Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Update from the Alpha groups

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Update from the Alpha groups

Our Alpha groups are spread across Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the sun is shining for everyone and they are busy setting up amazing camps, trekking through beautiful scenery and making speedy progress on their project sites. Here are a few of the highlights from today...

Alpha 1 - the Corcovado trekkers had a massive uphill jungle climb for most of today, followed by a big downhill but well worth it for the fantastic views.

Alpha 7 - up in Nicaragua, Clare had a birthday to remember. While most birthday's end with sore heads and memory loss, Clare celebrated Nicaraguan style with a 6am start. Hard work digging trenches and some energetic hitting of a birthday pinata resulted in a fight for the luxurious sweets!

Alpha 9 - 'How much wood could a wood chuck cut if a wood chuck could chuck wood? Not as much as Alpha 9 could!' Yes, you've guessed it, Alpha 9 have been very busy cutting down and moving wood!

Our Fieldbase team are also working hard. Bravo 4 has headed off with Laura, Ash, Elizabeth, Annie and Ollie for a trip all the way up to Nicaragua and Bravo 3 (carrying Ross, Katie, Blogger and Keiner) is whizzing around Costa Rica dropping off food for hungry trekkers and visiting A9 in Conte Burika. Julian, Sarah (Logcita), Christine and Steve are holding the fort and spending most of the day on the phone and radio!

More updates to come from the other groups soon.

6 comments:

Marianne Mak11 February 2010 at 00:57
To Logcita Sarah

Thank you very much for the daily updates.You're doing an amazing good job!
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Chris davey11 February 2010 at 15:14
Clare davey Alpha 7.
Its a good job you have had so much practice hitting pinatas over the years at hillcroft Crescent. I hope you bagged all the sweets. Your birthday sounded great. We are off to Belguim in the morning. Im really proud of you. Those muscles will be coming on a treat.
Love mum, George and danxxx
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Margaret and Gabi Nakkas12 February 2010 at 01:12
message for Natalie Nakkas Alpha 7
Hi my darling...how is the ditch digging going in the 'scorching heat'?Not much fun I guess - sounds gruelling!!For someone who 'shade bathes' and stays out of the sun - I can only imagine how tough this must be for you. Hopefully no sunburn.. so sunscreen and sunglasses... also hope your back is holding up ok - on the plus side - meeting with the locals sounds interesting!
We are off to Norway this morning (no you haven't misread)..hope to do some skiing this weekend and while your dad is attending meetings on the Mon and Tues I will explore Oslo..exciting stuff!!Hope all is going well and that the experience is fulfilling and rewarding...Take care and will be thinking of you at -9... will try not to get frost bite LOL!
BTW no further news from CA..will keep you up-dated...Miss you..Lots of love..Mum and Dad X
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Fam. Badilla Barboza13 February 2010 at 20:59
Para: Aida Rodríguez Alpha 9 Hola Aidita esperamos que te encuentres bien, hemos visto que Están trabajando duro, dice Pilar que te extraña, Aida te quiero mucho dice Maripaz, te queremos mucho, te extrañamos y que Dios te bendiga. . . Mila, el tío Freddy, Tía Aurora.
Feliz día de la Amistad. PD Tuvo una perrita Lulú.
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Sylvia |Davies15 February 2010 at 16:06
To Veronie Havens...Alpha 3
The photo. posted today is really good of your group,hope all the smiles were not just for the camera. Trust you Veronie to wear less than the others, are you trying to attract the midges? Hope you are getting used to a diet of beans.Enjoying following your progress do you all feel its a bit like Big Brother watching you all.Hope the trek is as good as it looks, very proud of you. Loads of love. Taid & Nana
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Fam Leon Valverdre2 March 2010 at 12:16
Sebas, Alpha 9,
Que bonita experiencia, Felicidades
Estoy muy orgullos de ti, Increible
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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?”