Return from the remote south bringing news of A1 and A9

Wendy, John and I got back from our trip to see Alpha 1 and Alpha 9 late yesterday, and what a trip we had. I spent an amazing four days trekking with Alpha one, before John and Wendy joined me and we headed off to Conte Burika to meet Alpha nine.

Alpha one are making good progress. They have had a couple of hard days, walking up some pretty big hills, mostly in the direct sun. We met them again on Wednesday night for their second food drop and left them early yesterday morning after they were all up at 3.30am to make the most of the cooler morning. Despite being very tired, the team is all in good spirits, especially after having found a nice campsite complete with swimming pool in which to relax and cool down at the end of the day. They’re now about half way through the trek and in the next couple of days they’ll make it to the Osa Peninsular, which is where the Corcovado National Park is. We dropped off their final food drop there a few days ago and I think they’re in for a real treat when they get there, the views and scenery are absolutely stunning.

Here is a slide show of all the photos from the trek…

Alpha nine are also doing really well. La Carona is a magical place, really calming and completely beautiful. The community was very welcoming and we were immediately made to feel at home. Despite the hard work they’d got us doing, we were sad to have to leave after just a couple of days.

Whilst we were there they managed to collect the last of the wooden posts down from the forest. They had been working incredibly hard to get this done, as we can testify - after lugging two of the 50kg posts down in one day, Wendy and I were absolutely exhausted. The walk up to fetch to posts is about 2km and all up and down hills and the posts are very heavy and quite awkward to manoeuvre up and down the trail back to the village. Saying that the views from the top were incredible, you can see right down to Punta Burika, the southern most point in Costa Rica.

These posts are being used as stilts for the Comedor, and since we left them, the group has now got all of the posts in around the edge and is starting on the middle ones today.

Appetites in both groups are healthy as they practically inhaled the selection of sweets and chocolate we brought with us. The marshmallows went down particularly well with some of the local children in La Carona…

And for all rest out you out there here are our other Alpha Group Updates

Alpha 2: This lot have had a couple of huge hot days since we saw them last. The sun has shone on them since they crossed the range over the to the Pacific side of the country. They have had some long days and they have climbed their first major peak ‘The Dragon’

Alpha 4: Have been hard at work on the trail and have decided to give themselves a day off today. They are being taken up Cerro La Cangreja (the mountain in the centre of the national park) by the park’s administrator. I wonder if they will see the Scarlet Macaws the area is know for?

Alpha 5: The group loved their beach trip, they played volleyball, football and many other ball sports. They have been back to worth since their return but they are taking some time out today in order to prepare for the ‘Pimp my Basher’ competition to be judged by the Fieldbase team when they arrive

Alpha 7: Are now onto digging and constructing well number 5! They are building up their strong arm muscles by carrying lots of heavy bricks but ot to worry the chocolate is on its way to them in the back of the Land rover!

Alpha 8: This group have well and truely become part of the local community. They have been taking turns teaching English at the school and have had tortilla making classes with one of the families! I am sure they will all be cooking these when they get back to the UK!