stephen and Andrey are as cool as ever, Steve is our best model of Raleigh T-Shirts and no doubt he is continuing to set the trends up in Achuapa. The group is currently being visited by the Field Base team and no doubt emptying the mobile shop (especially Rhys who is particularly partial to our shop goodies)- I shall fill you in on anymore news as it comes.



Hasta luego

Anna

Alpha 3 Explores Miraflor

November 5th saw the entire expedition deploy to Nicaragua for their Phase Two adventure. It was the first time in Raleigh’s history that all participants have been able to travel up together. The epic journey to Nicaragua (two days in total) took us past two large lakes; Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua with its two volcanic peaks.

Along the way Alpha 3 were abandoned in Esteli where they were to catch another bus out to their community in Miraflor, whilst after some minor tyre repairs, Alpha 1 and 2 continued on to their respective drop off points.

I was fortunate enough to deploy with Alpha 3 for the first 7 days of the phase. In that time I was able to work and live alongside a fantastic group of people. The project in Miraflor covered a diverse range of activities from tree planting to creating and restoring trails through the reserve as well as being educated on how to make organic compost and building view points.

For many of the venturers, this was also their first opportunity at living with the communities. We were all split into pairs and allocated house parents and for many of us that also involved looking after and playing with our new found brothers and sisters!

All the families were incredibly hospitable and after developing our long-drop skills and mastering the art of washing out of a bucket, everyone seemed more than happy in their family setting. An evenings ‘house-crawl’ enabled everyone to visit each others houses and make comparisons on who has the most number of chickens and who had the smelliest long-drop.

For all of us this was a great chance to put our Spanish phrases into practice even if they were accompanied by many exaggerated hand movements.

Most evenings after work the locals would invite us for a game of baseball on the village plaza. Although the horses had to be moved out the way first, this was far more than an evenings ‘knock-about’. The first strike of the first match saw Christophe destroy the bat but thankfully a few more were on hand. This was a great opportunity to interact with our community and much fun was had by all.

On our day off we were able to take a short walk to a waterfall where most of us took this opportunity as a chance to bathe. With shampoo, soap and razors in hand we set about beautifying ourselves, much to the amusement of our onlookers!

Unfortunately my time with Alpha 3 came to an end when Julian arrived and whisked me off to visit the other Alpha groups. But all of Alpha 3 send their ‘hellos’ to families and friends back home and many of them have popped letters in the post.

Rachel Staniland

(Logistics)

Alpha 2 - Under the Nicaraguan sun

For the past 9 days I have been lucky enough to join Alpha 2 as they follow the Maribios Volcano chain towards the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua, on their 16 day, 280 km trekking adventure. While this was my fourth trip to Nicaragua it was my first time trekking here and it was a whole new experience. The beauty of this country and the friendliness of the people never ceases to amaze me, and treklking certainly gives you a chance to experience it up close and personal.

Alpha 2 is made up of the most amazing group of young people who each demonstrated incredible strength and commitment to overcome the many challenges we faced. Challenges like feet filled with blisters, an incredibly hot sun, very basic living conditions and long days carrying some decent size packs. They did this with a great energy and sense of fun and were incredibly supportive to each other. I loved getting to know them all and enjoyed the banter and conversations, I learnt a lot and shared many laughs. It was a brilliant experience for which I am very grateful. I know that their progress is being followed closely by their support crews back home, and I just want to say that you should be incredibly proud of these guys, I certainly am!




Day by Day Round Up


Day 1 - Bus to the border with Alpha 1 & 3 - first taste of Nicaragua and a glimpse of the magnificant Lake Managua. A slight hold up as we found ourselves in the middle of a political rally for one of the parties vying for votes in the local elections.

Day 2 -An American yellow school bus takes us to the town of Esteli to drop off Alpha 3 and then on towards Achuapa where we left literally by the side of the road to begin our trek. A somewhat leisurely lunch of tuna and crackers followed by a couple of river crossing, a bit of up hill and we arrive at our first destination - the back yard of local family where we camp amongst the menagery of pigs, dogs, cats and cockrels.

Day 3 - Nicaragua is a great place to trek as every stop comes equipped with alarm clock in the form of those cockrels I mentioned, they start at around 3am and don't really seem to stop. This was our first long day and a taste of what was to come, with some long dusty roads which gave our unaccustumed feet a bit of a pounding. We arrived at Achuapa our destination close to sunset and stayed in a building that Raleigh helped to build a few years ago. Taking advantage of our location we dined out at a local comedor and then joined some of the local children for some skipping and a bit of salsa dancing (led by Ross and Niall who had their own special interpretation).

Day 4 - headed west out of town, and up into the hills where we arrived in the early afternoon and headed straight to the river to cool off and get rid of the dust. This was probably one of my highlights, we were all so happy and kept the locals entertained with our antics!


Day 5 - The Mayoral Election days in Nicaragua meant that few people were around as they had headed off to their closest village to vote, we saw just a handful of people all day. A big river crossing was a highlight as was reaching our final destination after treking through an intense rain storm.

Day 6 - We covered a lot of ground, and led by Ollie arrived pretty exhausted at our local school where we were joined by the entire village, fascinated by our trangia cooking. Each night we chose from a 4 day menu of rice and beans, pasta and sauce, pork and beans and mashed potato and macaroni and cheese. Natalia and Val are probably leading the way in terms of cooking ability, they certainly have the morning porridge down to a tee.


Day 7 - Our first sighting of Volcan Casita which at times seemed to taunt us by refusing to get any closer. Crossing a massive farm we were delayed for a couple of hours by some cheery and somewhat apologetic security guards who had to first check we were clear to go by an elaborate system of horn blasting. It was worth the wait, the farm we stayed in was like something from Gone with the Wind, our hosts very kindly allowed us to stay in an open barn and make full use of some excellent washing facilities - bliss

Day 8 - With Abbie leading the group arrived in record time at their location and spent a relaxed afternoon playing with the local children. The combined strength of our big guys, Al, Ollie, Niall, Mat, Stu and Scott was no match for the locals in a friendly tug of war however where it must be noted that the average age of the local participants was around 8!

Day 9 - Joined by Julian and Rachel, we summited Volcan Casita and enjoyed the amazing panaromic views. A chance to look where we have come from and indeed where they are now going.

From back - Niall (Northern Ireland) Mags (Scotland) Al (England) Ollie (England/Canada) Abbie (England) Holly (England) Val (Germany) Rose (England) Scott (England) Anna (Australia) Natalia (Costa Rica) Ross (Scotalnd) Cam (England) Matt (Wales) Stu (The Isle of Egg)

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

More News Coming Soon!

Dear All - apologies for the lack of blogs recently. The entire expedition are in Nicaragua right now so we don't have any photos to show you yet. Anna and Rachel will be back from the first road trip on Saturday so they'll have news and photos from everyone.

A quick update - Alpha 1 are making great progress with their project; they have already dug 1.5km of trench for their water system. Alpha 2 called in about half an hour ago - they were at the peak of Volcan Casita. They called us from their cell phone on loudspeaker and gave us a big cheer! Alpha 3 have been doing a variety of jobs from planting thousands of trees, to making furniture for the ranger station, to painting.

All of the groups are having an amazing time in Nicaragua - they are loving living with the families in the communities and learning all about Nicaraguan history and culture.

Until Saturday/Sunday...

Phase 2: Nicaragua, here we come!

Changeover was a busy but fun time. Once all the groups had put all their kit away it was time to relax and have some fun. We had the first ever Raleigh Rally, which is a cross between a treasure hunt and an adventure challenge.

We also had a Halloween party with apple bobbing and many other games. But all too soon it was time to start packing again ready for phase 2. We also had 4 new people arrive ready to join in the fun. The project allocations were announced and the groups are as follows:

Alpha 1

Project Managers: Libby Gordon, Pedro Rodriguez and Roly Hilling-Smith.

Venturers: Emily Waterhouse, Andrey Vasquez, Stephen Chatterjee, Noud Louwers, Jennifer Lane, Joanne Miller, Asher Murphy, Rhys Evans, Hatty Cottrell and Shona McGuire.

Alpha 2
Project Managers: Cam Bayford, Stu Thomson and Rose Drew.

Venturers: Scott Stirling, Alastair Burgwin, Abbie Roberts, Natalia Guzman, Valerie Crasemann, Niall Mullan, Ross McPherson, Matthew Evans, Mags Cameron, Oli Hill and Holly Winser.

Alpha 3
Project Managers: James O'Halloran, Vivianna Aguillar and Steve Perry.

Venturers: Scarlett Storr, Vincent Skiller, Christophe Thomas, Lyan Suarez, Georgina Thomas, Rosie McGinley, Kelvin Lee, Jamie Buttery and Mick Van Oorschot.

So those are the groups but what are they doing I hear you ask!

Alpha 1 is in Achuapa where they will provide water for 8 families by damming small streams and building water tanks to collect the water. They are also living with the families whihc will be an amazing experience as they will also be helping out with the families daily tasks.

Alpha 2 are doing the Maribios Trek which is named after the string of volcanoes called Los Maribios that they will follow. They will also get to climb Volcano Cosiguina which is the site of the largest volcanic eruption in the history of the Americas. From the summit they will hopefully have spectacular views across to Honduras and El Salvador.

Alpha 3 are at the Miraflor Wildlife Reserve which is 206sqkm of beautiful mountainous terrain with many different ecosystems. Here they will be helping to combat deforestation by planting trees as well as developing trails throught the reserve. The group are also lucky enough to be living in the local community with the families.

Sadly though, during changeover we said goodbye to one of our venturers - David Morrell as he returned home. David was a star on trek, never complaining and always cheerful. We wish him all the best with his new career at Sandhurst.

Congratulations Alpha 2!

For 19 days Alpha 2 have trekked over 250km through jungle, up and down hills and along dusty tracks.

Along they way they saw many beautiful sunrise and

sunsets as they were up before dawn to start walking and many days walked until it was dark. They stayed in community centres in the villages they passed through and found rivers and waterfalls to wash in. Parrots, toucans, snakes and also a tarantula were some of the wildlife found on the way.

The locals were always helpful and curious about what the group was doing.

Eventually, despite many blisters and mosquito bites, Alpha 3 arrived at their final destination. Playa El Rey on the Pacific coast is a beautiful and deserted strip of beach and the group arrived full of spirit and ready to celebrate with a well deserved barbeque on the beach. Well done Alpha 2!

Triumphant return for Alpha 1!

After 2 weeks of living in their jungle camp and building a classroom for the community of Roca Quemada Alpha 1 returned muddy but happy.

Despite being very tiring work the group managed to complete the floor of classroom in record time. And there was even some time to go Salsa dancing with the locals one night. Apparently the young children taught the group a few moves on the dance floor.

"What I have enjoyed most about the

expedition is contact with the Cabecar

people although this has been limited

as they can be shy natured. However

as time went by we were able to develop

a closer bond and it pleases me greatly

that they are so grateful for our efforts."
LYAN SUAREZ CAMPOS, Host country participant

I thank the Raleigh group which visited Roca Quemada because despite not being from the community they have provided a great service to local people. I am very happy for the help we have received but at the same time I am sad that a such a wonderful group, my group, has to leave.
LONGINO LOPEZ, Maestro de Obra (foreman).

Jungle camp returns!!

After three weeks living and breathing the jungle and working under the hot tropical sun Alpha Three left La Cangreja National Park. Our hard working team was extremely pleased with the work they completed. Half the area set aside for the path had been cleared, which involved the digging out of many small grasses and big tree roots, and 50m of the wheelchair path had been built up and compacted.

As a thank you for our work the park rangers cooked us a final night BBQ. After three weeks of rations the group managed to be silent for the first time while awake in order to inhale all the delicious food! The Crabs Claw aka Jungle camp was taken down and a tired, muddy but extremely close group of friends made their way back to field base!