Getting Out and About

Current weather conditions: Sunny

The VM team have been busy visiting local partners in their community, environmental and trekking sites in preparation for the venturer projects in phase 1. The projects are:

Alpha 1 with Just-In-Time James, Party Man Pedro and Rambling Rose working in the Chirripo Indigenous Reserve to build a secondary school in the community of Roca Quemada. This remote community, a 6 hour walk from the nearest road, is found in the foothills of the Caribbean slope of Central Costa Rica and is inhabited by the Cabecar indigenous people who maintain their own language and culture. The school that Raleigh built in a nearby community (still a three hour walk) only last year is already oversubscribed, so this school is vital in order to give the many children in the community the chance of a secondary education that they are desperate to have. The Raleigh group will also have a unique experience where they can learn about the lives of the Cabecar people and understand the challenges that face this indigenous community at the beginning of the 21st century.

Alpha 2 with Calamity Cam, Scottish Stu and Rowdy Roly walking across a continent in 19 days to the Pacific Ocean. This energising trek begins through the Caribbean lowlands, hiking through the jungle at Barbilla National Park before heading to the climb over the continental divide through Tapanti National Park. Once up to nearly 3,000m the group will descend through the stunning cloud forests of Los Santos to the Pacific Ocean at Playa El Rey, part of Manuel Antonio National Park. This trek will be challenging but achievable by all, encompassing a wide range of scenery and habitat. It will be an awesome achievement to have walked coast to coast and it is sure to be an unforgettable experience.

Alpha 3 with Soccer Steve, Loud Libby and Virtuous Viv working in La Cangreia National Park developing an environmental trail for wheelchair users. This 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. This makes the area important for research purposes and for conservation and the government is developing many of the facilities. It is through such projects that the National Parks can generate income from tourism, which allows the conservation of the incredible flora and fauna, and prevents these areas being felled and used for other profitable ventures such as logging or cattle ranches. The park is also blessed with amazing waterfalls only to be found through exploring the forest.

The team celebrated their return from project sites with a birthday party for James who turned 21 again on Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES! As part of the evening entertainment, the group smashed up a SpiderMan piñata and woke up Raleigh India who were just starting out on their morning activities.

Ladybird Lou’s quote of the day: ‘You can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.’