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”