The North Fulham New Deal for Communities & Raleigh International Expedition to Tayni, October 2007

On Saturday, the 19 students and 3 staff members from Fulham flew back to London having had an incredible 10 days on expedition with Raleigh International in Costa Rica.

As detailed in the previous blog, the group had an induction day at Field Base in Turrialba. For full details as well as names of all involved, scroll down. On Sunday morning everyone boarded the bus and headed down to the Caribbean, and then onto Finca Vesta. From here they were met by Roger and Junior, two members of the Tayni Indigenous community. Roger and Junior had eight horses, which were used to transport the tools and food that the group would need. The walk into Boca Coen, where the group would be living and working, was a three-hour walk under very hot and humid conditions. It was quite a challenge, so all felt very relieved upon being greeted by the locals. As soon as introductions were done, the students were shown their accommodation for the week, which was a floor in the health centre - luxury! The locals cooked all of the meals, so they were treated to delicious rice & beans and coffee three times a day.

First thing Monday morning, the group was split into two – half had to cross the river to go to Isla Coen, where help was needed in completing the build of a new school, and half stayed in Boca Coen, where lots of painting was required! Those who crossed the river had to carry and saw wood, nail the walls up, and generally try to get as much of the building up as possible. There was also a school kitchen to paint, which was completed by the students. Those who stayed in Boca Coen painted a secondary school, the school kitchen and toilets, and the new teachers’ house. All of these buildings, apart from the teachers’ house, had been built by Raleigh on a previous expedition.

At the end of each working day, everyone had the pleasure of bathing in the local river. This became quite a ritual and something which everyone looked forward to after a hard days work. One afternoon they also managed to fit in some fishing, and one of the local boys caught a shrimp!

On the final night in Boca Coen, the group did a ‘jungle camp’, which meant that everyone had to put up a hammock and spend the night sleeping out in the jungle, with snakes, scorpions and lots of other interesting creatures! Even though it rained a lot, and there was mud everywhere, a great time was had by all, and the hammocks provided some comfort after three nights of sleeping on the health center floor!

After all of their hard work, the crew from Fulham were due some rest & relaxation. So after another arduous walk out of the reserve, this time involving the use of some indigenous rafts to do a river crossing, they were back in Finca Vesta - first stop: the local pulperia to buy them out of all chocolate, cold drinks and ice cream! The bus was boarded again, and they headed back to the Caribbean, this time to stay in a well-deserved hotel. Within minutes of checking in, everyone was in the sea together jumping waves and celebrating the success of the project. This worked up a healthy appetite, which was just as well, because dinner was a massive barbecue. There was just time for a quick night swim in the hotel pool before retiring for the night.

The final full day was spent traveling to the Braulio Carillo National Park to go to Rainforest World Aerial Tram. In groups of six they were taken on a tour through the rainforest canopy on a tram. Then it was into the serpentarium to learn all about and see a huge variety of Costa Rican snakes. From here, they returned to the hostel in San Jose where they had a final review session, a photo slideshow of the expedition, and finally a meal out at a traditional restaurant.

The Tayni Expedition was a huge success. The community were extremely thankful for all of the help they received, and the students learned a great deal about Costa Rican & indigenous culture, the environment, and of course themselves.