Project Planning Visits - Update

Thanks to Oli and Rachel for doing a superb job looking after the blog! After a few days driving Alpha 1 around their trek route, Bravo 3 dropped them off at Santa Maria to begin trekking through the hills. Bravo 3, Wendell and myself, returned to field base to enjoy nice cup of tea and some delicious Shepherds pie! Here is what all the Alpha groups have been up to -

Alpha 1 have been trekking in Guanacaste through forests with lots of bitting beasties! David and Chloe are in high spirits and heading back to Liberia tonight before getting the bus back to field base tomorrow.Alpha 2 - Have enjoyed some very hot weather in Leon and are currently heading back to Managua before catching the bus back to Costa Rica tomorrow.

Alpha 3 - Have had a very busy few days meeting the locals, project partners and checking out the local hospital facilities. Laura and Alex are tired but happy and looking forward to returning to field base tomorrow.

Alpha 4 - After a hectic few days, Zoe, Gemma and Ben are now traveling back to Managua where they will meet up with Alpha 3 for the night.


Back at field base we have been working and playing hard!

Oli working hard at her desk planning for the arrival of the venturers
Oli and Rachel cooling off in the pool
Sarah and Rachel after a very wet game of tennis!
We’re all looking forward to the return of the rest of team tomorrow, its been a quiet few days without them!

Blog Hijacked

The unofficial photos, you normally wouldn't see!
...and the official one too
After finding out which projects they had been allocated to, and who they were going to be working with, the Project Managers have scattered across Costa Rica and Nicaragua on their Project Planning Visits (PPVs), including Sarah, our communications officer, leaving the Fieldbase staff to take control of her beloved blog – let’s hope she doesn’t regret it!

Feeling sad and lonely, the leftover Fieldbase staff have been consoling ourselves with a well-earned day off at the pool, struggling to fit in a session of sun worshiping, milkshakes at Pop’s and shopping for ‘sparkly things’ in Turrialba. In her distraught state, unable to cope with having nobody to boss around, Oli decided to dye her hair a trendy shade of ‘espresso’, an emotional expression of her pain.

But it’s not all relaxation at Fieldbase. We have now started sharing radio duty, recording two SitReps (Situation Reports) per day from each of the Alpha Teams. Ross took the first 24hr shift, sleeping in the Radio Room – next its Rachel’s turn to be lulled to sleep by the buzzy crackle of the expectant radios. Oli is busy compiling the Project Manager Training Toolkit, and Bec is buried in the Bodega.

Alpha 1, the Guanacaste Trek in Northern Costa Rica, consists of Mountain Leader Chloe and Finance Manager David, accompanied by Wendell and Sarah from Fieldbase in Bravo 3. Their trek passes the Rio Celeste, a stunningly blue river, and climbs the Volcan Rincon de La Vieja. They are currently having lots of fun recceing the trek route, and getting used to using their radio.

Dave playing at being Action-Man
Chloe
The beautiful Rio Celeste, Costa Rica

On the Nicaraguan Maribios Trek are Paramedic and Wilderness Medical Instructor Lisa and ‘Craaazee’ Carl, chauffeured by Tim and Guy in Bravo 1. The Maribios trek begins in the pine forests of Esteli, skirts around the Volcan San Cristobel and includes an ascent of the Volcan Casita, offering spectacular views. After spending the night in the old colonial town of Granada, Alpha 2 are now checking out the route they will take with the venturers in the first phase.
A smoking Volcan San Cristobel - don't worry it's not going to erupt!
Carl
Sarah and Lisa acclimatizing to their packs

Alpha 3, Blue-Chip Project Managers Alex and Laura, have been making their way north to Achuapa in Nicaragua, where they will be constructing a Gravity Feed Water System. After staying overnight in Leon, they are travelling on to La Calera. During their visit they will be meeting with their project partners from the Cooperativa Juan Francisco Paz Silver, finding a good place for their radio and meeting the families with whom they and the Venturers will be living with.
Alex hanging onto one end of the radio dipole
Laura emerging from the river crossing
The Achuapa Valley, Nicaragua

Alpha 4, made up of multi-lingual Interpreter Zoe, Mega-Medic Ben, and our bubbly Essex PM Gemma, are also in Nicaragua. Their project is in cooperation with El Foro, who jointly manage the Miraflor Nature Reserve with the people who live there. They will be building a community centre in Las Palmas, which provides a focal point for the community and allows them to run adult education programs as well as community meetings and celebrate the history and culture of their area

Ben
Zoe
Gemma
Miraflor Nature Reserve

Here ends the blogging hijack - we're looking forward to the return of our PMs, and I'm sure you'll be looking forward to Sarah's return to the blog, and infinitly superior and more sensible blog entries!

Volunteer Manager Training - Jungle Camp

As part of our training as Volunteer Managers, we were split into groups and issued with our kit for the three days - tents, trangias, food, radios and of course maps. We were given our grid reference and with fully loaded back packs headed off into the surrounding hills to find our camp for the night. A few hours and rain showers later we arrived in a small village where we set up our tents on the football pitch.

The next day we were up at 4am to make breakfast, clear up camp and leave without a trace. We then trekked back down into the valley to a river. Here we practiced two different types of river crossings - the huddle and the v rope.

Zoe, Chloe, Rachel and Wendell crossing the river using the huddle technique - a strong, supportive structure
Wendell and Rachel prepare for the river crossing...
...while David and Julian grab the chance for a 1-2-1 on the rocks
Lisa crossing the river using the V Rope technique
Wendell, Lisa and Ben anchoring the V rope on one side of the river
Laura, Gemma and Sarah anchoring the rope
Gemma crosses the river while Tim protects his head from the sun
Zoe loved her river crossing!
Carl crossing the river
Laura making it across
Julian jet skiing
Ross doing his particular style of 'BayWatch' river crossing
Alex, the last one over, wades across as the team wind in the rope

After the river crossing we trekked for about an hour to find our jungle camp. Here Ross taught us about how to set up basha beds and hammocks and how to set up camp in a jungle area.

Then after a night with creepy crawlies in the jungle we woke at 4:30am cleared up camp and began trekking back to field base. However on route we had a practice Casualty evacuation with Lisa and Alex pretending to be the casualties with broken legs. We had to stretcher carry then back to field base where they were magically cured by a mysterious vulture!

Tomorrow the PMs head out on the project planning visits throughout Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Sarah (me!) will be driving out with one of the treks so Oli and Rachel will be looking after the blog till my return.

Today’s weather

Temp 29°C
Real feel 41°C
Mostly sunny
Humidity 71%

Hello zero this is alpha one over................

Its been a busy week of training for the new project managers. We started with radio training. Firstly we learned the theory of how high frequency radios worked followed by how to give a SITREP (situation report). Then we were given radio packs and had to find a suitable local location to set up the radio and send our first exciting SITREP to field base! This involves getting the aerial about 5- 10 meters in the air, normally over a tree branch, and extending the leads to the right length for the channel while facing the direction of field base.

Lisa, Chloe, Wendell and Tim practicing with the radio

Tim and Carl setting up the aerial
Lisa and Zoe connecting the battery
Then we tackled first aid training lead by our two medics Lisa and Ben. We learned how to prevent common problems like dehydration, how to give CPR and place someone in the recovery position followed by a guide on how to give vital injections.

Lisa demonstrating CPR on Wendell
Lisa putting Alex into the recovery position
Carl learning to inject a banana!
In the afternoon we did health and safety training with a difference. We were split into teams and performed sections of the health and safety manual as skits. Team 1, Zoe, Ben, Chloe and Wendell taught us about Travel and Transport with a very special rendition of the wheels on the bus!
Team 2, Bec, Lisa, Sarah and Carl did a skit about wildlife involving Carl being attacked by a snake around the camp fire!
Team 3, Rachel, Gemma, Alex and David created a musical based on the Cultural and environmental impact and how this can be minimised.
Next we headed off to jungle camp......more on that later!

Today's weather

Temp 21°C
Real feel 19°C
Cloudy
Humidity 90%

¡Feliz Día del Padre!...

...or Happy Father’s Day!

The project managers, Carl, Ben, Alex, Zoe, Gemma, Laura and Chloe have all arrived safe and sound at field base and are settling into their new home. Here are a few Father’s Day messages from the team -

From Rachel
Dear Dad,
Happy Fathers Day – As always eternal thank yous for your support and advice, you’re always such a rock and manage to help me through the tough times. Hope you’ve managed to get all your endnotes completed and are ready to start your research for the novel! I’ve got a long list of good books for you to try :-)… Make sure you take some time to relax, very proud of you and can’t wait to read the new book – I definitely want a copy sending out!! lots of love Rache xxxxx

From Gemma
Happy Father’s Day Dad. Love Gemma x

From Carl
Happy Father’s Day Dad! Thanks for the Rugby League scores, looks like Leeds were lucky and Quins RL had an off day. Love Carl

From Laura
Happy Father’s Day Dad. Love Laura x

From Sarah
Happy Father’s Day pops. Thanks for all your help and support, loans etc!!!!! I’m loving Sarah’s little home town blog, a little taste of home in Costa Rica. Lots of Love Sarah xxx

From Lisa
Hey Dad. Thanks for being the best dad. Love you, Lisa.

From Zoe
Happy Father’s Day Papa! Thinking of you. Safe and sound, very exciting! Je vous aime. Bisous a tous. Zoe

From Guy
Neil, enjoy a well earned beer. Guy.

Today's weather -

Temp 21°C
Real feel 26°C
Mostly cloudy with heavy rain
Humidity 97%

Busy bees at Field base!

It has been a busy day at field base as we prepare for the arrival of the project managers tomorrow.

Rachel and Guy were setting up the radio room and preparing the maps so that we can see where all the project sites are. Oli and myself did some off road driver training. Lisa was busy in the medical room making up first aid expedition kits and planning next week’s first aid training. David, the man with the money, was busy doing foreign exchange and of course spending and collecting money from the team. Logistics manager Wendell was organising kits for all the alpha groups. Ross has been very busy writing a new guide for risk assessment and creating new food menus to ensure optimum calorific content and a great taste within budget – not an easy task!

Rachel map reading David counting colones
Wendell hard at work in the Bodega (warehouse)
Later in the afternoon it was time for a break and some exercise, to keep us fit for the expedition and treks ahead. Ross, Guy, David and myself attempted the beep test followed by circuits!
Oli and Tim are now off to San Jose to meet the new project managers at the airport. They will all stay in San Jose tonight and arrive at field base tomorrow morning for traditional breakfast of Gallo Pinto.

Tonight’s weather -

Temp 22°C
Real feel 25°C
Humidity 93%

The team tackle Volcano Irazu

Buenos Dias

Since the advance team arrived at field base nearly a week ago, we have been working hard to prepare for the expedition and make it the best one yet. So yesterday the team had a well earned day off. We jumped in the land rovers and headed west for two hours to visit Volcano Irazu. Volcano Irazu offers some breathtaking views and on a clear day you can see the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea! However as you can see from the pictures below we didn’t exactly manage to see the ocean! Moments after arriving at Costa Rica’s tallest active volcano the clouds rolled in and the rain began. You could say we spent the day with our heads in the clouds!

Volcano Irazu - the facts

• Highest point - 3432 meters (aprox. 10,300 feet) above sea level
• Irazu has two main craters
• Diego de la Haya crater contains a strangely coloured lake, some days it green and others its red!
• Irazu is home to coyotes, tiger cats and long-tailed weasels

A team huddle at the top!
The clouds rolling in
The team - Sarah, Rachel, David, Oli, Tim, Lisa and Wendell

The local wildlife
Back at fieldbase head chef Oli whipped up a delicious roast chicken dinner with help from commi chefs Tim, Wendell and myself. Today is our last day of preparations before all the project managers arrive tomorrow. We can’t wait to meet them all and build a great staff team for the 09F&G expedition.

Today’s weather -

24°C
Real feel 29°C
Sunny
Humidity 76%

Hasta Pronto!

Hola Todos!

Welcome to the brand new Costa Rica/Nicaragua 09F&G blog. This is the place to be for the next few months! All the latest news and photos will be posted here from the Summer 2009 expedition. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the blog and expedition and of course messages to loved ones so please get involved. Simply post your comments after each blog entry and we’ll pass them to your loved ones (on the right is a guide on how to do this).

Field base has been a busy place since the arrival of the advance team on Sunday. We’ve been having fun and games getting to know each other and settling into a very different kind of 9 to 5!

Meet the team -

Julian Olivier - Country Director

Ross McKenzie - Country Programme Manager

Ale Leon - Host Country Participant Co-ordinator

Don Martin - the legend of field base!

Olivia Husemeyer - Deputy Expedition Leader

David Morris - Finance Manager

Rachel Wilde - Administrator and Anthropologist!

Wendell Morris - Logistics Manager

Tim Perkins - Driver

Sarah Rogerson (me!) - Communications Officer

Guy Tavernor - Photographer

Lisa Barrett - Medic

We started off the week with a Birthday celebration for Guy. The girls made dresses out of sarongs and the boys had black ties made from bin bags and of course Ross had his kilt on. A delicious dinner of spaghetti bolognese was prepared followed by a giant strawberry and cream birthday cake. Happy Birthday Guy!

The team have also been getting driver training. We started with a theory session learning about driver rules and regulations in Costa Rica. Followed by vehicle inspections and learning how to change a tyre on a Land Rover. Quite a challenge for some of the ladies!

On Sunday we will be joined by project managers and begin a action packed fortnight of training including jungle camp! We are all very excited about the expedition, meeting all the venturers, and making this an amazing experience for everyone.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to so far -

Field base - where the magic happens!
Lisa cooking some delicious food
Tim doing a vehicle inspection
Oli recovering after changing a tyre!

Today’s weather -

24°C
Real feel 29°C
Sunny
Humidity 71%

Hasta Pronto!