Anna Banana & The Return to Oz

It is with much sadness that we had our farewell dinner for Anna this evening. Unfortunately she has had to return back to sunny Brisbane earlier than planned. To mark the occassion we had a packed Field Base and enjoyed many laughs around the dinner table.

Anna and I did our first expedition together back on good old '06G' - she was Project Manager / Interpreter and I was Logistics Manager. Thankfully she returned last year and begun her first of three expeditions as Deputy Expedition Leader. During this time she been an inspiration to everyone she has worked with. A lot of you have already sent mesages to her and I'd like to join you in thanking her for her incredible hard work, professionalism and fun over the last year. I still haven't quite worked out what we'll do without without her! Anyway, here is a selection of Anna's finest Raleigh moments...

This is Alpha 5, Tres Colinas in 2006 - I took this one!

Digging a long drop with 06G Alpha 8 in La Perla, Miraflor.

The second day of Coast to Coast Trek on O8D&E - she loves this one.

Banana in her beloved Bravo 3 during 08J... on her way to the gym no doubt.

Coast to Coast Trek 09A - the last lucky Raleigh group to be led by Anna.

Julian, Anna, Ross. Presenting Anna with 'This is your Raleigh Life'.

Thanks again for everything Anna - you're a true Raleigh legend. Safe travels
Ross

Pictures of Alpha Five in Santa Rosa

Hi again everyone

It feels like both ages and only yesterday that I deployed with Alpha five at the start of phase three! In fact it feels like that for the whole expedition - only ten days to go now until everyone starts returning home, and what an amazing journey it has been.

I had an absolutely amazing 12 days in Santa Rosa - it is an incredible place and the group is amazing - I was very, very sad to have to leave yesterday to head back to Fieldbase. I know the guys here have been keeping you up to date with what we’ve been doing so I’ll dive straight into the photos...

Olivia carrying our water cans to the camp

Floor and Nick carrying more kit...

The group starting to put the camp together

"Hmmm, so how do these basher beds work then?"

A very tired, but happy Alpha five in their finished camp...

After this we put up our mosquito nets, but decided to brave the elements without tarps over our bashers. Fortunately it's very dry in Santa Rosa so we didn't need to worry abour rain, but the best bit was falling asleep every night under a carpet of stars and waking up to the sun coming up through the trees in the morning... (The view in the morning from my basher)

One of our neighbours, the white-faced Capuchin Monkeys who swang, climbed, ran and jumped their way through our camp every day

The group at the grand opening of BarTico (a highlight in the Santa Rosa social calendar!)

Amy, Mark, Olivia and Davis getting started on the demolition...

Floor, Sophie, Rose and Tish carrying the rubble from the demolised BBQs

Amy and James made easy work of this one...

Floor, Sophie and Isaac demolising another BBQ

The group tuning into Radio Raleigh last Sunday

Here is a selection of our group photo shots taken for the magazine up at the stunning viewpoint...

The group toasting marshmallows when we went stargazing at the viewpoint

Sunrise at the viewpoint

Davis, Isaac, Mark and Rose relaxing after the 13km trek to the beach

A deserted Playa Naranjo, with the magnificent Witch's Rock in the background, which legend has it was deposited there by an angry witch many years ago. The beach is now a legendary surfing spot famous for its hollow right handers (James and I were both very upset not to have our surfboards with us!)

Nick, Floor, Isaac, Rose and Me watching the sun go down Watching the sunset, the perfect end to an amazing day

As you can see, Santa Rosa is truly a magical place, even though I know I’m probably a tiny bit biased! I spoke to Laura just now and she said the group are back into the swing of work already. I'm missing them very much already but I know they’ve got many, more fun times to come in their final week.

Going Home

As I read the many blog messages I can almost taste the excitement building back in Europe as you guys count down the days until your loved ones return. As I myself prepare to return to my own reality I thought I could give you some insight on what it is like, because sometimes returning is a little tougher than we all expect.

We've got a lot of stories to tell, so please be patient with us as we slowly work out that you might not want to hear how many crema biscuits Bob ate on day 5 of phase 2 and that jokes we found hilarious might not necesarily translate.

Please help us to work out how we can continue to do some of the things we may have discovered for the first time here, help us to do what the Raleigh motto says and keep "getting out there"

And please support us to be the sort of person that we may just be discovering and now want to be. If we feel down, and get a case of the Raleigh blues, please know that it has nothing to do with you, it might just take us a little while to settle.

And finally - please have your ovens ready - we have been talking about food and our first meal since day 1!!!


Due to personal reasons I am heading home today - and it is with more than one flood of tears that I pack up my room and desk which has served me so well since arriving in June. Yet again I have had the most amazing time on expedition and this is largely due to the venturers who continue to inspire, surprise and challenge me on a daily basis. Some brilliant young people, you can and should be incredibly proud of them - I certainly am.

Below is a reading which has been adapted for Raleigh -I think it goes a long way in explaining our sentiments.

Raleigh Reflections

My Raleigh Experience

Everyone in this room has had an impact on the experience I have had over the past 3 months so I have a few things to say about what this experience has meant to me.

I have laughed until my tummy hurts and cried a few tears too.

I have leapt around excited like a five year old and been as grumpy as an old man.

I have met people who will be in my life forever and people I am glad to have known if only for a short time.

I have stared up at the sky and felt there was nowhere in the world I’d rather be.

I have stared up at the sky and wished to god I was somewhere else!!!

I have seen proof time and time again of the enormous impact one human being can have on another.

I have witnessed honesty and bravery that has taken my breath away.

I have learnt some painful lessons that will help me to achieve more in the future.

I have watched friendships form and grow and been constantly impressed by the care and support that exists between the people in this room.

I have seen grit and determination etched on to many different faces.

I have been bowled over by the time, energy and effort that has been put into making someone smile.

I have seen people push through emotional and physical barriers to achieve things they would never have thought possible.

I have seen futures open up and endless possibilities shine through where before there was uncertainty.

I have made a difference to people and people have made a difference to me.

I have been part of something far huger than me, working with 106 other people from very different lives to achieve something that I believe to be amazing.

Every second has had an impact on me.

I have loved this time.

Enjoy the last week of hearing of their adventures from afar and really enjoy having these guys home!

Saludos

Anna

Sunday in the Costa

The sun is shining here at Fieldbase, in fact the ground is looking positively dry for the first time in months. This morning we are trawling the internet looking for news from the outside world for Radio Raleigh this afternoon. As it stands the Alpha groups may be in for a bit of a long one as Helena and I try to outdo each other with hollywood gossip and other interesting news stories - so far Brad and Angelina are leading our top stories (sad but true)

We heard from all 7 groups this morning with some excellent radio coms and news that everyone is healthy and happy.

Alpha 6 on the beach had the most interesting Sitrep when they told us about their Survivor style plank challenge – the challenge was to stand on a 6 inch tilted plank for as long as possible. The plank off began at 9pm with Kyran, Will, Dirk, Bart and James. By 11.30pm Kyran had seen the light and bailed out, Will continued until 2am, while James and the Dutchies stayed on the plank until 5am!!!

The other great news is that the Macho trekkers did indeed get the view that we were hoping for. They reported clear skies and magical views from the top of the Dragon. They certainly deserved it. Today they trek on and are heading to the delightful community of Alto Reflis. There are lots of hills in this section, but the views are spectacular,

Alpha 3 are on their way up to the pylons as I write this. Having sorted out their food drop on Friday, their bags were particularly heavy yesterday and as Fran said the day was not flat as promised by Ross!

Alpha 4 have returned from the beach and are today getting back into some jungle action. Vee is on camp duty and is working on some creative recipes to keep the troops happy. Rain is threatening, so fingers crossed the basha beds are waterproof!

Alpha 9 have returned from Panama where they were supposed to pick up the materials for the roof. Unfortunately delays on the supply side meant that they returned empty handed, but as always in good spirits after their mini adventure. Today they will play in the local football competition and the materials will arrive tomorrow, just in time for them to finish the building.

Alpha 5 had a great day yesterday, celebrating James’ birthday after a hard days work. Today they will call in from the beach, so we are expecting them to be even jollier than usual.

And finally Alpha 1 had a tough day yesterday, a guided section through some serious uphill jungle. They wild camped last night down by the river and this morning have climbed out of the valley to the look out point where they will see what is ahead of them in the next few days.

Here at fieldbase we are preparing for the final washup including the highly anticipated Golden Mess Tin Awards. We are also happy to report that our pig which has been well fed on our leftovers, is looking bigger by the day, and indeed tastier!

That’s it from me, Lizzy and Szeman are back today and Amy and Jackster tomorrow so we should have some photos for you. Until then stay safe and have a fantastic Sunday evening.

Anna

Alpha Group Round Up

Fresh back from 9 days trekking with the delightful Alpha 3, I thought I would indulge in some blog action and give you all an update on the latest antics of the Alpha groups.

Alpha 1 - Alpha 1 spent the night in what I personally consider to be one of the best accommodations on trek, the local church in Santa Lucia. This church not only provides you with mattresses to sleep on but also offers a fully equipped kitchen and hot (yes hot) water showers. The break was well deserved by Alpha 1 who were misdirected by some well meaning locals and as such had to retrace their steps putting them back a day. You have to feel for them, it is heart breaking to back track, but Stu, Natalie and Kirsty tell me that the team have handled it like true champions, and are determined to make up their lost time. Today they tackle a jungle section, which although tough on the legs offers you some magical views, and a chance to look out over the penisular and the Corcovado National Park. The best news from Alpha 1 is that the dog that followed the original Alpha 1 (my group) has been safely reunited with its owners, Rosie and Nick were beside themselves with joy.

Alpha 2 - Are today tackling one of the highlights of their trek, summiting the Dragon. The group made it to base camp yesterday, and spent the night wild camping, before rising early to make the climb. Currently in the middle of some splendid weather, we are hoping that the group gets the views they deserve. The only trek to have kept all members, these guys are living up to their namesake. They were visited by Ross a couple of days ago at the dreaded pylons, the place where it always seems to be raining! But despite the weather and the climb, the group were in good form.

Alpha 3 - The food drops and various pickups means that you have heard quite a lot from Alpha 3 recently and although I shall try and be fair and limit myself, I hope you will forgive my bias, however as after 9 days crossing a continent, you can't really help getting very attached. I left these guys yesterday after a 23km slog led by Adam who whipped us into shape after a couple of somewhat relaxed days. Up by 3am we left by 5am, and followed a strict regime of 1 hour walk with 10 minutes break. It worked brilliantly, the team rising to the challenge and being duly rewarded by a 2 hour lunch break in Pejebaye, where we found a supermarket - oh the joy of icecream. Jo kept me entertained along the way, sharing her love for theme parks, she can tell you about every ride in the world! while Marvin always keeps us all laughing, he is pure comic genius. Sean and Adam never cease to impress us with their eating abilities, 3 bags of porridge yesterday people! Trading snacks is an essential trekking skill, how many Crema biscuits you can get for a packet of nuts and raisins is dependent on many things - timing, pulperia location, bluffing ability and difficulty of day to name a few- the only food not in demand is the refried beans which suited me perfectly as I currently have a two bag a day addiction!

Today with Wendy fresh out of the blocks, Alpha 3 pass through some styunning cloud forest before descending down to Puriscal. Here they will stay before they too take on the pylons - we wish them well.

Alpha 4 - I have literally just gotten off the phone to Alpha 4 who are making their way back to La Cangreja after two glorious days at Playa Hermosa. Here they celebrated Charlotte's birthday with a bonfire and marshmallows, and of course plenty of sun and sand action. The group also headed out with the rangers in a quest to see turtles, although it wasn't to be their night, they did have the chance to see masses of crocodiles at the infamous crocodile bridge. With plenty of trenches still to be dug, the group will now refocus on the task ahead, no doubt having more fun as they go.

Alpha 5 - Today is Jame's birthday and to celebrate the group will have a BBQ with Laura and Jackie from Fieldbase who are there to orcherstrate the great PM swap. Amy will return in a couple of days, but not before a trip to the incredibly beautiful Naranjo beach, home to the well known surf spot of Witches Rock. Alpha 5 will set out early tomorrow morning for the 12 km trek down to the beach where they will spend the night under the stars. Having visited this spot on a couple of occassions I know that they are in for a real treat. I spoke to the ever positive and upbeat Sophie and Tish, and the hilarious Flor this morning, who tell me they are having a brilliant time. They are completely in love with Santa Rosa and have enjoyed demolishing and rebuilding the BBQs. With this part of the job almost complete the group will now tackle the toilet blocks, first scrapping off the old paint before applying the new coat. They will undoubtedly leave a huge impression on this park and indeed on each other.

Alpha 6 - down on the beach the group continues their work on clearing the site of its coconut saplings, but have taken on some additional challenges in order to spice up their days. Coconut shot put was a featured event at the recent olympics, no news on the victor although my money is on James. Members of Alpha 6 also took on the Solo challenge, spending the night alone (100 metres apart) on the beach. A great experience for all who were successful, (some of the girls may have chickened out). A visit from Julian and Szeman from Fieldbase, led to a BBQ celebrations and a chilled night under the stars, just another day in paradise.

Alpha 9 - and finally from the very south of the country, Alpha 9 actually crossed into Panama today to collect the roof materials. This is seriously hard graft for these guys as it's a good couple of hours there and then another couple of hours back - and it's not flat!!! We will be with them in spirit. The group have been pulling some big hours lately in an effort to complete the building on time working until 6pm the other day. Incredibly happy to be in this really magical place, they are on excellent form.

And that I think is all the news that I can give you before I head off to do my push up regime of 10 to 1, and eat more salad (I really missed vegetables on trek!).

Pura Vida
Anna

The story so far........

Unfortunately a few venturers have had to return to fieldbase for a rest/some proper food/a bath......... So while they are here, we've put them to use! We thought you might like to know what actually goes on when they're trekking, its not all work and no play......

For the Dutch parents out there. The first 3 days of the Corcovada Trek, the brilliant Alpha 1.

Our very first Dutch blog, enjoy!!!

Dag 1. Om half 5 ‘s nachts wakker worden op fieldbase. We hadden een lange busreis van 10 uur voor de boeg. Eerst even wat lekkere “fieldbase sandwiches” maken met ham, kaas en tamaat voor de reis begon. Na de prachtige maar toch best vermoeiende busreis van 10 uur door de mooie kronkelende paden van de bergen van Costa Rica kwamen we eindelijk aan bij de Rangerstation van een klein dorpje. Eenmaal aangekomen hebben we ons kamp van tenten opgezet, snel wat gegeten en toen vroeg slapen want we moesten de volgende dag alweer om half 4 ‘s nachts op om ons kamp op te ruimen en snel te ontbijten want we moesten om half 6 ‘s ochtends alweer in de benen. Waarom zo vroeg? Dit doen we om de hitte te vermijden. In de middag is het namelijk te heet om te lopen.

Dag 2. Wanneer iedereen de rugzak op de rug had in de ochtend was het tijd om te lopen. Gelijk een flinke berg om mee te beginnen, maar wanneer je eenmaal op de top bent gekomen voel je je geweldig. Nadat we de berg van de andere kant weer af waren geklommen was daar de eerste rivier om over te steken. Dat deden we in groepjes van 3 personen en ging allemaal van een leien dakje. Eenmaal de rivier over gestoken hadden we even een pauze om een lekkere snack naar binnen te werken. Niet snel na die pauze was er weer een rivier om over te steken. Stu, onze leider, ging eerst in zijn eentje met een tauw naar de overkant om die vervolgens aan een boom vast te binden zodat we grip hadden om niet weg gevaagd te worden door de sterke stroming van de rivier. Dit ging iets minder soepel. Stu zei tegen Chris dat hij naar achter moest leunen zodra hij het tauw vast had. Maar de jongens die het tauw aan de andere kant vast hielden hadden dat niet gehoord dus de jongens hadden er niet op gerekend dat het gewicht van Chris ineens naar de andere kant ging en vielen samen met Chris in het water. Gelukkig niks ernstigs en konden we er allemaal om lichen (behalve Calum want die had zijn wandelschoenen nog niet verwisseld met sandalen en die waren dus doorweekt voor de rest van de dag). Na deze rivier was het tijd voor een lunchpauze langs de prachtige rivier. Tonijn met noodles en crackers! Heerlijke lunch op een prachtige locatie. Daarna nog anderhalf uur gelopen door de mooie junglepaden van de Corcovada Trek. We hebben ook nog een “brug” (boomstam) over moeten steken over dezelfde rivier die we al 2 keer hadden doorgestoken. Toen kwam er bewoonde wereld in zicht! We waren bij het eindpunt aangekomen, het dorpje Alturas. De pulperia (lokale supermaktje) van het dorpje was in zicht en iedereen begon er figuurlijk naar te rennen). Na lekker wat gesmikkeld te hebben kregen we door een lokale bewoner van het dorpje de plek aangewezen waar we ons kamp op mochten zetten. Nadat we onze tenten opgezet hadden was het tijd voor een heerlijke douche en werd het avondeten bereid. Daarna was het tijd om te slapen. Lekker knus met zijn viertjes in een tent.

Dag 3. Na weer zo vroeg wakker geworden te zijn in ons kamp langs de prachtige rivier was het tijd om ons kamp weer in te pakken en onze dagelijkse portie pap als ontbijt. En natuurlijk ook voor onze dagelijkse portie berglopen. Tijdens onze eerste pauze zag onze Nicaraguayaan Alex het eerste wildlife van de trek, namelijk een aapje ergens heel hoog in de boom rondslingeren. Uiteindelijk kwamen we bij een gesloten hek aan dus iedereen moest zijn rugzakken af doen en die vervolgens over het hek slingeren en daarna door het hek om door te kunnen gaan met onze wandeltocht. Toen iedereen door het hek was gekomen hadden we even een snelle pauze van 5 minuten om op adem te komen. Toen we langs de bocht waren gekomen hadden we prachtig uitzicht en vond iedereen dat het tijd was voor een groepsfoto. Een half uur daarna kwamen we weer aan bij een klein dorpje met een kleine pulperia en was het tijd voor wat ijskoude Cola en een lollie!Na een kwartier vond iedereen dat het tijd was om door te lopen want niemand kon wachten om aan te komen bij de “Agua Caliente” ook wel bekend als “The Hot Springs”. Dat is een warmwaterbron.. Toen we er eenmaal aangekomen waren wisten we niet wat we zagen, het was zo mooi. Het lag naast een rivier midden in de jungle. We gingen snel lunchen zodat we zoveel mogelijk tijd in het water konden spenderen. Het water was inderdaad heerlijk warm. De redden dat het water zo warm is is omdat het op een of andere manier verbonden is met een vulkaan in de buurt. Die zorgt er dus voor dat de grond warm is en het water ook.
Na 2 uurtjes gedobberd en gekloot in het water te hebben moesten we nog maar een berg op en dan waren we bij onze eindbestemming gekomen. We konden in een zaal slapen waar danslessen gegeven werden. De zaal was letterlijk gevuld met mestkevers dus een echt pretje was het niet, maar we hadden in ieder geval echte matrassen dus we hadden total niets te klagen, af en toe een mestkever over je gezicht tijdens je slaap kunnen we wel hebben. Na ons avondeten hebben we nog wat spelletjes gespeeld waaronder een echt Engels spelletje genaamd “The Alphabet Game”, daarmee krijg je allemaal verschillende categorieen en een letter en moet je uit al die categorieen iets noemen wat met die letter begint. Daar hebben we ons uren mee vermaakt. Toen was het bedtijd. De lichten gingen uit en gelijk hoorde je geschreeuw van wat dames want inderdaad wat we al verwacht hadden de mestkevers sloegen toe! Maar op een gegeven moment was iedereen toch in slaap gevallen.

Dag 4. Deze ochtend konden we wat later opstaan omdat we ons kamp niet af hoeften te breken. Dus het werd een kleine 45 minuten later. Na de pap gingen we weer op stap. Iedereen rugzak op de rug en gaan ervoor! Het was weer een hoop berg op berg af maar daar was iedereen al wel gewend aan geraakt. Er was niet heel veel te zien deze dag behalve namelijk de dagelijkse ongelooflijke uitzichten. De laatste berg op hebben we denk ik wel 4 pauzes genomen want iedereen voelde zich grof gezegd gewoon kut! Maar toen we eenmaal bij de rangerstation aan waren gekomen was iedereen alles alweer vergeten toen we de stapelbedden zagen waar we die nacht op mochten slapen. Iedereen ging gelijk even lunchen en rusten in het gras. Na de lunch was het tijd voor “Radio Raleigh” en hoorden de Hollanders dat Ajax met 3-0 gewonnen had, onze dag kon dus helemaal niet meer stuk! Toen was het tijd voor avondeten en na het eten werd er nog wat nagepraat over de dag en wat Spaanse televisie gekeken in de rangerstation. Daarna zijn we allemaal naar bed gegaan.

Geschreven door: Harm van Essen

Next, a catch-up on the first week of the Coast to Coast trek. The mighty Alpha 3!

Our journey begins on a surprisingly clear morning at Raleigh field base in Turrialba. The volcano there was visible, a rare occurrence. We took a bus to Moin on the Caribbean coast, our start location, and after the obligatory pre-adventure photos we were on our way, up the coast and onto the railway tracks that run to the Pacific. We stayed our first night in the garden of a benevolent family recently moved from Canada. Our second day began with an early start. Our aim for the day was to get to the Rio Barbilla. To do this however we needed to follow roads, causing blisters too many, but we had the luxury of the river at the end of the day. Day 3, we had the luxury of a lie in until 8am because of how short the day route was, just a short 2 hour walk up to an entrance point to the Barbilla national park. A lady named Yolanda let us use her plushly furnished garage to sleep in which meant a good sleep by all. The following day we set off up to the Barbilla ranger station, situated on the edge of an indigenous reserve, our first taste of uphill so far and we made excellent time to the comforts of a beautiful building with fantastic views of the jungle.

We began our journey into the jungle with 2 days of guided walking. Our walking sticks in hand, we still found the terrain difficult underfoot. Very steep both up and down with boggy mud everywhere. Mercifully, we walked without rain. After a hard day we wild camped in a clearing called Guayabal. Our second guided day began with an uphill hike over a ridge along the jungle track.

We emerged into a beautiful clearing with views over the canopy. Further along the track we crossed a river and entered Valle Escondido, a prosperous indigenous village that allowed us to stay in their spare house. We had a tricky day next, 6 river crossings and our own navigation through the jungle. Luckily we stayed on course and had beautiful vistas out over the valley from the edge of the Barbilla jungle. Our first week completed, and over a third of the way through………

Tom Wright

A lonely field base misses its venturers.......

Hi all. Sorry for the lack of blog. Unfortunately, I had to fulfill medical duties taking me away from field base for the last few days. However, I hope I have made a small amends with todays content. There are photos of the venturers early morning departure, an alpha group update and some project summaries of the last phase. Enjoy!

Phase Three deployment

Stu, Lisa and Wendy look pretty excited to be off......looks like it might be one crazy adventure!

James and Ivan look like they had a pretty good time, shame Ivan has now left us....

Its a little early in the morning to look so cheeky, Bart!

Ros, Bart, Laetitia and Dom looking pretty chipper despite the early start!

Jackie preparing a food drop for the trekkers.....looks pretty heavy to me!

Kirsty and Mike bid us a fond fairwell....

Dean, Isaac and Will looking contemplative at 4am

Nick, preparing his luxurious lunch for his trip down to Conte Burica.Jam sandwiches......mmmm!

Marvin, looking relaxed as ever. Lets hope the coast to coasters can cope with the inevitable Dutch techno!

Kuo-jan, preparing his bag for the mighty 'coast to coast' trek

Alpha Group Updates......

Alpha 1- Making good progress and aiming to get to Rio Platanilla by the days end. Had a visit by Julian, Szeman and Jackie 2 days ago, spent the night looking at the stars and had a quick astrology lesson! Managed to tune in to Radio Raleigh on sunday, and quite sneakily, won the quiz!
Alpha 2- Had a few setbacks 2 days ago, but had a huge day trekking yesterday (20km, no less!) and now completely back on schedule....Go alpha 2! Their all doing well and there is a great atmosphere within the group. However, today they are recieving a mighty food drop.....heavy bags tomorrow!
Alpha 3- Currently on course, making their way through Babilla National Park and aiming to reach Rio Platanilla by the end of the day. They've been sleeping wherever they land, including a family's garage! They're eagerly awaiting the return of the 13th venturer...
Alpha 4- Sounds like they're having far too much fun in La Cangreja! Their camp consists of a jungle gym, chill out zone and a hammock area.....I'm suprised they have time for the trenches and trails they claim to be creating! Tonight is the 'welcome to the jungle' party, lets hope its not a late one!
Alpha 5- Appear to be having an amazing time out there. They arrived in time for a local festival, a celebration of William Walker in the civil war. This apparantly involved them being invaded by 500 children. Despite all this, they have still found time to see deers and white faced monkeys around their camp......again, how do they find time to fix those BBQs?!
Alpha 6- Have been swimming and enjoying their 'mini beach holiday'......oh, and clearing some coconuts. Lets hope the sun continues.
Alpha 9- Have started work on the walls of the commodore, and also managed to fit in some English teaching. They are also enjoying the hot weather that seems to never end down there. They were invited to see the National Guayamifootball tournament, and 4 venturers (Will, Tom, Adam and Oliver) managed to join in the teams. We wish them luck!

And now for some summaries of the last phase.........

Phase 2, Alpha 5- Horizontes

The newly formed Alpha Five arrived in the baking heat of Horizontes Experimentales in Guanacaste at lunch time. Our task was to help the rangers maintain this protected area which has been created to preserve and regenerate certain species of trees that are being lost elsewhere on the planet. We started by building our forest camp which upon completion consisted of basher bed and hammock accommodation, a state of the art dining table and a wet room with shower facilities (as long as someone else was happy to pour water over your head out of a jerry can!) Other accessories included a fireplace with seating around it, a swing, a basketball court, a dartboard, a marshmallow stick holder and a Tang Bar named “The Vulture’s Crotch” as both the bar and the camp were dry. We shared our camp with wild horses that would wander round about us at night.
Having completed our camp we set to work. Our main task was the clearing of paths using rakes and machetes, to create firebreaks and tracks for visitors. During our time we also managed to make steps for various sections of our path and build a bridge across a stream.
We spent our days off at the beach, swimming in the waves, playing volleyball and eating fish that we bought from local fishermen.
As a group we had a huge amount of fun living together in the camp. We held a pub quiz, played loads of games and had a brilliant time watching Jon become more and more feral.
I’m sure that our work over those three weeks will benefit the area in reducing the danger that forest fires pose and also increase the accessibility for visitors coming to view this unique landscape. We’re also very glad to have been able to help the rangers who simply do not have the workforce to complete these tasks alone.

Tom Dickson

Phase 2, Alpha 7- Los Playones

Our community phase was a hugely satisfying project to be involved with. Our team of 13 venturers and 4 project managers spent 2 weeks in 2 different communities, in a remote part of northern Nicaragua. The aim of the project was to provide safe clean water to families in the communities that only had access to contaminated river water. We dug trenches to lay water pipes to the houses, moved bricks and built wells. The work was tough but it was massively rewarding to work alongside my team and the local community, to provide families with a substance that is so basic and yet so important. During the phase the team lived with the local families. We were made very, very welcome in their homes and I was overwhelmed by the friendliness and generosity that was shown towards me. Despite having much less than us in the way of material goods, the families were incredibly happy and vibrant.
I spoke very little Spanish but was immediately made to feel part of their family. The chance to live and work alongside a community like this is an amazing opportunity and we all learnt a huge amount from it. It feels brilliant to know that we have made a real lasting impact on these remote communities.
Andrew Riding

So, the final phase begins......

Hi everyone, Helena here. I'm field base medic this phase and hoping to not be busy! I've been entrusted with the blog and hope to do it justice in Amy's absence. This phase has started with the departure of 5 fabulous venturers. Some have gone home and some are travelling on, either way, we wish them well.

Max Barnes the constant MC of the expedition, kept us all entertained throughout the expedition especially the trek. Good luck for the future and hope to hear from you soon.

Alice Weston. Thank you for thinking everything was so amazing. We hope you're travels fulfill your adrenaline junkie needs!

Ivan Chiu Ka Ho. Your cheery disposition and your sense of humour made you an absolute pleasure to be around. Good luck for the future.

Emma Britton. Thank you for all your energy and enthusiasm. We hope you enjoyed finishing on a high with the Macho trek. Good luck in your travels.

Kishan Ghandi. What a pleasure it's been meeting you! Your enthusiasm and lust for life will be sorely missed. We hope you had a safe trip home and wish you well.

Final project allocations...

I can't believe we're onto our final project allocations already. Everyone is really excited about heading out again, but I can't help also feeling a tiny bit sad as it means we're getting ever closer to the end! All the new groups are already getting on great as people are back with old Alpha group friends and also with new people too. We also have a three new projects this phase so I'll include a bit more detail about those below too.

First up, led again by Action Man Stu we have the mighty Corcovado trekkers of Alpha 1! L-R we've got PMs Stu and Kirsty, Wilder, Harriet, Isaura, Turlough, Jo Scott, Medic Natalie, Chris, Calum, Alexander, Cathelijne, Harm, Kayleigh and Bart van LDJ.

Next we have the final Macho Trekkers...

L-R Will, Hana, Debs, Josh, Freddie, Sophie F, Will Dyson, Jon, Oli Richardson, Vliss, PM Libby, Bella, Dion, PM Katie, Dom and PM Spilla.

The first of our new projects for phase three is Alpha 3 - the Coast to Coast trek. These guys will literally walk across an entire continent during their trek, starting on the carribean coast, trekking through jungle, then crossing the continental divide before descending towards the Pacific coast to finish - sounds amazing!

From L-R we've got PM Wendy, Adam McVie, Sophia, Marvin, PM Anna, Joost, Dean, Kuo-Jam, Holly, Tom Wright, Charlotte Milner, Jo Thompson, Sean, Tom Dickson, Fran and PM Rob.

The first of our environmentals, we've got Alpha 4 headed off for a final phase in La Cangreja. L-R... Vee, Ros, Charlotte Schroder, Steph, Juan-Carlos, PM Sarah, Andrew, PM Lizzy, Bruno, Emma Van Der Schans, Louise, Johannes amd PM Mike.

The second of our Environmental group is still Alpha 5, but we're headed off to a new project in Santa Rosa National Park. (I say 'we' because Laura and I are actually headed out on this phase as project managers which is very exciting!) During phase three, we will be making improvements to the campsite there, including building BBQs and benches and painting the toilet and shower blocks. Tourism is a vital source of income for the park so that research into the flora and fauna there, and how to protect it for future generations, can be carried out. It's also just down the road (well 12 kms down a dirt track) from some amazing deserted beaches so I'm sure we'll be taking a few trips down there too!

L-R... Amy (me!), Amy Tyler, PM/Photographer Laura, Nick, Mark, Floor, Isaac, Olivia A, Rose, Tish, Sophie Wilson, Johnney and PM James Burnham.

Our final environmental project is the new Alpha 6 who are headed to Playa El Rey. They'll be based on the beach helping to clear invasive cocnut saplings that are taking over the beach and encroaching on turtle nesting sites. They're all very excited to be spending 3 weeks at the beach, as you can see...

L-R ...Julie, Will Jaffray, Kyran, Lily, Caroline, Claire, Dirk, Polly, Catherine, PMs James Bader, Philly and Charlie, and Bart Overakker

And finally, Alpha 9, who are our only community project in this phase and will be heading to Conte Burika to finish off the Comedor...

L-R Will Pendered, Lucy, Rosie, Maarten, Grace, Katie T-T, PM Lisa, Viviana, PM Nick, Medic Anna-Louise, Tom Partridge, Sam, PM Kirstin, Oli Lawrence, Adam Young and Livvy.

This afternoon everyone is packing and all the venturers will no doubt be headed off into town for final emails and phone calls ! Tonight we'll be having a delicious dinner of Rosie and Sandra's yummy Yukka Pie, followed by a slideshow and videos from all the groups from phase two. Then it's hopefully early to bed before our final deployment at 6am tomorrow morning.

Whilst I'm away for the first half of this phase, our wonderful Fieldbase Medic Helena will be looking after the blog...

I know I thank you all the time for all the messages, but thanks again, they really do mean so much to everyone (hint hint mum!). Helena and the rest of the Fieldbase team will of course continue to give them out over the radio and bring them out on their visits during this last phase!

Top of the mornin' to ya...

Happy (a little bit late) St Patrick's Day! In true Irish style, Fieldbase was decorated green, white and orange yesterday, and so were the venturers and staff, to celebrate St Patrick's Day, and of course a hugely successful phase two!

We kicked off the evening with Skits from phase two, and it was a tough contest but Alpha two managed to pip Alpha Nine at the post!

Alpha four...

Alpha one singing...

Which team is the best...?

Will, Catherine and Emma from the triumphant Alpha 2!

After the skits, and despite the fact that there was no Guiness, everyone got into the spirit of things with shamrocks and flags painted on various body parts, and threw themselves into a full Irish Celidh (it was definitely not Scottish, despite being run by Ross in his full Kilt outfit!). We even had coke floats (coke, with ice cream in) to replicate the Guiness, and personally I thought it was a lot nicer to drink! Here are a few photos from the Celidh...

Ross explaining the steps...

Everyone painted and ready to go...

Catherine and Bella...

Rose and Adam...

Lou getting into the swing of things...

Alice and Isaac...

Josh, and Grace looking a little bit scared at being flung around so much...

Will and Kayleigh...

Steph and Dom...

This morning after breakfast we had the final project allocations. I'm just waiting for Laura to snap all the groups and then we'll get the final groups and pics up as soon as we can.

Changeover begins!

I know I say this all the time, but I can't believe how quickly time flies out here, our Alpha groups have already finished their second phase and as we speak are heading back to Fieldbase from all over Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Most of the groups have spent the last few days at the beach, and you'll be pleased to hear it has stopped raining and they have all been enjoying some well deserved sunshine and R&R before heading back.


So it's a mad rush around Fieldbase for the four of us, Natalie,Ross Laura and me, as we prepare for all 125 (I think) people arriving back throughout the day - it's going to be manic, but I can't wait to see everyone again and hear about all the fabulous things they've been doing. We'll get some more pics, project summaries and other exciting updates, such as phase three allocations up during the next few days and I'm sure you can all expect to get lots of emails and phone calls from your loved ones too!


Thanks again for all the wonderful messages, it really does mean so much to everyone out here.


Just a small note about post, for Deb, and anyone else who is planning to send post out here is our address...


Raleigh International
Apartado Postal 17
Codigo Postal 7170
CATIE
Costa Rica


Can I just add though that post takes about three weeks to get here, packages longer, so you will need to send things straight away if you want them to arrive on time before everyone leaves (yes, only just over three weeks left, how scary is that?!). Please don't send any parcels now or anything later than about Wednesday this week as I don't think they'll arrive in time and I'd hate for people to not get them.

Pictures of Alpha seven in Achuapa

And last but not least here we go with pics from Alpha seven. I must apologise that there aren't quite as many, but due to technical difficulties (i.e. not being able to work my portable hard drive) I'm not able to access all of the photos I downloaded from the group, but they will all be back soon so we'll get more up over the next few days...

Bliss and Sean happy to see Julian with the shop and post!The group, L-R Jackie, Rob, Helena and Katie standing up, and Caroline, Steph, Hana, Sean, Joost, Marvin and Bliss sitting down

Chris and Kish The dutch boys, Marvin and Joost, and PM Rob, all looking a little mischevious...

Caroline, Steph, Hana, Sean and Helena...

The group hanging out before starting work...

Caroline, Steph, Hana and Sean enjoying sweet bread for breakfast...

Pictures from San Ramon and Alpha eight

So here are the pictures from San Ramon and Alpha eight. The group had a huge party with the whole community to celebrate finishing the ocmmunity centre, and I can't wait to see pictures of the finished building and all the celebrations, but in the meantime, here's a few from our trip...



The view of San Ramon from the road... The group hard at work...

Calum, Sophie, Libby, Polly, Cate and Sarah planning the mural... And the final design...

The team take time out when the ice cream man pays a visit...

Szeman, Sarah and Julian, hard at work mixing cement...

Emma sketches out the mural...

Sophie, Polly, Max, Libby and Johannes painting

More painting...

The view of the community centre from the hill above the village...

Some of the local boys...

We visited Doris, one of the girls who lives in San Ramon and has been teaching the group to make tortillas and roast coffee, here she is on the right, with Julian and Sarah...

We also learnt how to make tortillas (a very specific technique is required apparently!) and so here's one I made earlier, as you can see I was very proud of my work!

Johannes teaching Alice some salsa moves in the evening

Johannes, Libby, Szeman, Emma, Sophie, Aloce and Cate enjoying some toasted marshmallows, supplied by the shop!

Sophie looking a little toasty after enjoying 'several' marshmallows (she spent so long next to the fire we were a little concerned she might actually melt!)

Calum enjoying some delicious Nicaraguan coffee in his favourite mug...

Johannes and Max

Szeman, Sophie, Emma, Cate, Oli and Polly...

The group in front of their nearly finished community centre. L-R Alice, Johannes, Polly, Oli, Max, Calum, Sarah, Maestro De Obra Noel, Szeman, Sophie, Cate, Emma and Libby.

The VMs hanging out in the new centre, Sarah, Libby, Amy (me) and Szeman.

Pictures of Alpha five from Horizontes

Finally, here are the pictures of the remaining three Alpha groups, five, seven and eight.

Julian and I had an absolutely wonderful trip to Horizontes and Nicaragua. It was my first time there and it was one of the lovliest places I've been, everyone was so incredibly friendly and welcoming, and the country itself is stunning.

All three groups we visited were on great form and really having a good time. Each group we visited made us feel right at home and took great pride in showing us round their projects.
But I won't bore you with any more of my waffle, and will dive straight into the photos of Alpha five. I'll post seven and eight in a seperate one because there are a lot of photos and otherwise this will be a very long post indeed!

So let's kick off with the stunning view from the ranger station (if you look closely you might be able to see the rainbow)Rosie, Grace and Charlotte, and below, Jo, Maarten, Tom and Tom, reading all their much-anticipated mail and blog messages

Josh had taken it upon himself to single-handedly take on Alpha Four in the best jungle camp stakes - i think his toliet facilities are pretty impressive!!

And the showering facilities, or wet room as named by the group, were pretty impressive too, as demonstrated by Charlotte and Harriet...

Kirsty, Julian and Spilla on the bridge built by the group

Me, enjoying the wilderness...

Sunset at Horizontes

And just to top off the facilities at the camp, here are Josh, Charlotte and Rosie, bar staff at the Vulture's Crotch, Horizontes' first ever Tang bar...

The group hanging out in Hammock Corner

Tom and Tom hosted the first ever weekly 'TomTom' pub quiz...

Julian, Harriet and Charlotte were crowned winners and presented with the Tom Tom pint of glory (well a stick painted to look like a pint but hey, in the jungle...)

Charlotte, Harriet, Rosie, Jo and Grace with their ingenious marshmallow stick holder...

The PMs were up early to make a special breakfast of bacon and egg butties for the group...

Kirsty and Maarten tucking into their bacon and egg butties!

Harriet and Charlotte tree hugging...

But it wasn't just them, the whole group are at it...

Jo jo and Rosie... Tom D and Grace...

Josh, Jon and Viv...

Kirsty and Tom W...

And lastly Mike and Spilla...

And finally, here is the whole group, armed with rakes and machetes, waving us off before heading off for another day's hard work...

Friday 13th March, Alpha group updates

The Trekkers
Alpha 1 are now enjoying a stunning walk along the beach at Playa Carbonero. Among the wildlife they have seen are capuchin monkeys and tapir. They are very near to their final goal.

Alpha 2 I have just heard they are chilling at a bar (soft drinks only) at Mata de Platano, it is hot and sunny, and they will be hitting the beach tomorrow to chill some more!

The Enviromentals
Alpha 4 are a bit damp as it's been pouring with rain on the Pacific side of the country. They visited a sugar factory yesterday to get out of the rain and they had a birthday party for Turlough.

Alpha 5 have finished their work, have taken down their camp, so it looks like they were never there and are off to spend a couple of days at the beach. There seems to be a theme here!

The Community projects
Alpha 7 are on a mission to move those bricks and finish those wells. No beach for them then.

Alpha 8 have finished the community centre, it is painted, complete with mural. They are having a party tomorrow.

Alpha 9 are not letting the torrential rain stop them, they will complete those roof struts.

Field Base is basking in sunshine which makes a lovely change. No beach for us though as we start preperations for changeover!

Thursday 12th March

Below is a series of pictures of wildlife from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, encountered around Field Base or out on Phase.

Wildlife Watch

Sebastian Snake

Clarrisa Cow and friends

Abigail Ant

Sally Scorpion

Hazel Hen and Peter Pig in San Ramon

Arthur Armadillo (reluctant model)

Wilbur Woodpecker

Godfrey Green Bug

Leroy Lizard

Laura and Lizzy meet Alpha 2 and 4

The pictures below are from the recent visit by Laura and Lizzy to Alpha 2 and 4.
They found both groups in good spirits, the trekkers are looking forward to the beach and A4 had a 'ladies night' to welcome their visitors, where the boys cooked a three course dinner, the girls will be returning the favour soon.

Wednesday 11th March Alpha 2

It's always great to get post from home.

Emma (PM) taking a well earned rest

Amy

The team are ready to go.

Issac and Adam looking forward to the next hill.

Wednesday 11th March Alpha 4

Alpha 4

Sometimes you just want to be alone!

Lisa and Wendy 2 of A4's PM's seem quite happy with how things are going.

Preparing to give the 'sitrep' or daily radio update.

Alpha 4's newest member Franco Frog

Kuo-Jam learning about the pleasures of toasted marshmellows!

Will, Freddie, Tom, Holly and Katie are very happy to see the Raleigh shop.

Monday 9th March 2009

Hello to you all from a wet and rainy Field Base. My name is Natalie and I am the field base medic for this phase. Amy and Julian have gone on a road trip to visit Alpha 5,7 and 8 and Amy has entrusted me with managing the blog, along with others, in her absence. That may not be the wisest of decisions Amy but I will give it a go!

Alpha 1 and 2 our intreped trekkers have moved on to Los Patos and Bacona respectively, they both seem alot happier walking in the dry, those knees are taking a pounding but spirits remain on a high.

Alpha 4 are putting the finishing touches to their trenches and planning a weekend at the beach! How jealous am I.

Alpha 5 had a day off today in anticipation of Amy and Julians arrival who were loaded down with food, chocolate and post from home.

Alpha 7 are now back in El Galope, where the original A7 were (including me) to finish off those wells, they are looking forward to moving alot of bricks.

Alpha 8 are now in full painting mode after their day off yesterday.

Alpha 9 are still carrying wood to make those vertical struts.

Life at Field Base is very quite people wise with only 2 of us here, and it's my turn to be on radio duty tonight so I need to go and prepare/make my bed in anticipation. I hope all the groups will be calling in with more news of their progress but hopefully not too early!

Over half way through

I cannot believe how quickly time flies out here, we are now over half way through phase two, and the whole expedition! At least that means for most of you at home, there's now less time until your friends and loved ones get home, than they've been away for! So here we go with another Alpha group round up.

Alpha nine are continuing to put up the frame of the comedor, and have now finished putting in all the vertical struts. Also just for a change, they have been carrying even more wood! Keeping going with their extra activities, there has been more football and some of the group are going to do some teaching at the school. For William’s mum – don’t worry, his ankle is fine, he twisted it playing football but it is much better now!

Alpha one continue to make excellent progress. They are headed to Rincon today to pick up their final food drop, which has seven days of food, so they’ll have very heavy bags! They’ve now reached the Osa Peninsular, which is home to the Corcovado National Park, so they’re coming into an absolutely stunning area now and over the next few days they should get to see some incredible wildlife! We’ve got a few photos from the group when Ross and Laura visited them on their recent food drop…

Alpha one ready to set off in the morning... L-R Olivia A, Livvy, Lily, Sam, Kirstin, Oliver, Claire, Davis, James, Bruno, Kyran, Mark, Lucy and Charlotte.
Mark, Kirstin and Bruno

Alpha four are in great spirits and made the Fieldbase team laugh a lot this morning by delivering their SITREP in the style of Borat! They’ve made excellent progress on their trench digging and had the rangers join them for dinner the other night. They are also preparing for their visit from Laura and Lizzy who will arrive later on this afternoon, but have keeping schtum about what treats they have planned for their arrival!

Alpha seven reported having an amazing time up the volcano, but said they didn’t get much sleep because all the local kids came too and stayed up all night! They have now finished their work in Los Playones 2 – and have helped supply running water to four houses. Last night they held a huge party with all the community to celebrate, and also mark Marvin’s birthday – we sent him lots of messages from the blog and other groups, including his brother Dion in Conte Burika via the radio. Today they are heading back to Los Playones, where they will continue digging wells.

Alpha eight are getting ever closer to finishing the community centre. They have now finished plastering the walls and have started painting. They have also been planning the mural that they will all paint once the building is finished. The weather has apparently got much warmer so yesterday they had a big water fight to cool off!

When I spoke to Alpha five last night they reported that they are all “hunky dory”. They have been continuing with clearing the paths and are going to start work on a bridge today. Last night, the rangers and some local people joined them at their camp for a camp fire and guitar playing. They have also been preparing for their Fieldbase visit from Julian and me, we’re heading off to see them tomorrow morning. They’ve even built us basher beds and have promised us that we will be treated to some incredible sunsets – I can’t wait!

And finally, Alpha two have had a couple of hard days, but they have said it was totally worth it as they have seen some beautiful views. They stayed at a farm last night and are heading to Plomo today. We also had some very happy bunnies on their birthdays – Will, Dirk and Emma were all thoroughly spoilt with cake and jelly beans! We have a few photos from the day, along with some messages from the group, kindly brought back by Lizzy and Anna – enjoy!

Dirk, Will and Emma on their birthdays…

From Emma
Hi Mummy, hope you got my voicemail. Having a really good day, the parcel made my morning. We might be able to climb the summit today which would be amazing, but you will get a full report when I’m back. Thanks to titch and J for cards and I hope things have got better for Daddy. Love to Thomas, Harry and all. Love you. Emma x

From Rose
Hi Mum and Dad. Thank you so much for the card, it came at just the right time, was so nice to have something from home. Am having a great time though. Hope everything is ok at home and Will is getting on well with the interviews. Love you and miss you, Rose xx

From Verity
Mum, Dad and Phoebes. All is well on the Macho trek. I’m having an amazinfg and challenging time. I miss you all very very much. Lots and lots of love, Vee.

From Catherine
Hey Mum and Dad. Everything is good on the mach trek but it is tough. I’m looking forward to my letter coming in the next food drop! Love you, Catherine xxx

From Dirk to Tessa:
Ik heb echt een geweldige verjaardag gehad! We hebben veel Bergen beklommen, met 30 kg op mijn rug. Mijn groep heft goed voor mij gezorgt en ze hebben voor me gezongen en ik had een lolly gekregen! Bedankt voor je berichtje, ik hou van je! Xxx Dirk

From Floor:
Lieve family Bodewes, Het gaat nog steeds geweldig, het is zelfs zoning! Vandaag gaan we weer lekker bergen beklimmen. Ik mis jullie, maar ik overleaf het allemaal en hoop
dat jullie me niet al te erg missen… Ik hou van jullie! Veel liefs, Xxx Floor

We should also have a few more messages from some of the other groups once everyone gets back from the road trips next week. Finally, I also just wanted to say thanks for continuing to send all your lovely messages, we're getting about 30 a day at the moment and they're keeping us on our toes trying to make sure they get out to the right people as quickly as possible! We're also working hard to update the blog as often as we can, but making sure everything is running smoothly whilst all the groups are out on phase means that Fieldbase is a very busy place! Also, all of the sites are remote and have no access to the internet, so the only way we can get pictures is when we go and visit the projects. I know it's frustrating waiting for updates and pictures, but we do get them up as quickly as we possibly can so please bear with us, and just think that there's now not long until everyone gets home and they can show you all the thousands of pictures they're no doubt taking themselves whilst out on phase!

Amy :o)

Get ready for amazing Alpha nine pictures...

I know you've all been dying to see these so without too much introduction, here you go... enjoy!

Dominique, Anna-Louise, James, Philly, Tish, Bart, Kayleigh, Bart and Louise The perfect Raleigh picture...

Dion and Adam

The group in the school where they sleep

Nick flexing his muscles...

The boys carrying the planks back to the village

The stunning view of La Carona from the hill

The local children...

Alpha nine medic Anna-Louise hard at work planing the floorboards

Kayleigh also hard at work, sporting her beautiful leopard-print head scarf, which is unfortunately hiding the famous sea-fringe (sorry guys - i know you all love it so much!)

Bart working on the floorboards and Adam taking a well deserved rest...

Alpha nine on their finished floor! L-R Bart O, Dion, Bart LDJ, Nick, Adam, Kayleigh, Sophia, Roz, Louise, Bella, Ivan, William, Tish and Dominique

Pics of Alpha one to follow shortly!

Beaches, Olympics, wild horses and pictionary!

I know you’re all eagerly awaiting pictures from the Alpha groups, but don’t worry, Ross and Laura will be back at Fieldbase later on today, with hot off the press pictures from Alpha one and Alpha nine, which we will get up as soon as we can.

In the meantime, our Alpha groups still sound like their having the best time, and are making the team here at Fieldbase incredibly jealous with all the cool things they keep coming up with. Some of the groups have had days off and made trips to the beach, waterfalls and volcanoes. We’ve also had all manner of sporting events including a Miraflor version of the Olympics, Water polo, rounders and even pictionary! Read on to find out who’s been up to what…

Alpha nine have finished the floor of the comedor and celebrated with a well deserved day off at the beach yesterday. This is the same beach that you walk in along to get to Conte Burika, and it’s absolutely stunning with not a sole on it. It was back to work today, and they have now started building the frame for the comedor. Tonight they have some games planned, including rounders and pictionary!

Alpha five also spent the day at the beach yesterday and had a lovely day – their camp is usually quite dry and very hot so I bet they were feeling relieved to cool off in the sea. They are back to working on the path and building steps today, as well as mending some of their basher beds which had fallen down overnight – no one was hurt though – they’re not that far off the ground! Alpha five have also got some new neighbours, in the form of wild horses, who have apparently been galloping around their camp for the past few days.

Alpha four have almost finished digging all of their trenches and so also had a day off today, and visited a local waterfall, they all came back after having lots of sun and were feeling very relaxed. They’re also planning a trip to the beach for the end of this phase, lucky things! They’ve been keeping themselves busy in jungle camp and are coming up with a surprising array of things to keep themselves entertained, so moving on from their tropical elegance party, they have apparently been playing water polo - in the river I assume, but I await photographic evidence of how!

Rivalry between the two groups seems to have died down somewhat, although with Tom Wright’s mum fuelling it by suggesting they emulate Ray Mears, we could have a renewed competition on our hands – we will keep you posted!

The trekking groups are both still steaming along…

Alpha one arrived in Changuena by midday yesterday and spent the day relaxing and getting settled into the local community centre. Ross and Laura met them later on in the evening with their second food drop, and treated the group to scrambled eggs for breakfast before they set off back to Fieldbase. After a later than planned start, they scrambled up a slippery hill in the midday sun but still managed to reach their campsite by 2.30 in the afternoon, in time to relax by the stream and enjoy some freshly made energy bombs.

Alpha two left La Esperanza yesterday morning and trekked for most of the day along the inter-americana highway – the main highway that runs all the way from Canada down to Argentina. They spent the night in the community centre in Cedral and today have been heading towards Santa Rosa campsite. It’s Will and Dirk’s birthdays today so I’m sure the group have lots of celebrations planned for this evening – we’ve been passing on messages of happy birthday from the blog and other alpha groups via the radio. Tomorrow will be another early start as the group ascend the mighty Cerro Dragon, where they will be rewarded by some stunning views from the top.

Alpha eight in Miraflor have continued to race ahead with the work on the community centre, and so have also been helping to build a garden for the school. Today they held the Miraflor Olympics which included games such as wheelbarrow and three-legged races. They even had a Nicaraguan themed apple-bobbing style contest, by hiding sweets in a zip-lock bag that was filled with refried beans and they had to get them out using just their teeth – again, I will be looking forward to seeing the pictures of that!

Last but not least, Alpha seven in Achuapa have continued with their trench digging and to reward themselves after all the hard work so far, they took the afternoon off to head up the local volcano. The last Alpha seven group raved about this trip, with many of them saying it was one of the best parts of the phase, so I think the guys will be in for a treat as they sleep out under the stars tonight and wake up for what promises to be an incredible sunset.

And finally, I also have a very important message that Bella in Alpha nine has asked us to put up on the blog…

“Happy 21st Birthday Sol, hope you have a brill day and a good party in Sheffers and London and get some nice pressies, I’m missing the chocolate cake big time! There is a letter in the post. Love you loads, Bella xoxox”

More Alpha group updates

My goodness, all our Alpha groups have been busy bees over the past few days, every time we get a radio call, we’re amazed at how much they’re managing to cram into their days. Here is a round up of how everyone is doing and what they’ve been up to…

Alpha one have been speeding along and were feeling very proud of themselves yesterday afternoon after having reached the Rio Platanillal half a day ahead of schedule. Today they are headed to Veultas, which is at the top of a ridge with gorgeous views and will hopefully be staying at a lovely little campsite there that even has a swimming pool where they can relax after all their hard work.

Alpha two have had a couple of hard days and are a little damp from all the rain, yesterday in particular was a difficult day as they climbed over 1000m in one day. Lesser groups may be tired and grumpy after all of this, but not Alpha 2! They have been filling their evenings with games of Poker (probably betting crema biscuits and granola bars) and held a slumber party. Tonight they will reach La Esperanza, where Anna and I will meet them for their second food drop. The good news is that they are nearly at the top of the mountain range where they will cross from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to the Pacific side, which will hopefully be much drier and will bring some well-deserved sunshine!

Alpha four held a tropical elegance party last night, which included a three-course dinner and party games – sounds like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see some photos of that – we’ll try to pick some up on our road trip in about a week’s time! There’s been some excellent wildlife spotting in the La Cangreja jungle including a sloth, a snake and an armadillo. They have also been making brilliant progress on the path, as well as continuing to improve their camp, the latest addition is a library!

Alpha five are also going great guns with their work on clearing the path and will be starting on making some steps today. They have also been making improvements to their camp, the latest addition here is a swing - I sense the rivalry between Alphas four and five building a little, the boys in the two groups have even been leaving messages for each other via the radio – nothing wrong with a little healthy competition and I think by the end of this phase we are going to have two of the best camps ever seen on Raleigh!

Alpha seven have been having glorious weather up in Achuapa. They have moved to the nearby community of Los Playones 2 where they are working on a gravity feed water system and have already completed one set of trenches. They had a very well deserved day off yesterday, and are back to the hard work today. No reports yet of who won the baseball match, we’ll ask them on the radio when they call in this afternoon and let you know, although like Anna, my money’s on the opposition!

Alpha eight have now finished the third wall of the community centre and are moving ever closer to completing the building. In their spare time they’ve been taking the time to visit all the houses in the village and exploring the surrounding area, as well as helping out at the school.

And finally Alpha nine have nearly finished the floor of the dining hall and are planning on finishing that later on today. They had a game of football yesterday evening and Laura and Ross from the Fieldbase team arrived safely after their long trek in along the beach. There was some entertainment put on for them last night and I’m sure the group are keeping them busy today helping to finish the floor, and that Laura is also busy snapping away – we should have some amazing photos for you when they get back in several days time.

So all in all, a week into phase two (yes, a week in already, where does the time go?!) and everyone is doing really well, and by all accounts having an amazing time!

Alpha 2 - I want to be a Macho Trekker!

Thanks Anna for such a fabulous blog yesterday! We had a brilliant time visiting Alpha 2 in Taus, it’s only about an hours drive away from Fieldbase and it was a stunning drive down to meet them. We met them at the community centre there after a full day’s walking.

Group spirits were high and Catherine, Isaac and Vee, yesterday’s cooks, had prepared a feast of veggie mash, pork and beans, and pasta for dinner – yum! Later on in the evening we were treated to some of Adam’s magic tricks (he had a seriously good one that no-one could figure out!) and some of Floor’s hot chocolate.

This morning we saw them off about 6am as they head towards xxx, on what will be a challenging day through the jungle.

As promised yesterday, we have lots of photos ready so you can see how they’re getting on and all the amazing places they’ve trekked so far…

Heading off into one of the beautiful Cloud Forests the Macho trek has to offer

Snacks are definetly a must on trek - nuts and raisins, granola bars and the Costa Rican equivalent of custard creams - Cremas! These guys need to eat around 3000 calories per day to keep their energy levels high

Welcome to the jungle, Emma and Isaac deep in the stunning Barbilla National Park

Seasoned trekkers after just 4 days - Verity,Catherine, Rose and Adam stride it out on the flat while below Isaac leads the way, with Emma and Julie close on his heels

Sorting out the food drop in the Taus
Community Centre

Catherine shows off new air conditioned

T-Shirt courtesy of her fire drying efforts

Chill time in the evenings - one of the nicest things about trek

Emma, Will, Rose, Adam and Isaac put their chess skills to the test

Mapping their progress - Nick leads Alpha 2 through the route so far

The wonderful Dutch - Julie, Flo and Dirk