The Romeos Return

Once again our venturers have returned to fieldbase; tired, excited and full to the brim with a second batch of adventure stories. After three weeks out on phase they have taken down their jungle camps, put their trekking poles to rest and made their way back to fieldbase in one piece – welcome back Romeos! On the schedule for the next couple of days: catching up with old buddies, comparing stories, tan lines and enjoying some well earned down time before round three. We will also be saying goodbye to our seven weekers, but not without a succession of parties and celebrations to send them off. This evening the 11G Massive will be donning the braces and spectacles for our 'Freaks and Geeks' party, and tomorrow night is Vegas night! But for now let's round up phase two with a few final words from our Romeos.

Romeo 1 by Tricia
5.8.11
Ok goodie! We have finally made it past the half way mark and yes it’s true we could not be more proud at the strength of our bodies. The most amazing thing about trekking is that we have discovered that your bruises and blisters on your feet do heel despite constant walking. The most challenging part of today was being faced with steep hills both up and down, but it was a pleasure for Romeo 1 to finally camp for the first time as the Turrimacho and Romeo 1 gang.
Highlights from Cam...
Angelina says “Cam what is the temperature tonight?”
Cam says “Tonight! Oh yeah tonight is cold!”

6.8.11
Day ten was a day of some serious mental challenges, this walk tested our mental strength as we faced walks of uphill challenges, however as always with any challenge you are always rewarded with views that are incredibly unique and that will stay with you forever. Viewing Turrialba Volcano from heights that are difficult to reach and enjoying a coffee with the local ranger is enough to cheer any painful trek away.

7.8.11
The day of ‘Dear John’! Today we were ditched by the PMs and had to make it alone to our location. After reflecting on our very amusing letter we all went off marching in single file down the Pan American highway, with one of the venturers playing team medic. There was also plenty of discussion and debate as to whether we continue our trek onwards or stop off at a community centre for the night. As Romeo 1 should be renamed ‘Team Strong’ as we carried on to the Laguna and were greeted by A-class views , our fugitive PMs and the lovely fieldbase team.

8.8.11
The pre dragon day! Here we go again, this time accompanied by a friend called ‘rain!’ This walk was an interesting mix of terrain, hills and farmland. This walk eventually led us to a height where we could literally reach into the clouds. This misty location allowed us all to view a different weather climate to the sunny Costa Rica we had known.

9.8.11
Dragon day! Bring it on. Today we climbed well over 2080 feet. This allowed Romeo 1 to gain access to a sneak preview of the beach we are all heading for. This day was very challenging as we decided to ditch the route card and climb with instinct. Challenge? Most certainly. Views? Like no other ever seen. What made this day extra special was catching a brief glimpse of a beautiful brown jaguar.

10.8.11
The trek continued through the clouds, spiralling down hills and finding ourselves located in a small eerie town that allowed us to gain access to one of Costa Rica’s beautiful churches. From this village we moved towards a village that has been massively hit by landslides.

11.8.11
Out of the clouds we headed down, pointing our noses towards the beach, fighting steep hills and uniquely building bridges. Arriving at a very spacious community centre with a local Costa Rican Mama offering to throw all our wet clothes in a dryer. ‘We love you Ticas!’

12.8.11
Off to the beach we go! Singing, dancing, jumping! 28km later we arrived at Playa Palo Seco. What better way to say hello to the Palo Seco waves than screaming our native Kiwi lingo....”kome te kome te, kuri kuri!” (the hakka!)

Romeo 2 by Justin
Good morning from Romeo 2! We have completed the Guanacaste trek and are chilling out on the beach awaiting a delicious BBQ! Since we last left you, Romeo 2 have trekked through the jungle to Rincon de la Vieja National Park where we met up with our buddies from Romeo 3. In our two days here we have made our way over to the stunning waterfalls and have chilled out in the Rio Blanco Pools. Our next journey took us far into the hills to a town called Las Lilas, where Romeo 2 had the delight of being cooked for by the community. “The King of food” proclaimed Isaac when we tucked into our delicious pork and beans with coffee and ‘queso’. As a thank you, Romeo 2 played football with the kids; and Justin found a guitar and strummed out ‘Yellow Submarine’ for everyone. For our next two days the group head back to the mountains to Cacao station, with beautiful sunsets and stunning views of the Pacific. With big thanks to Ryan, Jen was able to enjoy a birthday cake on the big day- although the cake didn’t last very long after the hungry group set in. In addition, Reggie, Justin, Ryan and Rich scaled another mountain up a long forgotten path in an enjoyable mini-hike. Justin and Rich also showed that there childhood wasn’t wasted by recounting all 150 Pokemon characters from memory. Our final days here are on the beach. After a tough 30km final day Romeo 2 achieved their goal of 3111km and landed on beautiful Playa Junquillal.
So that’s pretty much it from Romeo 2. We’re all so proud of our achievements this phase and look forward to our next challenges, seeing old friends, putting our feet up and relaxing.

Romeo 3 by Elliot

Our phase is over. On our last day we took down our jungle camp, dismantled our kitchen and solemnly displaced our sacred Toucan. Camping out under the ranger station the emotion of the group was fluctuating; satisfaction from a job well done and being a significant help to the National Park was counterbalanced by the lack of our jungle home and the upcoming separation of our group. Not to be defeated by the somber mood, Romeo 3 celebrated the end of our environmental project in style - with sought after fizzy drinks and delicious marshmallows a late night farewell party was had; a further celebration to the night before where to our surprise the Rangers at Rincon De La Vieja cooked us a chicken dinner. The culmination of the party came as our PMs: Carwyn, Amy and Kiki granted the titles of King and Queen of the jungle to Elliot and Corrie for their efforts and attitude during the phase. Some of Romeo 3 are heading home, their Raleigh experience brought to an end, but whether in the next few weeks we find ourselves in Nicaragua, England or Costa Rica we all share the unforgettable experience working with incredibly passionate rangers and in the most stunning environment, safe in the knowledge that our work has helped safeguard its beauty.

Romeo 4 by Christina
Romeo 4 is now safely back at fieldbase after a fantastic phase in La Cangreja National Park and Playa Hermosa. We had a great time at the beach and seeing the turtles was a highlight for everyone. Here are a few words from Romeo 4:

Kelly: The best part was seeing a dolphin and collecting eggs for the first time ever. My life on Raleigh has changed so much and I respect so much what Raleigh has given me.

Jordan and Tim: The beach was frikkin’ awesome. We love the beach. And the crocodiles. And the baby turtles. And sleeping in hammocks is frikkin’ awesome! “Open up Ollie & Tyrone!”... We ride together; we die together, bad boys for life. T & J

Joss: I really enjoyed seeing the monkeys, crocodiles and turtles. I enjoyed making a difference to the environment in the jungle and on the beach.

Saren: Playa Hermosa is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It would be perfect if it wasn’t for the ants.

Cat: We’ve has a fantastic group and some incredible experiences. A highlight for me was releasing the baby turtles on the beach and making some good friends that I’ll never forget.

Kulbir: I really have enjoyed this phase, especially with its two very unique parts. The varied wildlife and the plant species in the jungle, coupled with the turtle conservation in Playa Hermosa.

Imi: I really enjoyed the two parts of this phase. I’m really pleased I got to see white faced capuchin monkeys and turtles.

Jonny: Really enjoyed this phase with two parts. Both parts were unique and picturesque. I met some great people, made some good friends and saw some amazing animals.

Christina: I have had a really wonderful time on this phase. I feel very lucky to have seen turtles on the beach and released baby ones back into the ocean. Living in the rainforest was an amazing experience, being surrounded by trees that seem to touch the clouds and unique wildlife.

Pinki: I really enjoy walking on the beach. I have seen the turtles, the sunset, a dolphin, and I used my hand to catch the turtles eggs. They are all amazing experiences!

Joyce: This phase is an unforgettable experience to me because it is incredible for me to have a chance to have seen the sea turtles laying eggs, build a nest for them and see the turtles wander back into the ocean. I am very happy!

Tom: Cowabunga - what a second phase! The first half of the phase in La Cangreja and the second half at one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches. I couldn't have asked for more. Playa Hermosa was a very special experience for me. Catching the turtle eggs as she laid them into my palm was truly magical and a moment that will stay with me forever.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed keeping up with Romeo 4s adventures. Those of us on the ten week expedition are very excited for our third and final phase. Those of us heading home in a few days look forward to seeing you all soon! With love, Christina x

Romeo 5 by Darran

It was a stressful day on our thirteenth day of work but Romeo 5 was determind to reach their target of building the community centre to head height. The pressure was on and unfortunately (although we tried so hard) we only reached shoulder height, but hey, we were still ferociously proud of the work we had done. The fifteen coffee-packed days had caused Romeo 5 to totally become attached to their families by the hips, if not by the mouth from their daily ritual of providing delicious food. It served only to make the farewell all the more difficult and tearful. However, Romeo 5 left with a sense of satisfaction. We had done two ‘how to’ sessions with the communities and had learnt to make biscuits and atol. Being able to cook tortillas and other traditional dishes, many of us became novices in the field of Nicaraguan cooking. It also made us well up with pride to see how rapidly the children at school were picking up English from our daily lessons at school. If only we could have learnt Spanish as fast. Events such as sports day (with some over competitive participants (...Chava)), a birthday/church opening, and two parties further spiced up life with the community. Romeo 5 are incredibly sad to be leaving Yaluca and are envious of the next lucky group that will be fortunate enough to go and experience life there.

Romeo 6 by Catherine
Romeo 6 has had an unforgettable experience in the community of Los Apantes. We successfully completed the community centre and opened it on the final Saturday with a big fiesta! The experience went further than that though as we were immersed in a totally different culture, seeing things that we had never experienced by passing through or reading books. Living with the families, we saw and learnt about every day aspects of life with no modern amenities - although I think we all appreciate modern amenities such as washing machines much more, we also appreciate the simple lifestyle they lead, such as the delights they take in playing games and family. We were all also amazed at the wide variety of dishes that can be made from the same few ingredients. The setting of Los Apantes was fantastic too, at 1500m with panoramic views of the mountains and breathtaking sunsets, no wonder it’s such a happy place. It’s nice to think that we have made appositive impact on their lives by providing the whole community with somewhere to meet, and that by simply being in their lives for two weeks we have successfully opened the youngsters eyes to the wider world so that they might go on to be more involved with it in the future, maybe even by doing Raleigh themselves.

Romeo 7 by Jack Smylie Wild
As is the case with most entities, Romeo 7s demise and disintegration is imminent – soon to be recycled into fresh groups for new thrills and purposes. And in many ways this is sad – it really has consisted of thirteen wonderful people, all with so many wonderful qualities, skills and strengths. We’ve been an equal group, a close group and a fun-loving one too. And the PMs have really acted as an impetus and a catalyst for these traits to manifest among us venturers. Well done Jenny, Waheeda and Margarita!
It’s been a few days now since we left our hill top hide-away and entered back into a more familiar but also a more hectic world. We’ve been back at fieldbase for two hours – handing over muddy clothes for washing, catching up with old friends from other groups, organising our equipment, some have been rehearing our ‘skits' (theatrical, musical performances depicting our projects), some guys are playing scrabble next to me and the BBQ is underway. Tonight is movie night. Tomorrow we do our skits and then dress as ‘freaks and geeks’ for the party and have a damn good boogie. Wednesday means the assignments for the final phase, and we’re all excited to see which treks and environmental projects we get and with which people we’ll be doing them. Sadly, the time has nearly come to say a fond farewell to the seven weekers. Our good friend Vejuna will be sorely missed by all in Romeo 7 – happy travels!
We’re all proud of the hard work we did in Quebrada Honda and touched by the simple lives which are played out there, in the remote hills which seem a million miles from anything we knew before. There’s not doubt we’ve all learnt lessons from our time there. What struck me personally was the quiet and gentle tenacity of people who work the land to stay alive and the smiles and generosity they still share with so much ease. Hopefully with instant access to good water more time can be spent educating the brilliant young minds of the children, and will also mean some respite to the elders. Better hygiene and irrigation are also significant benefits as well as many more. What an experience it was! We are all inspired to put our energy into positive change for those who lead difficult lives - a ‘pura vida’ for all!

So that's it for phase two - done and dusted. We're off to get ready for tonight's events but we'll be back soon with some cheeky snapshots of fieldbase fun and frolics, as well as our brand spanking new phase three project groups! Make way for... the X-Rays! Ooh.

Pura vida!

*Blog written by Dawn Tennant and photos by Kat Mammone, unless otherwise stated.

Nearing the end...

We have more news from our teams! Here’s some news from Romeo 5 all the way from Yaluca, Nicaragua! Abi reports back…

On Friday we woke up at 5.30 am to another absolute scorcher of a day. And someone told me that Miraflor would be cold. It was a lot of fun to see the fieldbase road trip at work and they didn’t waste any time in grabbing pickaxes and helping us to dig yet a more trenches… and holes… and trenches. After leaving work with deep fatigue (a genuine illness that I may have invented) we got ready for a fiesta being held in our honour by the community at a local house. After several rounds of the limbo, the girls showed us a traditional Nicaraguan dance which we obviously tounted with the hokey kokey which left them a little confused. It was a lovely evening, topped off with good food as well.
Saturday morning rolled around all too soon for our liking and it was back to digging trenches - our spirits raised as we saw the rapid progress we were making. We did a sad farewell to the road trip wishing they could stay for longer, but safe in the knowledge that we were their favorite group.
Sunday was a free day which we spent with a morning visit to Yale, the local town, and an afternoon ‘stroll’ to a lake, past incredible views and culminating a pretty successful fishing trip. We were invited for coffee and cake to the lake owner’s house and once again we were reminded of the ridiculous hospitality offered to us in Yaluca.
The next few days flew by as we worked away in the blazing sun. After finally finishing the foundations, being able to make a start on the brick work was really satisfying. After work on Wednesday, we held a patelote (kite) making session in preparation for Friday’s sports day, and competitiveness was definitely brewing in the air. On Wednesday we also enjoyed learning how to make Atol, one of the many many dishes here that maize manages to find its way in to. I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say that Thursday was the best day here; a combination of Darren’s birthday, a church opening (not two events I’d normally put together but it works), cake, fruit and a drink only referred to as ‘diabetes juice’ meant that we were all sufficiently full of E-numbers, and happy. The effort the local people put into the birthday was very touching and we will be sad to leave such a genuine and kind community.

The Romeo 6 team also has some news for us - Catherine reports...

Today Saturday 13th august will be the opening ceremony of the Los Apantes community centre! Romeo 6 has worked long and hard, digging, cementing, plastering, painting and more digging! The result has been a success though – a bright turquoise community centre complete with a roof, although at one point we wondered if we’d ever finish! It hasn’t all been hard work though. Romeo 6 has had a visit to a baseball game, a waterfall (where those of us with no shower took the opportunity to wash our hair!) and to a cigar factory in Esteli. We’ve also had visits to other Raleigh community projects to see how they have benefitted those communities’ lives and had family days where we had the opportunity to see the daily lives of our host families; to get to know their customs and values, and learn valuable skills like making tortillas, hand washing clothes and clearing fields for planting crops. The highlight of the phase has probably been the Raleigh races sports day which Romeo 6 organized for some numerous, very energetic children of the community. With races like the three-legged race, the dizzy spade race, a parent’s balloon race and the obstacle race which included Romeo members as obstacles at great personal risk. The day finished with the Romeo team breaking the rope in a tug of war and a presentation ceremony with certificates made by Romeo 6. A nine hour party is planned for after the opening ceremony tonight, and then Romeo 6 will be back on the road for the two day coach journey back to Costa Rica.

Mini updates from our other groups are as follows…
Romeo 1's mammoth Turrimacho trek finally came to an end yesterday as they reached their goal and arrived at the beautiful sands of Palo Seco on the Pacific coast. The group are now spending the next couple of days relaxing, recuperating and enjoying some well deserved down time on the beach before they head back to fieldbase. Well done trekkers!
Romeo 2 have got their stomp on this morning as they storm ahead to the finish line at the truly beautiful Junquillal beach. This morning they had already trekked 12km by 6.30am… they certainly have their minds set on the prize. You can do it Romeo 2 – trek… trek!
Romeo 3 have finished filling in holes along the path that were proving a risk to tourists, and continue to work on other ad hoc jobs with the ranger. All are well, happy, healthy and by the sounds of it working hard on those guns ‘n’ buns.
Romeo 4 were left to fend for themselves yesterday as PM’s Tom and Helena left the group for a ‘Dear John’ day (where the Project Managers leave the group for the day without warning and the team has to organize and direct themselves without any instructions from the PM’s). The day was a huge success and the group spent the day clearing the beach of debris, and continued work on the wall they have been building for the last week. The team experienced another very special turtle patrol last night as they came across thirteen different turtle nests where they were able to collect the eggs and take them back to the safety of the hatchery. Something to do with the full moon we think!
Romeo 7 are at the music festival! They have been practicing their big performance and are all ready and raring to take on the Nicaraguan music charts by storm.


Blog written by Dawn Tennant unless otherwise stated.

Romeo 3 and Romeo 7

We have more news from some of our Romeo's who called in to update us with their latest antics this morning. Let's catch up first with news from Comm's Officer Elliot in Romeo 3...

Due to the hard work and cooperation between the venturers of Romeo 3 and the rangers at Rincon de la Viejo we completed the tourist path on day 14. We still have other odd jobs to do, however everyone is feeling great satisfaction that our primary goal has been completed. The weather has been beautiful and for that we have begun to thank our local deity; the fearsome looking toucan totem pole erected one day by Corrie and Ester. When not at work we have taken advantage of the good weather and make excursions around the park. Firstly to a magnificent waterfall in which we bathed and then to some sulphur springs when we had a lazy lunch. We are now on the final stretch and everyone in Romeo 3 has had a incredible experience on our environmental phase and consider ourselves very fortunate in our location.

And all the way from Achuapa, Nicaragua we have some gossip from Jack and the rest of the Romeo 7 gang...

Just a quick one I’m afraid via telephone. So we've come down from the hills today, after two weeks of hard work in Achuapa for two days for the International Music Festival and we're due to perform 'Help' by the Beatles at 5pm tomorrow in front of one thousand people! The group as a whole seems reflective and slightly stunned to be back in civilization, but also very cheerful and excited. Many tears were shed this morning as we said or farewells to our families and friends. We nearly finished the main water pipe and managed to turn on a tap! It's been decided that there will be another project to begin there next week to tie up loose ends. We've done all the hard work! Off to a restaurant now for our first break from rice and beans in a fortnight! All’s well. We're looking forward to telling you all about it soon, as we get back on the net in Turrialba. Bye for now, Romeo 7.

News on the Charlie groups - our bespoke venturers have enjoyed a fun and relaxing day at mystery location, San Lucas island, where they enjoyed a spot of raft building and some extreme survival skills that involved cooking fresh fish and camping out for the night! The teams leave today to spend one last night in San Jose before heading back to reality.

Just a quick note and reminder for you folks back home - in order to obtain the latest news and goings on with our venturers it is important that we take the time to go and visit the projects which are spread all throughout Costa Rica and Nicaragua (i.e the road trips). This does unfortunately mean that there may be occasions where we can't update the blog on a daily bases as many, if not all of these projects are in extremely remote locations, from the depths of the Costa Rican jungle to the very peak of a volcano in Nicaragua. We do however update as often as we can, so please bear with us. On the up side, the venturers will be back at fieldbase on Tuesday so there will lots of exciting news and gossip to update you with then! Until then, our project groups are keeping us updated as often as they can whenever they get the chance to radio in, so more news from them soon.

Pura vida amigos!

Blog written by Dawn Tennant and photo's by Kat Mammone unless otherwise stated

Romeo a go-go!

Toot toot, beep beep – the road trip teams are back at base! Group hugs, teas and catch ups on mass it is! After two weeks of living life on the road, enjoying some incredible views, cultures and the company of our project groups, the fieldbase massive have finally been reunited and are already cracking on with work for the arrival of our venturers in just six days time. The good news? We have news and photos from all our Romeo groups. The bad news? As if we'd have any bad news for you! So let's get cracking. First things first, blog updates from our groups. Romeo 4 are feeling the turtle power (duuuude) at the beautiful Playa Hermosa where they are spending the second half of their phase after leaving La Cangreja a few days ago. Here’s the latest update from Christina and Cat…

Our last day in the jungle started with a very tasty fry up prepared as a surprise by a few of our venturers, who also stayed up most of the night planning and making it. We had scrambled egg, fried potatoes, cheese and bread, fried onions, salchicon and fried cinnamon bananas. It was really scrummy! Nice change from porridge. That day we finished off all the work on the trails and to much of the delight of the rangers, we had exceeded their expectations for how much we had done in our time in the jungle. On our last night the rangers surprised us by cooking us dinner. We dined like kings eating from real plates with a proper knife and fork and a glass of coke each – it was luxury! In return we shared a generous helping of our Energy Bomb. The night was made even more special by the whole group staying up to watch the sunset from the viewing platform overlooking the beautiful, un-touched jungle of La Cangreja, and then spotting shooting stars before bed.
The next day we left for Playa Hermosa, “Beautiful Beach”. It was even better than we had imagined, it was like arriving in paradise. Sparkling black sand totally deserted but from some driftwood, and lined with palm trees. With crashing waves of the ocean (this beach is where the international surfing championships was held) this place is rugged and wild. On arrival we set about building our new jungle camp less than fifty meters from the each. This involved making the basha beds suing bamboo tripods and canvas. For those of us who hadn’t done this before, it was somewhere between entertaining and a complete headache (even more so when we discovered how many had leaked the following night during a thunderstorm…). That evening Ricardo (one of the volunteer rangers) gave us a talk about the turtle conservation work don here, and how Romeo 4 would be contributing over the course of the week, with night patrols collecting eggs and fending off poachers and assisting with the running of the hatchery. Our first patrol was very eventful. Johnnie, the ranger we patrolled with was very passionate about teaching sui how to track the turtles, find their nests and dig for the eggs to protect them from predators – poachers and animals alike. On that one patrol we collected five batches of eggs, each of about 100 eggs, the size of a golf ball and incredibly fragile. On a sadder note, we also came across an injured dolphin stranded on the beach. It had suffered an animal attack and after the ranger concluded that there was nothing more we could do for her, we carried her back into the water and left nature to take its course. It was a very emotional moment for everyone in the group and really brought home the struggle for survival in the animal kingdom.
The next day spirits were lifted when we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to release two baby Olive Ridley hatchlings into the sea. We names them Ollie and Tyrone. During the days we have been building a small stone wall along the dirt track leading to the ranger’s station in order to protect the saplings of a reforested area from passing cars. The work at Playa Hermosa is less strenuous than what we did in the jungle, mainly due to a four hour break midday when the temperatures soar to 35 degrees centigrade, making it impossible to work. In this time we cool of in the sea, catch some rays and have a siesta to make up for the sleep lost on night patrol. We’ve been very fortunate with wildlife again, with brightly coloured crabs, huge iguanas wandering around our camp, crocodiles in the mangrove swamp and scarlet macaws flying overhead.
The cherry on the cake was our patrol last night, in which we got to play real life cops and robbers, getting some poachers arrested by the local police. At the end of the patrol we had an extraordinarily lucky find of turtle entry tracks with no exit tracks! This could only mean one thing… an Olive Ridley was still laying her eggs just meters away from us! Manual, chief ranger was so excited he was literally jumping up and down. We quickly put on gloves, got out our collection bags and one by one collected the eggs dropping into our hands as she laid them. We then watched her cover the nest and waddle back out to sea. It was the most incredible experience. Next update, 15th August. Lots of love, Christina and Cat xxx

Setting up jungle camp

Ranger Ricardo teaching us a few lessons

Turtle tracks!

Setting the baby turtles free after they hatch

A little bit of encouragement from our venturers - "you can do it Oliver!"

Work in the hatchery

Finding a nest on patrol and collecting the eggs

Burying the eggs in the hatchery after collecting them on a night patrol

The hatchery



Time spent well. 'Planking' - it's the new standing.

*Photo's of Romeo 4 by Polly Baldwin

Romeo 2 also have more news for us as they continue to trek through Guanacaste…
Romeo 2 has completed a further six days trekking and is currently camped in a farmers field looking out towards the impressive Volcan Miravalles which towers over the surrounding valleys. Despite the early morning wake up calls by Niall the llama at 3.30am and trekking under the intense sun everyone is in fantastic spirits and would like to wish everyone else on project a great second half of phase two. Admittedly, some of us are rocking some rather fetching burn/tan lines and one Australian member of the group has even gone as far as giving a certain area of body hair a change of colour, courtesy of some carefully applied bleach.
We’ve seen some magnificent sights since the last blog update, not least the scenic ridge walk amongst the wind farms and the spectacular turquoise river and waterfalls. After two days of trekking through intense jungle with Don Luz where Grace demonstrated her ballerina-like balance as she slid down yet another muddy track, we emerged next to the natural thermal spa: a welcome sight for Romeo 2’s aching bodies, where we enjoyed a relaxing lunch. Other highlights include have been the epic hour long rest stop next to a panaderia where everyone gorged themselves on some food which hasn’t come out of a tin or foil packet. In Zapote several of us enjoyed a game of football with the local school children before heading for a dip in the nearby river to cool off. We’ve had our share of tears on trek too. Emma mourned the loss of her walking stick and Justin had us all in stitches when he told us what animal he thought we most suited. Some came off better than others. Although most evenings we’re in bed before we would have sat down to watch TV back home, we’ve still found time to enjoy some themed games of mafia. Richard has now imparted his gigantic store of Harry Potter knowledge with another team and Justin dazzled us all with his accent during Irish mafia. That’s all for this time. We’ve got our sights firmly set on reaching the Pacific Coast in another six days time and look forward to sharing our photos with all of you when we’re back at fieldbase.

Romeo 1 are nearing the end of their trek - they can see the light! (or in their case the beach) The guys are in good spirits and are enjoying the last few days of phase two, taking in the incredible views and enjoying trek life while it lasts, smelly socks, pork & beans and all.
 
Romeo 3 have finished their project work for the phase and are now spending their days working on helpful extras for the ranger. The team are on good form, enjoying jungle life and its beautiful surroundings.

 
Romeo 5 are on wonderful form and have made a start on building the walls. The group are building some really strong relationships with their adopted families and settling in well to community life. They spend their evenings playing games with their families, including musical statues at which PM Jon seems to be taking the lead in, with some close competition from the local children.

 
All is good with Romeo 6. They're working hard and enjoying every second. Our Bravo one road tripping troopers enjoyed a sports day with them on their visit, with events such as the mum and dad's race, the egg and spoon race, the 'balloon between the legs' race (official name unknown), the wheelbarrow race and many more. Our venturers even spent hours preparing individual certificates for each of the children as a momentum of their sporting achievement!

 
Romeo 7 are working, working, working to get their project finished by the end of phase. On Friday they'll be heading to the International Music Festival to let their hair down and give themselves a well deserved break. Keep going guys!

So all is good in the Raleigh hood. All of our groups are working hard and enjoying what seems to be some truly unique and wonderful experiences. The venturers will be arriving back on the 15th and in the meantime fieldbase are busy preparing some fun and festivities for the next changeover . More news soon so until then, all the way from beautiful Costa Rica - pura vida! 

Blog written by Dawn Tennant and photo's by Kat Mammone unless otherwise stated.