Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Pictures of Alpha five from Horizontes

Sunday, 15 March 2009

Pictures of Alpha five from Horizontes

Finally, here are the pictures of the remaining three Alpha groups, five, seven and eight.

Julian and I had an absolutely wonderful trip to Horizontes and Nicaragua. It was my first time there and it was one of the lovliest places I've been, everyone was so incredibly friendly and welcoming, and the country itself is stunning.

All three groups we visited were on great form and really having a good time. Each group we visited made us feel right at home and took great pride in showing us round their projects.
But I won't bore you with any more of my waffle, and will dive straight into the photos of Alpha five. I'll post seven and eight in a seperate one because there are a lot of photos and otherwise this will be a very long post indeed!

So let's kick off with the stunning view from the ranger station (if you look closely you might be able to see the rainbow)

Rosie, Grace and Charlotte, and below, Jo, Maarten, Tom and Tom, reading all their much-anticipated mail and blog messages

Josh had taken it upon himself to single-handedly take on Alpha Four in the best jungle camp stakes - i think his toliet facilities are pretty impressive!!

And the showering facilities, or wet room as named by the group, were pretty impressive too, as demonstrated by Charlotte and Harriet...

Kirsty, Julian and Spilla on the bridge built by the group

Me, enjoying the wilderness...

Sunset at Horizontes

And just to top off the facilities at the camp, here are Josh, Charlotte and Rosie, bar staff at the Vulture's Crotch, Horizontes' first ever Tang bar...

The group hanging out in Hammock Corner

Tom and Tom hosted the first ever weekly 'TomTom' pub quiz...

Julian, Harriet and Charlotte were crowned winners and presented with the Tom Tom pint of glory (well a stick painted to look like a pint but hey, in the jungle...)

Charlotte, Harriet, Rosie, Jo and Grace with their ingenious marshmallow stick holder...

The PMs were up early to make a special breakfast of bacon and egg butties for the group...

Kirsty and Maarten tucking into their bacon and egg butties!

Harriet and Charlotte tree hugging...

But it wasn't just them, the whole group are at it...

Jo jo and Rosie...

Tom D and Grace...

Josh, Jon and Viv...

Kirsty and Tom W...

And lastly Mike and Spilla...

And finally, here is the whole group, armed with rakes and machetes, waving us off before heading off for another day's hard work...

5 comments:

Anonymous16 March 2009 at 10:00
Thomas D (Alpha 5) We have really enjoyed looking at all the photos, I thought you were really brown until I looked closer and realised it might just be dirt!
(Thank you very much to all at fieldbase for producing such a great blog we just love it!)
Enjoy being back in camp with all the luxuries. C finishes on Thursday. Good luck on the next phase. Lots of love Mum and Dad (on a cold and grey day)
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Anonymous16 March 2009 at 16:21
hi Roo--got slightly lost on this blog and confused by which alpha group you were with-my computer tends to turn itself off after twenty minutes or so and i then can't remember which blogs I have checked so have to start all over again ----so I'm sorry not to have been more in touch but my technical skills........ thrilled to catch up with you and see the photos---pleased to see you have joined the tree huggers--Horizontes looks wonderful--can't wait to hear all your news
All love Dad
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Anonymous18 March 2009 at 14:41
Yo Tom, hope you're havin a great time out there, looks awesome. Website is slightly confusing but this seems to be a pretty recent addition with you in it. Hope you're doing lots of interesting things and are enjoying yaself, read lots of the descriptions etc looks wonderful! Enjoy the rest of your time, you can tell us all about it when you get back!

Loads love,

The Sale Coopers xxx
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Anonymous24 March 2009 at 13:20
Hi Tom
Godfather here again !
Way out of touch with what you have been up to but great to see these photos. Looking forward to hearing all about it when you are back.
Eleanor and Evie say hello and liked the photos of their cousin - they think it is great they can find a photo of you on the web. Evie even decided to google you !

Take care and keep enjoying yourself
Love Paul Sue Eleanor and Evie xxxx
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Anonymous27 March 2009 at 12:16
Mark(alpha 5) just checked the photos again and i think I saw you at the back , it looked like you were covered in mud!??wonder if it was you???Sent you a few emails.Counting down now only 2 weeks tomorrow.
All love Mumxxx
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Raleigh Lingo

Copy that?

Sometimes our Raleigh technical terms can be a tad confusing so we've put together a glossary for you blog followers. This will appear as a quick-reference section on the right-hand column so you can translate our Tico-terms into something a bit more palatable. And for those keen to brush up their Central American Spanish, we've included some handy translations. Here's a few to get you started...

Alpha, X-Ray and Zulu groups
(Grupos Alfa, X-Ray y Zulu)
The official name for project groups during the phases of CR&N 13A. Alpha will be out on project from 3rd to 23rd February, X-Ray from 24th February to 15th March and Zulu from 17th March to 5th April. Project groups are allocated during induction

Basha
Jungle ‘bed’: consists of a tarpaulin for shelter, a hammock and mosquito net. A basha is hung up between two trees and supported by rope, bamboo and canvas straps

Bodega
A Spanish word meaning store or warehouse

Bravo
A term of endearment for our hard-working Land Rovers. The four vehicles are officially, and imaginatively named Bravo One, Two, Three and Four

C.A.T.I.E.
The agricultural and development research institute on whose campus Fieldbase is situated. Find out more at http://www.catie.ac.cr/

Changeover (Cambio de Fase)
Two day period where all staff and Venturers return from their project sites for some respite before they are all reallocated and sent off to do it all over again...

Chicas, Chicos
Spanish term meaning girls (chicas) or guys (chicos) or both (chicos aswell). As in “Vamonos chicos!” or “Let’s go guys!”

Craic
A way to gauge how people are feeling, usually measured from 0 to 90. If your ‘craic’ is high, you’re pretty happy. If you announce a low craic, people will probably fix you up with an energy bomb and a nice big hug

CR&N 13A
Costa Rica and Nicaragua expeditions 13A

Day Leader (DL) (Líder del día)
Every day on project, one of the Team is designated DL – they are in charge of the day, including organising the day’s briefing, keeping group morale up, dealing with any problems, sticking to schedule and de-briefing at the end of the day. The DL role rotates round the whole group so everyone takes a turn

Energizer (Actividad Levanta Muertos)
An activity to gather the group together and raise energy levels. Can be used at the beginning of the day, or whenever a quick pick-me-up is required

Energy bombs (Explosión de azucar)
A trekking treat – mix together oats, raisins, condensed milk and chocolate powder and roll into little balls of gooey goodness to power you through the day

Fieldbase (FB) (Campo Base)
Refers to the Raleigh ‘office residence’ which is where the Fieldbase staff eat, sleep and work, whilst organising the expedition, manning the radios round the clock, supporting the projects, planning transport and logistics, keeping tabs on the finances and much, much more

Field Base Volunteer Managers (Equipo Logístico Voluntario del Campo Base)
Volunteer support staff for the expedition. The team looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ of the expedition and ensures everything runs smoothly. This consists of three permanent staff members - the Country Director, Country Project Manager and Country Expedition Manager - plus a team of volunteer staff including the, Medic, Photographer, Administrator, Finance Officer, three Logistics (logs) team members and the Communications Officer

Gallo Pinto
A traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans (yum!)

Icebreaker (Rompe Hielos)
A getting-to-know-you game

Longdrop (Letrina)
The camp loo. Literally a deep hole in the ground, it is one of the first tasks to complete when setting up jungle camp for obvious reasons! Short drops are similar, normally used for overnight stops when a shallower trench will suffice

Longs (Pantalones)
From 6pm onwards, we all don long trousers and sleeves to discourage the bugs that aren’t deterred by DEET

Maxis
Short for Maxi Pali, the stock-everything shop about a kilometer from Fieldbase where you can buy all those things you forgot/ran out of/lost

Nicas
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Nicaragua

Ninja
A popular game/energizer used by venturers and Project managers alike. Everyone stands in a circle and tries to hit the team members either side of them on the hand via a single ninja movements. Sound effects welcome

POPS
Legendary milkshake and ice-cream parlour chain found all over Costa Rica – perfect for a sweet splurge

Pork and beans (Frijoles con cerdo)
Another staple foodstuff for trekkers: tinned beans with a slightly sausage twang, served cold for lunch. Usually accompanied by dry cracker dust, sprinkled liberally on to the top. If you’re in a hurry, this can be consumed without cutlery straight from the can

Project Managers (PMs) (Guías)
Project staff for the expedition. Each of the groups has at least two PMs who work with the Venturers to develop skills, lead projects and challenge themselves

PURA VIDA!
A very special Costa Rican phrase that means hello, goodbye, I’m great, it’s good, pure life, basically any positive, feel-good thing can be Pura vida!

Radio check (Chequeo de Radio)
As well as a daily SITREP, all Alpha projects are required to complete a second radio call-in each day to check in, receive messages and report any developments

Review (Revisión)
A round-up that assesses how everyone feels, what went well and what needs work. This is sometimes an ‘activity’, sometimes a chat around the campfire, or sometimes just a bit of time to reflect. It’s an important part of everyone’s personal development so we make sure it happens every day

Roadtrip (Paseo Volando Rueda)
The logistics team and some of the Field Base team drive the Bravos on a loop round to each of the accessible project sites once per phase. They deliver kit, supplies, site visitors, messages from the blog and of course the all important post

Ropa Americana
Purveyors of the finest second hand American threads. Perfect for fancy dress/obtaining that long coveted college sports jersey

SITREP (Reporte de la Situación)
Literally Situation Report. A special radio message sent from the satellite project sites back to fieldbase once a day. It follows a certain format and includes all sort of handy information like where they are, what they’ve been up to, what they need and what they’re planning to do next

Tang
A fruity powder that is used to make squash. Jolly useful for taking away the chlorine taste of purified water

Ticos
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Costa Rica

Trangia (Mini Cocina)
A portable cooking stove. Used primarily for trekking, a trangia’s compact design makes it perfect for easy transportation. Literal translation in spanish - mini kitchen. Makes sense

Turrialba
The location of Fieldbase

Venturers (Aventureros)
Participants in the Raleigh expedition. Aged 17 to 24, they come in three varieties: Host Country Venturers (from Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Partnership Venturers (positive young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK who participate in Raleigh expeditions as part of a longer term development programme) and UK and International Fundraising Participants (who work hard to raise money to contribute towards the charities work and expenses in order to take part in the expedition)

Wash up (Revisión Final)
The last few days of expedition, spent debriefing, returning equipment, performing skits, and most importantly enjoying the farewell party (tears alert)

Zero (Cero)
A radio term that identifies the radio controller at Fieldbase. Fieldbase monitors the radios 24-7, listening out on three frequencies for calls from our satellite project sites. When the radio alarm sounds, we might answer something like this: “Hello unknown call sign, hello unknown call sign, this is Zero, this is zero, do you copy, OVER?”