Cruising Costa Rica

After completing the handover of myself (Carina) and Bravo 3 in the glamourous location of a car park, Nick and I commenced our road trip to visit X-Rays’ 1, 3 and 4 in Costa Rica.

Day 1 – Tracking down the trekkers
After taking in the beautiful scenery during our ascent into the hills, we arrived at La Esperanza to be welcome by the slightly whiffy (sorry trekkers!) but very happy X-Ray 1s! Sporting an array of ‘interesting’ outfits to keep warm, the group were adjusting to feeling a little chilly for a change as a result of being at an altitude of 2500m.

Bundling themselves into extra clothes and sleeping bags, the group warmed themselves up with a delicious dinner of pasta with lots of fresh veg and sausage, followed by one of Vanessa’s, now famous, banana cakes. Lottie also prepared energy bomb for the group, so all in all, it was a good food day for X-Ray 1!

Day 2 – Masterchefs a.k.a X-Ray 3
After an early rise with the trekkers we travelled to Carara National Park to visit X-Ray 3. Due to an overflowing river, X-Ray 3 has relocated from their jungle camp into a ranger building. With running water and bunk beds, the group have made themselves at home and managed to use the kitchen facilities to create some impressive food out of Raleigh rations, such as Emma’s Banoffee Pie! Having enjoyed a meal with the group we then played numerous games of Mafia as well as being entertained by Jed as only he knows how.

The following morning we walked into the jungle where the group is hard at work clearing flood and storm debris from walking trails.

Raining in the rain forest

Day 3 – X-Ray 4 challenge for the Masterchef crown!
Having travelled the short distance from Carara to Playa Hermosa to visit X-Ray 4 on the turtle project, we were greeted by a very chilled and happy group. Loving the beach environment, the group have been busy building up the storm walls following the bad weather at Hermosa over recent weeks. The storm walls protect the baby turtles from being drowned in the hatchery and so the group are enthused about working as hard as possible to prevent further damage. At night, they have been undertaking two beach walks to search for turtles and nests to enable them to relocate the eggs for protection.

X-Ray 4, sunset at Playa Hermosa

Again, impressing us with their cooking skills and challenging the efforts of X-Ray 3, Carlton and Sophie treated us to a delicious dinner of homemade veggie burgers and chips. The cooking in phase 3 is particularly impressive and Nick and I were delighted to get stuck in! Hopping back in Bravo 3 the following morning, we headed off early in order to deliver X-Ray 1’s last food drop.

Day 4 – Home delivery!
One food drop that trekkers love is the last one as they don’t have to carry it! With this in mind, we delivered X-Ray 1’s last food drop to Playa Palo Seco which is the end point of the Coast to Coast trek. Ready and waiting for their arrival today, we hope the trekkers enjoy the food and the messages of support tucked inside the food sacks!

Following the food drop, Nick and I headed back to fieldbase where we are preparing for the return of X-Ray’s 1–5 on Monday.