Photos from Alpha 5 and 6 and group roundup

Alpha 1,

Blog extract by Paula Lam

So what an adventure so far Alpha 1 have been having. The trek didn’t start too well for Drew as his rucksack failed within the first 3 hours of trekking but with handy gaffa tape and bungee cords the group held it together. The first night was spent in a church which housed more insects than the jungle itself! Norman screamed like a girl when a scorpion crawled from under his mat and another took full advantage of Sarah’s thermamat. This night was also the beginning of Sarah’s minor skin reactions – she is officially allergic to the whole of Nicaragua! Ollie, the enthusiast, has never understood the slow pace and always steams ahead but Paula – the designated bowl carrier – is officially the fastest ‘ turtle’ on the team plodding steadily on 10 metres behind him. Laurence never fails to entertain with his dodgy morning stretches in front of everyone and the Alpha males in the team have taken on the challenge of Annali’s rucksack (whenever a well needed rest from carrying was required). Laura has gone from refusing to drink tap water in the UK to drinking the earth water of Nicaragua and no matter how hard or challenging the trek gets Dani and Gabo’s advice on Tang always proves to be a godsend. Many team members have been plagued by blisters but Katie’s outshines them all, however, everyone’s feet (and sore limbs) were refreshed by a recent dip at the river. As for Sam, he is now supporting one small dreadlock alla Norman. After all these adventures the group still managed to find a surreal oasis on their trek – in the shape of a local man with his ice cream cart who appeared out of nowhere and help quench the parched mouths of Alpha 1 (as well as making himself a tidy profit)!

Alpha 2,

Still going strong have returned to the jungle. They have just left esperanza ranger station, morale is high and today they trekked a full 5k further than they had planned. This means, amazingly, that they are now ahead of schedule. Tomorrow they hit the Dragon!! More on that

Alpha 3,

Have finished cutting the path and have moved on to paving the path with gravel and drainage ditches.

Alpha 4,

Have been taking it easy today, working on their artwork and skit. They played a verturers Vs rangers at beach vollyball. We don't have the final scores but hoping the venturers won!

Alpha 5,

Blog extract by Riz Dasu

As I write, I am lying in a hammock surrounded by cows being milked and a hen nurturing her three baby chicks – all this whilst listening to a Spanish version of Shakira’s “She Wolf” on a local Nicaraguan radio station. It took us two days to reach La Calera (the village near Achuapa where we are working to build a water system for the local community). The first day saw us cross the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border (an experience!) and the second day was spent being driven through some of the most winding bumpy and inaccessible roads I have ever seen! Nevertheless upon arrival at Achuapa town – and after a brief juice stop at a local restaurant – we set off on a 7km hike to La Calera where we received an amazing welcome by the whole village and were introduced to the families we would be living with for the next couple of weeks. Although the living conditions are very basic and it is obvious the people lead a hard life (before arriving I couldn’t imagine going to a well every time I wanted water) their attitude is one to be envied. Everyone has a smile on their face, they’re always laughing and joking and the children are playing all the time.
We started the project by digging trenches – into which we would lay the pipes that connect all the houses to the water source. Initially the work was extremely hard and team morale fluctuated but with a little motivation from each other and with help from the incredibly hardworking locals, we are getting through the work with time to spare. We’ve spent our free time getting to know each other as well as the locals and on a few occasions we have played football and volleyball with them. The experience has been very challenging for the whole group but the work is both worthwhile and rewarding and a great time is being had by all!

Riz learns how to make tortillas

Cement to be - Alpha 5 get stuck in!

Cement to go - Riz, Charlotte and Claire help fill the wheelbarrow

Cement to be here already! Simon waits as foreman Chico prepares the ground

Alpha 6,

Blog extract by Sammy B,

Dear Civilisation we’re just arrived back in El Zacaton after our weekend trip. Yesterday morning our driver Ponchance played 80s power ballads all the way to Esteli baseball stadium. It was pretty stifling, but Felix didn’t let this get in the way of immediately forming an intimate companionship with a pimped out stranger there. It turns out that this shadowy figure was the one and only Pedro Ramos, who we learned was a MLB pitcher who played for the Yankees for over two years. We were star struck as he led us to the best seats in the house ( he owns the stadium) and asked us where we all came from. The match was fun to watch at first as we undertook the challenge of trying to understand the scoreboard. We were having a great time however we agreed to leave after the first six innings the prospect of another three hours failed in comparison to visiting an ice-cream shop. In the evening everyone went to phone home and check the football scores. Going to our hostel for a WARM shower and a meal! Yeah that’s right Alphas 1, 5 and special 6 had a room with flushing toilets! Whilst all day dreaming about the days events Felix got over excited and ordered two cheeseburgers for dinner, whilst Matt and Sarah had coffee cake. Afterwards we received message that Alpha 5 were claiming to have the biggest muscles of the two community projects. In response to this to show feable 5 their place by providing photographic evidence of the gun show. This is a warning signal to any Alpha group that attempts to out special us. The next morning we set off for a quick tour around a local cigar factory as Nicaragua is the 2nd biggest exporter in the world. It was pretty interesting seeing them produce nearly 20,000 a day. We then headed back to El Zacaton for another week of work in which we are given extra gardening and teaching responsibilities in the local school.

Getting stuck in!

Tanne mixing it up!

Is that Charlie in the middle? Dunno, but the 'special' 6 girls are certainly angels!

Bravo 1,

Are now back safe at field base, Ale, David, Rachel and Ross have left for their road trip visiting all Costa Rica Alpha groups, delivering mail, blog messages, nibbles. Service with a smile!