Expedition 10L Update

Hello there

All is well in CR&N and the groups are having a great time. Thank you for your hundreds of messages - for those of you worried that your comments aren't getting through, don't worry they are! Maryann has been printing them all and delivering them to the project sites. She will be out for the next 8 days visiting groups in Costa Rica while good old Bravo 1 is up seeing the groups is Nicaragua. As you can imagine, no one on the project sites has access to the internet or their emails so you won't hear from them until they get back at 'changeover' from the 3rd to the 6th of November. We are aware that we do not have any images from Alphas 1, 6 or 7 yet – apologies, we have a vehicle up there right now and hopefully they will be able to send us photos in a few days. Until then, here is a general round-up of what's going on in Raleigh Costa Rica & Nicaragua:

Alpha 1 - have passed the half way point! They successfully climbed Volcan Casita two days ago and are now in the sweltering hot wetlands of Puerto Morazon. The awesome Volcan Cosiguina is now in sight, while they pass the smoking Volcan San Cristobal on their left. A fantastic effort from all.

Alpha 2 - have also made it past the half way point. They had their 'half way party' while taking shelter in a local pulperia (shop) owner's back yard. They've had to deal with a lot of hills and rain, but the spirit in Alpha 2 is fantastic and they are soldiering on despite the weather. They are now on the Pacific side of the country, so I'm sure the coast ahead is motivating them to keep pushing on.

Alpha 3, 4 and 5 - see post before last.

Alpha 6 - have been digging, digging, digging... well, 3km of trench isn't going to dig itself! They are making great progress with their water project and have built the captation tank in addition to the graft. They are all living with host families in groups of two or three and are constantly grateful for the incredible hospitality they have been shown. Members of the team have been taking it in turn to teach English in the local school. For their 'day off' they walked up a big hill and spent the night there in order to see the incredible sunrise.... nice one Alpha Six.

Alpha 7 - have also made good use of their spades and mattocks, having dug out the foundations for their community centre. This also involved collecting lots of large rocks, sieving sand and mixing cement. Next, the breeze block walls will go up. To ensure that the work site isn't overcrowded, each day four members of the group stay away from the site and do a different activity, whether it is making tortillas with the family, working on the farm or teaching English in the local school.

We hope to have lots of photos soon...