Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Raleigh en Cabo Blanco

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

Raleigh en Cabo Blanco

Escrito por Urania Rodriguez

La reserva biologica Cabo Blanco posee un sendero llamado 'Sueco' de una longitud de aproximadamente 4500 metres. Este se encontraba en mal estado ya que muchas personas usan este sendero como turistas y otras. El sendero esta dentro de la reserva y conduce a una playa hermosa por lo que se considera muy importante. El grupo zulu 3 realizo todo el mantenimiento nexesario para convertir este sendero seguro y muy atractivo. El grupo se siente muy satisfecho de haber realizado un trabajo muy importante en dicha zona. Ademas el trabajo fue muy bonito debido a que no siempre se vive en un ambiente tan sano y con tantas especies de flora y fauna. Esta experiencia es espectacular y unica para el grupo zulu 3. El grupo tambien trabajo en la casa de atencion al turista y fue muy interesante ya que atreves de esto aumento el conocimiento y interes por Cabo Blanco. Como grupo nos sentimos muy contentos de haber estado en un lugar tan hermoso y tranquilo en una linda casa con vista de la playa rodeado de muchos animales y despertirnos con el canto de los pajaros. Esta experiencia sera inolvidable para el grupo zulu 3.

Cabo Blanco biological reserve has a path named the Swedish path which is approximatly 4500 metres long. The path was in a bad state of repair due to the fact that it is used by many tourists and other people. The path is very important, especially as it leads to a beautiful beach. Zulu 3 carried out all of the necessary maintenece to make the path both safe and attractive. The group feel very satisfied to have carried out this important work. In addition to the work, it was also incredible to live in a place with so many different varieties of flaura and fauna. This experience has been spectacular and unique for zulu 3. The group have also been working in the tourist information centre which has been very interesting as through this we have learnt more about Cabo Blanco. As a group we feel very happy to have been in such a beautiful and calm place in a lovely house with views of the beach, surrounded by animals and awoken by the song of the bird. This experience will be unforgettable for zulu 3.

2 comments:

The Watson family11 December 2009 at 03:54
Claire Zulu3. Well not long now, and then a whole life of reflection on what a wonderful experience it must have been over the passed 10 weeks Iv only seen the blogs but can imagine the smells sights and sounds of a country largely unspoilt by technology and progress????? together with the friendships forged when tasks are shared and times in a town girl life gets tough and challenging. We the Watson family would like to thank all those individuals who have helped and nurtured her in good times and bad, put up with her craze for dressing up and other special traits to, we may never met all those who have shared Claire's life in this experience but thankyou and happy christmas.A very proud Claire"s mum.
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Robert Walter12 December 2009 at 03:16
Message for Sam Walter Zulu 6.
Sam, great to see more pictures of Zulu 6. That wheelbarrow looked heavy!! Hope everything going well and guess you must be getting to the end of your project. Everything good here and getting ready for Christmas. Still love to have you with us over new year... get thinking who you can get away... still a place left if anyone with you now fancies it! Honestly - no pressure! Can't wait to see you next week and party hard. I'm sure you all deserve it. By the way, the flights home are the ones you asked for. Call when you can and I'll give you all the details. Dad x
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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?”