Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Photos from Alpha 2

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Photos from Alpha 2

Photographer James spent three days with Alpha 2 trekking through rainforest in Barbilla National Park. Here are some photos.

11 comments:

Anonymous21 July 2010 at 15:53
David Morton, alpha 2

Hey David brill to see you in some photos, thought you had lost one of your boots that we had searched hard to find, glad to see it floating in the water lol. Kevin was playing Tosh at footie the other night, he said he beat him, but you might want to check with Tosh on that story. The scenery looks amazing, hope you are enjoying it, and time isn't going to fast for you. wish you well take care ang & kev :-)
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous23 July 2010 at 01:06
Hey Ana (alpha2)
Great to see the photos and that you are still hanging in there.
Dad noted the dose of AHHP- was that what you were doing?
Don't take a wrong turn when you are lider der dia or the trip will be 20 days long!
Missing you but know you are having fun
xx all in Saintfield
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous23 July 2010 at 04:14
David Morton Alpha 2
Hi David
We are all in the office crowed around the computer, looking at your latest photos. You look great its good to see that you are enjoying yourself. The weather here is warm and sunny YaHooo. We are taking andrew up the law later on and prince has been loving it in the water. The girls and andrew are going swimming today.
Love you lots, missing you even more. Cant wait till we see more photos of you enjoying yourself.
Love Mum, Dad, Kids and prince xxxxx
ReplyDelete
Replies
Kat Adams24 July 2010 at 08:10
Hola Henry
Im liking your bandana stylins, work it baaaaayby!
Shockingly the jungle seems to have made you it a regular little fashionista. I am very impressed that you are still trekking about. If you get a little tired just remember the words of dory from finding nemo... just keep swimming.. or walking, you know whatever.
Love you squillions
Kat
ReplyDelete
Replies
kay adams25 July 2010 at 14:58
Hi Henry have spotted you in lots of pics. You look very happy. Azam also looks as if he is having a great time. Dad has two night flights and has been out alot on the bike.Kate does the paediatric first aid course tomorrow.Paul is on tkd camp so i,ll be planning a few lessons while he is away. Weather here has been warm even in the rain.Take care hugs Mum.and Baggins!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous27 July 2010 at 02:35
hi david alpha 2

great to see some pics of you looks like your having a ball bud wish i was there lol gail & rachel are asking for you seems like you've been away for ages we'll check for more pics soon take care bud

tosh, gail & rachel x
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous27 July 2010 at 08:04
Hi Ana (alpha 2)

Hope everything is going ok in the jungle? 14 days is a big achievement! I'm sure you're looking forward to finishing and chilling out at the beach for a few days to relax and recover. I'm sure you're having a great time. Talk to you when you emerge from the jungle!

Brian
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous28 July 2010 at 09:20
Hey Ana
By now you should be nearly at the beach! Everyone is so amazed at the gargantuan task you and your buddies have undertaken. The most we have trekked at a time is 5 days so it's fantastic what you have done. The sea will feel so wonderful.
Thinking about you all the time xx Mum Dad and Niall
ReplyDelete
Replies
Allan Kerr28 July 2010 at 21:20
David Morton, alpha 2

Hello Bud Wow Is All A Can Say Costa Rica Is Beautiful Good To See You Having Fun Em A Will Right More Stuff On Facebook If You Get A Chance To Read it With All The Work Your Doing Anyway Look After Your Self We All Miss You Can't Wait Till You Come back.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Mellisa Coyle1 August 2010 at 05:13
David Morton Alpha 2 .
Hey babie .. thats great news about ur camera ! aww that sucks that u ended up not well. I leave for holiday tonight , im so excited. hopefully i'll come back all tanned lol x missing u like mad babie feels like its been forever already ! ilove you millions babie and cant wait until you come home x mhwah xx
ReplyDelete
Replies
Allan Kerr1 August 2010 at 22:13
David Morton Alpha 2
Hey Bud Good To Hear Your Camera Was Found Crap About The Hospital Man Good Your OK But A Was Listing To David Guetta The Day And was Thinking That Time We Were Out In Your Car A Need To Learn To Drive Am Going To Make A Bank Account The Day So A Can Get My Money My Sighing On Day Is Friday Perfect lol And Am Getting The Other Side Of My Lip Done Am Gonna Be Looking For A Job Get You Something For You Coming Back Anyway Look After Your Self Have A Ball We All Miss You Like Way To Much.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Hi,

Thank you for visiting our blog. Comments are monitored daily and we will ensure messages are promptly delivered to your loved ones. Please ensure you state the name of the person to whom your message is addressed. This is so we don't miss any out. Muchas gracias!

Pura Vida!

How to send your loved ones a message

It's easy. Scroll down to the bottom of the most recent entry and click the comments link. A box will then appear where you can write your comment - please don't forget to tell us who the message is for including the full name and project group of the recipient. You can select name/URL from the dropdown menu to tell us who it's from (you can leave the URL blank if you wish). Finally, click on 'Post Comment' and you're done.

As you can imagine there are 180 volunteers so hundreds of messages for loved ones, no comments go live immediately and have to be moderated for appropriateness, so please do bare with us.

All comments that are pertinent to the post will be publshed and all personal messages will be delivered (even if they don't appear published). Messages mean a lot to all the volunteers; thank you for your continued support.

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?”