X-Ray 6: Racoon Ramblings

X-Ray 6: Greggae, Jeannina, Roger, Charlie, Rakeem, Katinka, Merle, John, Fran, Catherine, Tom, Amy, Rosina, Don, Colin and Vic

A morning with x-ray 6 begins with a chorus of howler monkeys, and cries of ‘the raccoons have struck again!’ from the weeping breakfast makers. What at first appeared to be a harmless fluffy friend has become the staking terror of the night. So far this light fingered mammal, or ‘the beast’, at it has come to be known, has stolen 2kgs of sugar, a bag of salt, a vat of powdered milk, biscuits, tang, noodles, ibuprofen, underwear and mascara.

X-Ray 6 enjoying an R&R day on the playa

Venturers lie, clenched, in their beds at night, too scared to go to the loo clutching ther possessions as the nocturnal raider weaves between the basher beds, loosening the knots and cutting holes in our mosquitoe nets. In the day it lies in it’s nest in a sugar induced stupor, with fabulous eyelashes of course.

On our path building expeditions through Cabo Blanco’s lush jungle we have encountered a few less pesky animals; armadillos, anteaters, a large snake, scorpions, and a third named Nigel a beautiful blue bird (who steals our crackers) have all been spotted on the ½ km wheelbarrow run. We have morning yoga sessions to energise us, saluting the sun as it rises over the Pacific, and eat starfruit from the tree to keep us going throughout the day.We make between 22 and 36m’s each day, 272m down, and 3 days to go. All is well.

One of the rocks that X-Ray 6 and Artist Holly painted to line the path

X-Ray 6 Art

Artist Holly went to visit X-Ray 6: They have been working on the Alberth Ingalls path and had in mind to paint and decorate the rocks lining the new trail, leaving their own personal Raleigh legacy.

What with the nature of the project, we aim in our art programme to be as unobtrusive to the environment as possible and select materials from our immediate surroundings. We experimented with printing using found objects and created some beautiful designs and compositions by painting leaves and transferring them onto card; we even incorporated this method onto the rocks, which gave a really striking effect.

Smiley PM Colin

Fran printing with leaves

Blog written by John X-Ray 6's project comms officer who conducted(!!) his blog with a lot of humour NB everyone is well and looking forward to returning at changeover - the clutching of possessions was John's poetic licence!

X-Ray 4: H20 the basics

Ella-Kate of X-Ray 4 has reported on Carara National Park and the valuable environmental conservation project they are undertaking:

Our work for this phase in Carara National Park is contributing to conservation efforts, improvement of the tourist experience, making life better for the rangers and helping to combat a huge problem in the park. Carara National Park is affected by the lack of a reliable water source, currently the water for all of the buildings in the park comes from 2 natural springs. These have served their purpose well but they are now drying up and are unreliable. Therefore we are pitting our community learnt pick-axe skills, their trek learnt trail planning skills and the enthusiasm of the explorers against the jungle.

A guided tour of the Park by Jared, only 1% of Carara Park is open to visitors, X-Ray 4 are incredibly privileged to be living in this protected part of Costa Rica

The aim is to build a trench so a new water pipe can be installed. Our team is bonding well even though our work was interrupted by a group of spider monkeys. Seeing these animals in their natural environment has really helped motivate us and remind us of our purpose here which is to conserve the environment.

Jared a Carara Ranger, thanked us for our work which is incredibly important for environmental conservation

Our work here has a great local impact, Jared one of the rangers has expressed that without Raleigh to build the trenches the already stretched resources would be pushed further as the rangers would have to dig it. If the park loses its water supply entirely it is likely it would close as tourists would no longer be able to visit due the lack of amenities, water is needed to drink, toilets wouldn’t work, volunteers wouldn’t be able to come either and rangers couldn’t live.

X-Ray 4 bonding

Our pipe will guarantee water for the volunteers who work hard to maintain the park it will also guarantee water for the rangers who protect the park and the wildlife while providing invaluable information and education. The biggest development is that it will allow water sources to be installed along the new disabled access trail and existing path, guaranteeing water for visitors.

While our trench seems like a small development, it is helping protect the future of this awe inspiring natural part of the country. Globally Costa Rica is providing an excellent example of sustainable development and conservation. It is a small country but proving its power through conservation of rainforests and the environment. Carara National Park is a perfect example of the importance of volunteers and the changes they can make. 

After the working day is done, X-Ray 4 have cuddles

World Water Day is being celebrate by Expedition 13A on the 22nd March - keep in touch to find out what we are doing.

X-Ray 5: The Long and Winding Road

X-Ray 5 are clockwise from top left: Pauline, Jeff, Berny, Daniele, Harini, Flo, Tom, Bella, Cas, Jac, Anthony, Simon, Angie, Hibbe, Iona, Chris and Drew

San Lucas, a beautiful island rich in history and adunbant in wildlife, became home to 13 Venturers and 3 PMs for 19 days as they set out on their environmental project last Sunday. A short boat ride from Puntarenas we pulled up on the shore of the former prison island, slightly uncertain but eager and excited to meet our Ranger to find out how we could help.

The pier on Isla San Lucas where prisoners used to arrive as did X-Ray 5!

Our first job was to clear the old library, which had become a jungle and was covered with litter and debris. Within 2 days we had restored the library removing all of the litter and uncovering the original green tiles. Although the Ranger said that sorting out the litter into groups wasn’t necessary we insisted on separating plastics and metals in order to allow the women on the mainland to earn money from recycling and to make a positive environmental impact.

San Lucas is abundant in wildlife, howler monkeys are currently under threat from poachers

The following day we were given our plan of action for the coming 2 weeks. Our aim is to improve the paths on the island, first by evening out the slopes to make them level and then the plan is to cover it in sand to compact the soil and for durability. The work has been difficult, the soil is hard and the heat is intense but X-Ray5 have been powering through and with great determination and teamwork we have covered 400m in 3 days.

X-Ray 5's camp is right on the water, basher beds are made out of bamboo and a hammock

The Ranger has been truly impressed by the high standard to which we are working to and has congratulated us on our progress so far. Our work will not only improve the island and make it more accessible but also encourages tourism so that visitors can be educated about the prison and it’s history. At one stage there were plans to change the island into a resort but luckily the motion was denied and the island has stayed a conservation area with some restoration of the prison.

The view from camp out over the water which is filled with stingrays and turtles alongside phosphorescence

The work X-Ray 5 have been doing has been really rewarding so far, our hard work has paid off as the paths are noticeably better and we can see the positive impact we are having on the environment. While being here, we’ve had a tour of the prison and heard some of the brutal stories of the prisoners in the past as well as having access to the book that was written by one of the inmates of the prison, the island of lonely men. We all feel extremely privileged to be living on this island and to be helping conserve the environment as well as being part of the work that the rangers do to encourage sustainable tourism.

Today's blog was written by X-Ray 5s Project Communications Officer Bella Jones

The 'Explorers' have arrived

Today is a great day at Raleigh Fieldbase, all of our teams are on their way home, we successfully celebrated World Social Justice Day (hopefully you have seen our video click here to view if you havn't had time yet >) but today we also welcomed 14 new volunteer Venturers to Expedition 13A. They have had a big couple of days with training, trekking and learning all about Raleigh and their upcoming projects. So here they are:

Alice (PM), Stella, Chow, Izzy, Amy, Hebie, Anthony, Freddie, John, Amelia, Gabby (PM), Eva, Ella, Jess, Kate and Akalia

It's changeover so lots of updates to come of our returning Volunteers and all of their exploits.
Pura Vida!

Alpha 4, 5 & 10

It has been an amazing couple of weeks for Alpha's 4, 5 and 10 and our bloggers Emma, Josh, Olly and Glyn have given updates on their progress.

Alpha 4, Carara National Park by Josh and Emma

It has been wild since Day 1 here at Carara when we came under tarantula 'attack' and met our resident iguana that we have named 'killer' for the first time. We quickly embraced our luxurious new home fully furnished with beds, showers and the occasional tree frog.

Alpha 4: Henry, George, Ben, Josh, Ollie, Emma, Celine, Emilie, Cecilia, Amy, Lewis, Adriana, Lou, Jos, Emma and Hidde

Once everything was set up we were ready to hit the ground running, lining over 100m of path with rcks. Since then our progress has continued and we have renovated many 100s of metres since including raking,gravelling and stone moving. One of the most rewarding parts of working in Carara is the instant gratification from the hundreds of tourists who visit each day and are always interested in and thankful for our work. We have felt perfectly at home here, having thrown Celine a birthday party including a magnificent biscuit cake, and have since held a jungle party with Tang cocktails and a quiz.

Ollie hard at work

We are all fighting fit and plan to continue working hard, until we cannot gravel anymore! We feel blessed to have seen all the wildlife in this magnificent park including Scarlet Macaws, an anteater, Capuchin monkey, hummingbirds, snakes and multiple agouti alongside witnessing an iguana eat a tarantula and a rare sighting of the illusive Carara puma. Every day we experience more and are so excited about our final few days and what they will bring. Pura Vida!

Alpha 5, San Lucas Island, Olly Wolrond

Celebrating St.Valentine's Day

It's hard to believe that I'm writing this blog entry on day 12 of our inhabitation of San Lucas Island. Although the phrase "time flies when you're having fun" does apply, I think it's more a case of time flies when you're working very hard. However, the palm lined Playa de Coco (literally Coconut Beach) on our doorstep does a little to ease the aches. The beach is also a reminder of our mission here to protect and conserve this beautiful island and it's habitat.

Alpha 5: Sally, Jade, Greg, Kate, Gina, Holly, Nick, Olly, Matt, Emily, Kat, Anna, Ben, Charlie, Paul and Job

We hope to keep the island as untouched as possible, preserving it's status as a nature reserve and allowing future generations to enjoy it as we have; while at the same time helping the Rangers to protect the island from poachers who take trees and animals from the islands beaches and forests. By far the most vocal species of animals at risk from poaching are the Howler Monkeys (surprisingly tiny for their loud calls), we thought they were massing for attack the camp however we have since become used to the maniacal calls that occur throughout the day and night.

Hard at work on the trail

Monkeys however are not the only animal to contend with on the island; ants, stick insects and most memorably a tarantula have all wandered into our kitchen. We've also seen an armadillo, hundreds of hermit crabs, have been set upon by bees whilst working and we also share our food store with bats! However we have also seen the other side of the islands natural habitat stargazing on the jetty and seeing for the first time the island's fluorescent water plankton which gives the sea a sparkling glow.

Howler monkeys up in the trees around camp

In building our trail across the island we hope to protect this habitat by providing a new path for the Rangers which will allow them to better patrol the different beaches from the threat of poachers as well as clearing and maintaining the beaches from rubbish which comes on shore from the sea. Taking down buildings is also part of our task and we hope that we will create an environment which will attract responsible tourists to the island both to view the infamous prison and admire the unspoilt natural environment. In terms of global impact we hope that our part in promoting conservation areas in Costa Rica will add to it's global reputation in providing the right way to protect the natural environment.

Alpha 10, Arenilla Miraflor

Raleigh is working alongside the local community of La Arenilla in Miraflor to build sustainable housing. This encompasses levelling the terrain, laying foundations and making adobe (mud) bricks to build new houses.  These solid, low-tech and durable homes replace makeshift accommodation that cannot withstand the storms and rains.

The view from our homes

Raleigh’s Expedition 13A Alpha 10 group came to La Arenilla with the aim of progressing building work on 60 to 70 percent of the locals’ new housing. That aim is near completion.

This project is to provide the people of La Arenilla with safe and stable housing. This project is not just to build sustainable housing, it is to secure a future for the children and grandchildren.  Somewhere for them to study, somewhere for them to be safe and confident that when the wet season comes their homes will not be washed away.  We are proud that Alpha 10 has helped this community realise its ambition to adapt to the climatic conditions, to withstand the rains and to carry on into the dry season without rebuilding every year. 

Tomorrow a social justice blog from Alpha 8 and an update from Alpha 7.