Which Zulu are you?

And all too soon we have reached the final phase of the 12L expedition.  We've gone from Alpha to Zulu and these are the new group allocations.  Deployment was bright and early on Friday morning with everyone now on their way.

Remember to quote the Zulu name in any messages that you send in via the blog, even though they aren't published on the website we do make sure that they are given to your nearest and dearest as soon as we can.


Zulu 1 - Coast to Coast Trek, Costa Rica
Claudia Fiedler, Claire Skelton, Sarah Crawford,
Henry Anderson, Ziggy Parris, Angel Mejia, Paul Darius, Ben Byers, Mela Piedra, Lilian Keller, Patrice Hollywood, Bo Brand, Eveline Kroese

Zulu 1 - Coast to coast

Zulu 2 - Miratombo Trek, Nicaragua
Sarah Flynn, Jim Howard, Barney Harker
Alex Robertson, Hidde Van Lent, Callum Blues, Jose Quesada, Hester van Marwijk Kooy, Jakeling Escoto Rivera, Frankie Owusu-Brobbey, Yorleny Bermudez, Andrea Grundke, Vinnie Moriarty Barron

Zulu 2 - Miratombo Trek

Zulu 3 - Environmental, starting in Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Jae Quiros, Vic Lapsins
Jonas Koch, Luke Waldock, Jonathan Corrales, Pedro Ocon, Archie Finlayson, Anika Kandola, Anna McManus, Arlene Rodriguez, Sophie LaMarre

Zulu 3 - Environmental

Zulu 4 - Los Loros Water project, Nicaragua
Florian Cross, Charlie Cox, Karen Malone
Marco Mora Jimenez, Diego Molina, Matt Whiteside, Ben Hilton-Delhaye, Omar Ochoa, Carlyn Brown, Puck Van der Vet, Suwen James, Shannon Potter, Claudia Audlie

Zulu 4 - Los Loros

Zulu 5 - Miraflor House building project, Nicaragua
Natalie Metcalfe, Pauline Wright, Nicole Ferris
Ben Persofsky, Jack Moxham, Louis Tindall, Harley Decker, Dave Rosen, Gustavo Granados, Floor van Selms, Vera Juarez, Tiggy Taliadoros, Vic McIrvine, Aishath Green

Zulu 5 - Miraflor

X-ray 3 popping up to say hello

A day in the life of X-ray 3

After working like ants up and down the paths of Carara National Park we are loving our time in the paradise that is Playa Hermosa, where we are saving turtles and enjoying the beautiful setting.  Most of our work is done at night with shifts at the turtle hatchery and beach patrol.  Getting up for work at 11pm gets easier after a few days...

Turtle hatchery

In the daytime, as well as helping the rangers, we are making the most of X-ray 3's creative ingenuity by building up our basher bed home.  It has a fitted kitchen of driftwood, a candlelit dining room and a long drop... with a real toilet seat!

Lilian in the fitted kitchen, planning her next prank?

In our free time we get on down to the beach for a group game of volleyball, rounders or the X-ray 3 favourite - quidditch (complete with homemade snitch and bludgers).  Don (Dave) and LaLa's (Lillian) prank-athon reaches new levels and cloudy-pool-paradise is the perfect location for relaxing.  We eat dinner watching the sunset and then head down to the hatchery to spend a few more hours in the company of baby turtles.

Turtle patrol watching the sun rise... Dave, Floor and Claudia

 

by Shannon Potter, Project Comms officer

Introducing the new X-Ray groups

So everyone is on their way for Phase 2!

Even though early mornings are becoming quite routine now, 3.30am is still quite brutal especially after the Halloween party the night before.  No complaints from the new X-Ray groups though.  Everyone made their packed lunches, ate breakfast, stuffed their rucksacks and loaded the buses ready for a prompt(ish) departure.

So the X-Ray groups are as follows:

X-Ray 1 - Miratombo Trek (Nicaragua)
David M, Vic L, Charlie
Marco, Gustavo, Louis, Luke, Jonas, Matt Whiteside, Carlyn, Anika, Anna, Tiggy, Victoria M

X-Ray 2 - Environmental (starting with Playa Hermosa)
Claudia F, Jim, Nicole
Diego, Ben A, Jack, Harley, Ben H-D, Ben P, Jacklyn, Mela, Suwen, Puck, Aisheth, Hester

X-Ray 3 - Environmental (starting with Carara)
Pauline, Martina, Sarah F/Natalie
Matt Wilkinson, Jose, Omar, Claudia A, Floor, Dave R, Vera, Lilian, Shannon, Nick, Alex

X-Ray 4 - Los Loros water gravity project (Nicaragua)
Florian, Claire S, David A
Pedro, Hidde, Callum, Ziggy, Archie, Henry, Yorleny, Laura, Frankie, Lydia, Patrice, Andrea

X-Ray 5 - Miraflor house building project (Nicaragua)
Sarah C, Jae, Katie
Jonathan, Angel, Rory, Paul, Ben B, Max, Arlenne, Bodyl, Vinnie, Eveline, Sophie

If you could mark your blog messages with these X-ray groups it will help us get each one straight to your loved ones.  (Even though messages aren't being published on the blog at the moment we still print them all out and get them out to venturers just as soon as we can - so keep up the words of encouragement, they mean a lot.)

And speaking of the Halloween party here's a picture of Barney to put you off your breakfast...

Pretty in pink?

Fat Pandas send a message home - Alpha 4

Playa Hermosa!  Definitely deserves the name "Beautiful Beach!"

We've been here just over a week now and Alpha 4 has been enjoying every second.  We've had sunshine, storms, lightening and starry night skies.  The work has been carried out both in the hatchery and on the beach, first collecting and recording the baby turtles from the nests and then releasing them into the sea.

"Releasing the baby turtles at sunrise was one of my best moments ever, so magical and surreal.  I feel so privileged to have experienced it".

The Rangers have welcomed us all into their team and never let us forget the impact of the contribution we are making.  The pancakes they made us for breakfast were also greatly received by all.

The Fat Panda team still remain close and will be sad to be leaving each other when this phase comes to an end in a couple of days.  However we are all excited to begin working on our new projects!

Hope you all enjoy the video and the view.  Much love from Fat Pandas.
Pura Vida!

Project Comms Officer, Ben Byers

Turtle Tastic

Playa Hermosa literally means ‘beautiful beach’ but it’s most interesting visitors haven’t come to see the scenery. Thousands of olive ridley and black turtles, plus some rare leatherbacks, come to lay their eggs each year, making this a place of huge ecological interest. Unfortunately the eggs fall prey to natural predators and are at risk from poachers, who steal them to sell at up to $50 each.

We have three tasks during this project. Firstly, we must hold nightly turtle patrols, collecting the eggs and placing them safely into nests in a hatchery . Secondly, when the eggs are hatched, we are responsible for releasing the baby turtles into the sea at a safe time to give them the best possible chance of survival and helping to conserve this very important species. The third task involves planting trees to restore biodiversity, essential after the severe deforestation of the 1970s.  This is an exciting and very important conservation project that Raleigh has been proud to run for many years with long term partners at MINAET.

“The Raleigh groups have been excellent. Without their help we wouldn’t be nearly as successful in our work to help save these incredible creatures”

Marco Vinicio, Ranger

This is zero, this is zero... over

When everyone is out on their projects there is always a core team here at Fieldbase.  Each Alpha group has various means of staying in touch (a radio, a mobile phone and a satellite phone) so they are never cut off from advice, support or a friendly word.

There are two official communications from each group at a set time each day.  One is just to check in and the other ones is a more detailed SITREP (situation report).  This is a structured conversation that includes where the group are, what they've been doing, what they are going to do and allows information to be shared both ways.  One person is responsible for manning the Comms Room at Fieldbase each day to take the calls morning and night.  Our call sign here is zero.

Charlie and Martina manning the radio - this is zero, this is zero...

The news from our Alpha groups over the past couple of days is:-
                           
Alpha 1 - Yesterday they walked 18km to San Miguel and ate some fantastic salami.

Alpha 2 - They have walked from Miraflor Ranger Station to La Naranjita.

Alpha 3 - Arrived at Playa Hermosa and have succeeded in building basha beds to keep dry.  They have gone straight into Turtle patrols and working with the rangers.

Alpha 4 - At Carara National Park the jungle camp site is waterlogged so they are living in a ranger house - and it has the bonus of electricity.  They've started work on the trail.

Alpha 5 - Arrived at Achuapa, they are having a tour of the community and the water source today.

Early starts and fond farewells...

Today is deployment day - the day when all Alpha groups head out to their projects.  It starts early with alarm calls at 3.30 am, that's right I said 3.30 AM!  And there was no avoiding it as Martina drove a Land rover around the campsite with both the horn and radio blaring - nice one Martina.

Ben and Sophie and a big sandwich

There was time to make a big sandwich for breakfast and another one for lunch and then belongings and tools had to be loaded on the buses.

Yorleny, Tigi and Patrice - watching over a lot of heavy rucksacks

Bonds have been formed over the past few days so there were fond farewells, best wishes and hugs as new friends said "Adios" for 19 days.  And a few venturers had a special goodbye for Splatches, the resident Fieldbase dog, who is keen to be everyones best friend.

Henry, Matt and Lilian say goodbye to Splatches

As the sun came up the buses headed off in different directions - to Playa Hermosa, Carara National Park, Nicaragua and the start of the Coast to Coast Trek.  Some will be travelling for a couple of hours and some for a couple of days, before they arrive at their destination and the work begins. 

On their way

Remember to leave your messages here and we will make sure that they are received by you loved ones whilst they are away at their projects - your kind wishes mean a lot to everyone.

Alpha group allocations - then off to jungle camp

An important day today, the venturers were told which projects they will be doing through the first phase of expedition.  The project managers took to the stage and performed project based skits - hence the kilts, mutant turtle masks, monkeys and shell suits that appear in the photographic record.

So here is the running order...

Alpha 1 - Coast to Coast Trek

Left to Right: Pedro Ocon, Florentine E van Selms, Jonathan Gerardo Corrales Marenco,Vera Juarez Vargas, Aisha Green, Sophie LaMarre, Benjamin Avern, Natalie Metcalfe, Matthew Wilkinson, Benjamin Hilton-Delhaye, Nicole Ferris, Rory Thompson, Dave Myer

Alpha 2 - Miratombo Trek (Nicaragua)

Left to Right: Claudia Fiedler, Diego Molina Rodriguez, Arlenne Rodriguez Leandro, Puck van der Vet, Archie Finlayson, Benjamin Persofsky, David Rosam, Suwen James, Harley Decker, Shannon Potter, David Agombar (Omar Antonio Amaya Ochoa will join in Nicaragua)

Alpha 3 - Playa Hermosa/Carara National Park

Left to Right: Henry Anderson, Tracy Heyburn, Callum Blues, Angel Roberto Mejia Quintero, Marco Mora Jimenez, Eveline Kroese, Rahim Hassanali, Laura Perry, Jim Howard, Lilian Keller, Clare Skelton, Lydia Auty, Matt Whiteside (Max Smith arrived today to join the group and Andrea Grundke will join shortly.)
  
Alpha 4 - Carara National Park/Playa Hermosa

Left to Right: Hidde Van Lent, Ben Byers, Victoria McIrvine, Carlos Lugo, Patrice Hollywood, Gustavo Granados Bolanos, Zahir Parri, Yorleny Bermudez Murillo, Paul Darius, Antigone Taliadoros, Jae Quiroz, Sarah Crawford, Charlie Cox, Pauline Wright

Alpha 5 - Water project, Achuapa (Nicaragua)

Left to Right: Florian Cross,  Jose David Quesada Murillo, Sarah Flynn, Vic Lapsins, Jonas Koch, Hester Van Marwijk Kooy, Anika Kandola, Melania Piedra Castillo, Nicholas Masters, Alexander Robertson, Anna McManus, Luke Waldock (Jakeling Escoto Rivera will join us in Nicaragua.)

Now that the Alpha groups are formed each will head out to learn campcraft and navigation skills, bonding over basha beds and trangias.  Bags packed they headed off to spend the night at jungle camp.

The lie of the land...12L project recce

Each of the PMs, newly formed in their Alpha groups, have spent the past couple of days visiting their projects to familiarise themselves with the lay of the land.  This is an opportunity to check that everything is as it should be and generally get ahead of the game before the Venturers arrive.

The Nicaraguan groups (Alpha 2 and Alpha 5) have just walked in the door, but Alphas 1, 3 and 4 came home to Fieldbase yesterday.

Here is a little flavour of what they got up to.

Natalie, Dave and Nicole raring to go

Alpha 1 had the opportunity to walk part of the Coast to Coast Trek with a local guide, sleeping out along the way.  Boots got muddy and t-shirts got sweaty but the view was the reward.

Natalie watching her footing on the Coast to Coast Trek.

Early morning on the Coast to Coast Trek.

Alphas 3 and 4 are looking after the first Environmental phase based in Carara National Park and at Playa Hermosa.  Whilst at Playa Hermosa the guys got a chance to stay up for a night patrol where they collected 800 turtle eggs and then the next morning they were able to help release 47 turtles back to the sea where they would have the best chance of survival.  Not your average Monday morning, but this is Raleigh.

Releasing turtles and Playa Hermosa

Turtles heading for the sea.

The magic sorting hat of Turrialba

Each PM, as nervous as any new wizard to Hogwarts, took the stage to don the sorting hat of project selection.  How will the hat pronounce?  Will it be environmental, community or a trek?  Who will be your team mate/s?  Only the magic hat can decide.

Jae receiving pronouncement from the sorting hat

In a Harry Potter/Ready, Steady, Cook mixed metaphor the first task for the new teams was to create a pudding with store cupboard ingredients in 20 minutes - marks awarded for taste and presentation of the dish.

Pedro and Barney - judging pudding

Alpha 2 succeeded on taste - with David (call me Heston) and Claudia presenting a tropical flapjack.  Alpha 1 took presentation to extravaganza levels by bringing bunny ears and gold sequins to the table.  Fieldbase scored for team effort with Phil being the actual table, Joss being the waiter and the girls providing the crunchy bottom, fruity layer, velvety chocolate and zesty topping of their Fieldbase Fantasy.

Alpha 5 in the dance off

It all had to be decided with a dance off and Fieldbase pipped the competition at the post.  There may have been strength in numbers, and we have had an extra week to bond - but personally I put it down to sheer skill and creativity.

So, now fully bonded over cooking and dancing, the teams are assembled and ready to go.  The running order for the Project Groups is as follows:
Alpha 1 - Coast to Coast Trek, Costa RicaNicole, Dave and Natalie
This Trek has taken various forms over the past few years, but Expedition 12L will feature a particularly exciting version, starting at the Caribbean Sea and ending on the Pacific Coast.  Crossing a continent as well as a country.

Nicole, Dave and Natalie - Alpha 1

Alpha 2  - Miratombo Trek, Nicaragua 
David and Claudia
Starting in the far north of Nicaragua, near to the Honduran border, the Miratombo Trek meanders through the diverse landscapes of Esteli and Leon.

David and Claudia - Alpha 2

Alpha 3 - Environmental, starting in Hermosa, Costa Rica
Jim, Clare and Tracy H
Working to preserve the turtle populations of Hermosa beach, this project will collect turtle eggs, ensure that they hatch safely and release the turtles back into the wild where they have the best chance of survival.  This team will spend the second half of their phase at Carara National Park (see below).

Jim, Clare and Tracy - Alpha 3

Alpha 4 - Environmental, starting in Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Pauline, Jae and Sarah
Starting in the Carara National Park this group will work to clear the Lago Meandrica trail, previously inaccessible in the rainy season.  This work will enable many more visitors to the park, and therefore increase the revenue for the Park and allowing them to continue their other environmental work. This team will spend the second half of their phase at Hermosa (see above). Where they will be joined by Charlie.

Jae, Sarah, Pauline and Charlie in the background - Alpha 4

Alpha 5 - Achuapa water project, Nicaragua
Sarah,  Florian and Vic
This project group will work with the local community of Los Loros in Achuapa to develop a gravity-feed water system to bring clean and safe drinking water to 40 families living there.

Sarah, Florian and Vic - Alpha 5

X-Ray 4...Tarzan!

Arena y lodo son dos cosas que no se pueden comparar desde el primer momento que entramos todo realmente asombroso, ahorita nos encontramos realmente orgullosos de haber vivido en la jungla como tarzan! Entre arboles, bañándonos en el río y haciendo nuestras necesidades al aire libre, pero todo eso es parte de la experiencia.

X-Ray 4, Playa Hermosa

Ya en la playa todo realmente buenísimo disfrutando de la arena, mar tortugas algo que realmente no olvidaremos!

Ta-Shanae enjoying life in the jungle

Un grupo demasiado bueno y con unos PM’s asombrosos que marcaron el balance en todo el grupo.
Proyecto ambiental como última fase es muy agradable y pacifico un tiempo en donde puedes pensar sobre todo la expedición y darte cuenta de lo maravilloso que es la mundo nuestra naturaleza, bella Pachamama!

William Pavon

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.

Playa Hermosa... lugar maravilloso

No fue muy buena nuestra bienvenida con toda nuestra comida oliendo a cangrejo y camas mojadas, gracias X-Ray 3!

 Pero ahí de inmediato lo arreglamos y comenzaron nuestras patrullas esa misma noche. Al primer grupo le cayó una inmensa lluvia, luego ya salió el otro grupo a las 12:30am y lograron recolectar 12 nidos de tortuga y miraron el amanecer ya en la mañana. Nuestras caras eran indescriptibles por tanto sueño.

En nuestras mañanas pasamos trabajando creando una barrera protectora para cuando suba la marea no entre al vivero. Estas horas de trabajo nos tienen todos quemados, la mayoría rojos camarón y uno que otro más moreno.

A las 10am termina el primer turno de trabajo. Hora tan esperada ya que todos nos vamos a meter al mar o a jugar voleibol.

Estar en Playa Hermosa es como estar en el paraíso. Es única la sensación de mirar a una tortuga desovar, tener los huevos en la mano y ya luego de un tiempo liberar las tortugas bebe en el mar; eso realmente es vida! Estamos tan felices por esta experiencia inigualable, sabiendo principalmente que lo hacemos por el medio ambiente.

Por William Pavon

X-Ray 3 - Playa Hermosa

At the start of the phase, due to adverse tidal conditions, we took refuge in the ranger station as huge waves flooded the hatchery and bashing against the protective wall we had built. It was a morbid experience to see the destroyed turtles nests due to the flooding however, the wonderful experience of digging up new hatched turtles and releasing them into the sea has more than made up for it. We have also learnt how to build turtles nests and on average we’ve see about four turtles a night.

At night we have two shifts: one at 9pm and one at 2am where we patrol the beach to protect the precious turtle eggs and we have even learnt to spot turtle tracks in the dark!

So what have the individual members of X-Ray 3 been up to? Sarah collected eggs straight from a turtle laying them – she says it was a great experience, Henry has sweated ten times the average man as he shovels in the furnace trench every day, Raymond has dutifully kept us orally hydrated as water boy and it was brilliant to welcome Emma on Sunday – her presence has added to the banter. Ysavier and Jason captured an iguana which posed for pictures until its release and Jed has been our resident dancer and all round entertainer.

Earlier today, Lottie and Soheba treated us to a culinary delight of masa donuts and chocolate sauce while tonight Josue and Isabel (who are doing a great job as translators) are serving us up a Latino dish made from fresh fruit and veg Tom bought at a local market.

That’s all for now – more news when we get to Carara!

Highlights of Romeos, Costa Rica!

Romeo 1 Coast to Coast Trek
18 days of trekking culminated in an emotional moment when we caught our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and ran straight for it! In total, we have walked over 250km across Costa Rica. In the process we have battled torrential rain, mudslides and way too many mosquitoes.

On day 12, we climbed 1000m and reached our highest point of 2800m. The route we took was a steep climb during which the group used trees and vines to help us with the ascent. It was incredible, everything was covered in moss and the trees were so high that they blocked out most of the sunlight. As we crossed a whole mountain range the views were incredible.

Our accommodation on trek consisted mainly of community centres with varying degrees of modernity; some had showers and some had a wooden long drop, covered in cobwebs, lurking at the back of the garden. We also camped a few times and have collectively decided that anything is better than being in a tent (though this is probably because every time we camped we had torrential rain!).

Day 18 was the most amazing day; we managed to reach our end point at the beach by noon and then had the rest of the day, as well as day 19, to relax and bask in the sunshine! We went swimming, watched the sunset and awoke to fresh coconuts in the morning which Simon and Cat knocked down from a tree in our campsite. Overall Coast to Coast has been an amazing experience which has pushed us to our limits and surpassed our expectations. 

We made it! Pacific Coast

Romeo 3 Playa Hermosa/Carara National Park
Phase 2 has proven that the Raleigh experience just gets better and better. From living in the beach at Playa Hermosa to living deep in the jungle at Carara National Park, our environmental phase has been amazing.

Working very closely with turtles at Hermosa proved to be an unforgettable experience for the group. During our night patrols we saw both Ridley and Green turtles, collected and buried their eggs in the hatchery, and released newly hatched turtles back into the ocean.

The group also enjoyed living by the beach, especially our post-work paddles in the ocean and collecting coconuts from nearby trees.

Before we knew it was time to say goodbye to the beach and make our short journey to the jungle.  Despite a leaky group tarp, relentless rain showers and constant humidity, jungle living proved to be a fantastic experience unlike any we have ever had before. The famous Romeo 3 refried beans recipe kept our spirits high and our efforts at trench digging were rewarded when whole areas of path remained free from flooding.

We saw lots of wildlife around camp include Capuchin and Howler monkeys. The group were also lucky enough to see crocodiles at a nearby river and even a baby crocodile on one jungle walk. There were also a wide species of birds around camp including the famous Scarlet Macaws.

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the phase for many was meeting the rangers whom were very welcoming and helped us at any opportunity, even cooking dinner for us at the beach.

Altogether Romeo 3 bonded fantastically and worked exceptionally well as a team.
 
Romeo 4 Carara National Park/Playa Hermosa
Our project was a two part adventure divided into digging trenches in the jungle of Carara National Park and saving turtles at Playa Hermosa! From living in the jungle to sleeping next to the beach, this project had everything.

In Carara National Park we dug trenches to drain flood water that engulfs the walking trail during rainy season. Maintaining the trail enables the park to generate income which is used for essential preservation work.

After nine days of living under the canopy of the trees we moved to the sunny, sandy beach of Playa Hermosa to help with the conservation of turtles. We built wooden dams and dug trenches to protect the turtle hatchery from sea flooding.

At night, we patrolled the beach looking for turtle nests and would rebury the eggs in the safety of the hatchery. On three occasions we assisted with releasing baby turtles back into the sea and this was truly a special and unique experience for us all.

Every few days during the project our PMs ran sessions on sustainable development. We realised how useful this information was when one of our fellow venturers, Che, entered into a conversation with a tourist about the project, why we were doing it, and what Raleigh is all about. The depth of Che’s knowledge not only impressed the tourist but also impressed his fellow venturers who thought he’d been sleeping during the information sessions! The tourist was so inspired by the information he received, the next day he and his partner very generously came to the project site bringing gifts of food, snacks and soda! The whole group was extremely grateful and also delighted to know that the importance of our work is appreciated.

Echo 4 photo album