Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: What I learned in Jungle Camp

Sunday, 3 October 2010

What I learned in Jungle Camp

Hello 10L followers!

We're back from the thick of the jungle; a little bruised and blistered but strangely energised. It was an intense two-day practise of navigation, trekking, setting up radio communications, risk assessments, river-crossing techniques, and emergency evacuation.

Jungle camp is a great way to see how the teams worked together in challenging situations. We experienced how working in bad weather with empty stomachs and wet boots can very quickly cause morale to fall pretty low. As project managers we are taught to be aware of such situations and how to cope. A simple thing like calling for a short break for a sip of water and a snack can do wonders to turn things around.

In all, the PMs learned plenty of practical skills which will soon be put to good use during the community, environmental and adventure projects for which they've all been allocated. Who will inaugurate the new trek through central Costa Rica which hasn't even been named yet? Who will be off to build water projects with local communities in Nicaragua? Stay tuned for project allocations and further detail in the next post.

Pack well and light before your trek. Decide what's essential and what isn't.

Pork and beans? Definitely essential.

Plan your route. Get your bearings right.

Clean, dry and ready to roll!

Don't forget to say goodbye to the local livestock.

Let the leader lead.

But don't neglect those at the back.

When danger is present...

... assess the risk. Discuss it with your team.

If you feel too stressed. Take a chill pill and start again.

Be prepared for muddy boots and damp feet

Don't be daunted by the long, winding...

and often boggy, road

Because you will be stunned by breath-taking views over...

... and over...

...again!

This is how you cross a river in theory

This is how you do it in practice

Putting a hammock together

Don't forget to test it

Bashas good enough for a platoon

Euane loving his bed

Be prepared for emergencies

Always radio in for assistance and support

Stretchering the patient for immediate evacuation

The highs at the finish will be priceless.

Give your kit a good scrub

Laundered and ready for the next big adventure

8 comments:

Yel Salih12 October 2010 at 09:43
(Naz Taner) Nooozzzle,

I hope you arrived safely. Can't wait to read all the updates. Just spoke to your mummy, she says she misses you and loves you. Good luck, do amazing things, and spread some of that naz love, to people that need it.

miss you

Yizzle (Yeliz Salih)
ReplyDelete
Replies
Brittany12 October 2010 at 13:24
Hi guys,
Hope you are having an amasing time!
Fiona i miss you soooo much! stay safe my lover! xxxxxx
ReplyDelete
Replies
Graham Woollett12 October 2010 at 14:20
To Anna Woollett

Have a great time !

GrahamW. :-)
ReplyDelete
Replies
monica vos13 October 2010 at 01:09
Dear Arthur , no news is good news. Still...just drop a few lines from time to time ... most of all for Nanook & Phoebe , cause they miss you a lot.
Have fun love U , Mo
ReplyDelete
Replies
Graham Woollett13 October 2010 at 04:04
To Anna Woollett

Hi Anna
Hope you had a good journey.
If you get a chance write and let us know how you are doing.
Thinking of you.
Lots of love
Dad :-) X
ReplyDelete
Replies
Graham Woollett21 October 2010 at 13:25
To Anna Woollett Alpha 3

Hi Anna
I hope all is going ok in the jungle.
Rather you than me but I guess I am getting a bit soft in my old age and definitely to old for the hammock :-)
Apparently you have a jacuzzi, well you have one up on our ensuite.
Good luck with the watchtower.Hope you can keep dry.I suppose a tumble dryer
is out of the question :-).Everybody ok here.Tom working hard still.Mum with
fingers permanently crossed for you.Sheila sends love too.

Love dad :-) X

Lots of love Dad et al. :-) X

Good luck with the watchtower building.
All ok here.Tom still working hard.Weather on the turn now.
Loads of love Dad et al.:-) X
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous22 October 2010 at 01:09
To Jack Harrington Alpha 3
Heating broken
Blues loosing
Molly untrainable
Work rubbish
Nothing changes at home so we are off on holiday tomorrow. Hope you are not too wet thinking of you Mum and Dad xxx
ReplyDelete
Replies
Annmarie22 October 2010 at 01:52
For Corinne Davey Current Trek Alpha 2
Hi Sis, Hope you got my last blog. Just been looking a pics of your trek with girls, Liv looks shocked,the snake tipped her over the edge!and Luc just wanted to know where Jamie was! They say hello and they love you. Cannot believe your trek so far, will defo book you in for a pedicure and can you believe the public transport there, shocking!! hehe. Good job I'm not there I would be a right moaner! Anyway, you are doing brill. Luv Sis xx
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?”