X-Ray 2: Corcovado Trek

X-Ray 2 are currently on Day 11 of their trek, they have battled through forest and rain (although X-Ray 1 and 3 have definitely borne the brunt of the wet weather) climbing to stunning peaks and enjoying the hot thermal pools, which hopefully alleviated some of their trekking aches. They are currently on their way to Los Mogos on the pacific side of Costa Rica and are making excellent progress.

Today's blog was written by X-Ray 2's Comms Officer Wisha Walker

Venturers waiting nervously, sitting on the edge of their seats, looking forward to hearing their fate.... X-Ray 2! As usual the trek teams were called first at allocations, before we knew it our names were called and X-Ray 2 for the Corcovado trek were formed. Bring it on!

From the start it was clear that our group was vivacious, determined and ready for action. Although we felt rather  relieved to have an 8 hour bus journey to our start point, a luxurious rest at El Progresso in a community centre. I'm certainly not alone when I say that I have never appreciated bed time as much as I have on Raleigh - everyday is a full-on non-stop action adventure.We have been progressing well and we are already feeling satisfied and are overwhelmed by the views we have seen and overwhelmed by the privilege we have been given and what we have achieved so far.

X-Ray 2 clockwise from left: Charlie, James, Hidde, Laetitia, Freddia, Glyn, Gemma, Chuck, Anthony, Mary, Wisha, Elpha, Kat, Willie, Adriana and Lena

The days started with steep hills which eased off slightly and suddenly we were rambling through forest, thankfully the previous Alpha had tackled it with 6 hours of cutting through with a machete to create our path - thanks Alpha 2!

Lena, Chuck, Willie, Hidde, Kat and Anthony ready to trek

Then it begun to rain, a wet group began to cross rivers, scale hills and through great teamwork we helped each other. With no sign of the rain ending, we marched on with our heads held high and before we knew it we had arrived at the quiet, colourful and desolate village of Alturas, where we would later set up our tents, although an incredibly kind local offered us their community centre, so our tents came down - good practice though!

Freddie and Kat loving trek

Chuck and Anthony enjoying a well-deserved rest

Pittier Rangers Station, a tough trek achieved by 10.30am - must be a new record

It has been spectacular, despite some cold nights and 5.30am starts to our day, in order to beat the heat, we have seen incredible views, lively monkeys dancing along the tress, njoyed a leisurely and well deserved dip in the idyllic aguas thermals before enduring the never ending up hill climbs - although whenever we arrive some very redface and sweaty X-Ray 2 faces are always beaming.Ever in anticipation we are excited and looking forward to the challenged that lie ahead and are excited to find out what the Corcovado trek will reveal in front to us.

X-Ray 2: a team ready to face the rest of their trek and the challenges ahead

p.s sorry we have been a bit absent recently and thank you for your patience; we have been out and about collecting stories and pictures, completing the very important task of delivering food, blog messages, post and of course news from the outside world to all our of our teams. Updates and pictures of our teams to follow...

Protecting the Environment and Unbelievable Treckers

Our guest bloggers have told you all about their PPVs for the community phases but today Clive, Louise, Sarah and Clare will tell you about planning projects in Carara, San Lucas Island, The Treks and Cabo Blanco.

Guest Blogger Louise - Alpha 4 Carara National Park

Carara means place of the crocodiles

We left cloudy Turrialba and greeted sunny hot Carara National Park. We were met by Osvaldo who is the park's administyrator. Osvaldo speaks no English, so our group turned to our wonderful multi-talented Marisa who is not only a great doctor but great at speaking Spanish. She expertly asked our multitude of questions, poor Osvaldo wasn’t quite prepared for this super keen group of ladies and his main answer was ‘tranquilo, tranquilo’, (turns out this means be calm), another word to add to our ever increasing Spanish vocabulary!

Beautiful rainforest, our trail will be running underneath this incredible canopy

PM Emma illustrating one of the trails that Alpha 4 will be working on

He took us to our accommodation for the first phase - a disused former ranger station - where we will be falling asleep to the sounds of the rainforest, pretty exciting! However, for our visit, we spent two nights in Osvaldo’s house, what a lucky man! Whilst sitting outside the house we were amazed to see a huge iguana happily strolling along a branch and a white faced capuchin monkey swinging from tree to tree. We thought it couldn't get any better, but we were wrong...

We were taken into the rainforest to wander around the trails that the Alpha 4 will be improving in Phase 1. As we wandered Osvaldo would stop to point out ants busy carrying leaves at least 5 times their size, an agouti sat chilling out in the undergrowth and a scarlet macaw up in a hollow in a tree guarding the egg it had laid. Later on we even saw an anteater scaling a tree, even David Attenborough isn’t that lucky in a day!

Another beautiful illustration from Emma

We are really excited about meeting our Venturers, sharing this stunning place with them and improving the trails so that the visitors can access this magical place too, bringing in much needed economy to the park to sustain the rangers, protect the park from poachers and ensure the loss of biodivesity is reduced. Pura vida!

Guest Blogger Clare - Alpha 5 San Lucas Island

A derelict prison on an uninhabited island might not be everyone's first choice of accommodation  but nevertheless myself and PMs Sally, Paul and Kate rocked up to San Lucas Island on Monday for a project planning visit. Within minutes of arrival by boat (the only way to get to San Lucas) we began to realise just how exciting a Raleigh project this was going to be. 

Clearing and cleaning San Lucas for Alpha 5

Until 1992 San Lucas person housed some of the most notorious criminals in Costa Rica. As well as the prison a small community farmed on the island and the wives and children of some of the inmates, low security prisoners and ex-prisoners who despite having been released preferred to remain on the island rather than attempt to assimilate back into society. The island is now being transformed into a wildlife refuge, but despite the jungles' attempts to reclaim many of the abandoned buildings, litter, rusted metal, barbed wire and debris create significant hazards for the wildlife. Furthermore the rangers also hope to turn San Lucas into a tourist attraction in order to provide an income to maintain this unique environment and educate about bio-diversity.

San Lucas journey

Half an hour into our visit we had already seen flying fish and pelicans over the surrounding seas. A few hours more and we had seen a troop of howler monkeys, lizards and a snake slithering off into the undergrowth (non-venomous our ranger assured us). Inspired, we set about visiting and planning some of the projects Raleigh would be undertaking. Our project teams will be continuing some of the cleaning work that was started by previous expeditions, removing years worth of scrap and litter and recycling where possible. Another significant problem the island has is poaching, currently rangers struggle to move quickly to different parts of the island if they suspect a poaching vessel has landed. Expedition 13A will be building an access trail through the jungle from one beach to another to help the rangers tackle this threat more effectively.

Paul, Sally and Clare setting up comms

Talking of beaches, San Lucas boasts numerous sandy shores (risk assessing these was a particularly arduous task which we bravely undertook). Crabs, hermit crabs and monkeys in the coconut palms lining the beach added to our fast growing list of wildlife sightings. That evening we sat on the jetty and watched the sun set over the sea, a beautiful aspect which our teams will have every evening. After a good nights sleep, only partially disturbed by the monkeys echoing through the jungle, we left the isolation of San Lucas to return to Fieldbase. 

Risk assessing, tough work

Sunset in San Lucas

The history of the island, the cells with decades of prisoners graffiti, the array of flora & fauna which Raleigh will be helping to conserve makes San Lucas a truly fascinating project. Bring on 13A!

Guest Blogger Clive - Alpha 6 Cabo Blanco 

Sunset at Cabo Blanco

After a day of travelling we finally arrived at the beautiful nature reserve of Cabo Blanco at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. There we were greeted by Francisco (or Chico) the Head Ranger of the park. Cabo Blanco is an absolute reserve and only a limited number of tourists are allowed in. This means that the majority of the reserve is untouched and the wildlife is truly abundant in this beautiful place. Almost too abundant, during dinner that evening we shared the dining room at the Ranger Lodge with a 2m boa constrictor which was chased from the room with a broom. 

Liz beautiful photography

A well deserved rest for Clive and Zoe

During the day we saw and heard howler monkeys, saw iguanas fighting and a coati patrolling around the lodge. The project is to construct a circular path through the jungle to allow better access for tourists. This will mean a lot of hard work, or “trabajo muy muy duro” as Chico put it, to move the raw materials up from the beach. We are very lucky to have been granted permission to build our own “luxury” accommodation in the form a of a jungle camp in this very special place. That will be our first job when we return with our group of venturers in a weeks time.

Calling Fieldbase to share their experience

Guest Blogger Sarah - Unbelievable Treckers 

The infamous Don Martin dropped us off early evening in Barbilla enough time to organise a place to camp on the edge of the National Park and a guide for the following day (courtesy of Marco) thankfully Scottish Colin, our honorary Spanish translator successfully negotiated a place to stay and a guide. Minor issues over prices were smoothed over with a quick call to trusty Fieldbase and Alphas 1 to 3 learn to always read the small-print first in their trip notes.

Sarah, Colin, James and Gemma

Alpha Girls set up the tent in the community centre to perfect our tent erecting technique while the alpha boys made a delicious dinner of rice and pork (flavouring!) and frijoles, finished off with a delicious and well deserved hot chocolate. Logistical aspects like purifying water were sorted and lights were out at 8pm (rock stars). A 4am wake up call and a splendid nights sleep were met by Marco at the Escuela as we all understood but The bringing back of the key was lost in translation but Alpha 3’s James happily walked back to the community centre to sort the problem out – what a guy.

James, Sarah and Gemma

Our first day of “proper” walking was lead by Roberto, a quiet local guide, a 27 year old who wore wellies (we are sure his patience began to wane after shoe change two of our river crossing) and carrying a tiny bag without any water or food to our knowledge. We had our whale sized hump backs, map and  enthusiasm to boot, not sure that Roberto was that convinced we were going to make the 2 day trek in 1!

As daylight crept in at 6am, we used the satphone then off right into the jungle, like 4 oblivious ants carrying their homes into what felt like the wilderness. Thick mud, steep climbs and descents kept us entertained and challenged us. Our aim was to fit 2 days into 1 so 11am was lunchtime and we had thankfully reached Ernestos house, a welcome opening into the jungle. Here at the small dwelling we filled up on water, sat down in the big green space for refried bean paste and crackers – delicious, no shortage of nuts and fruit and biscuits either.

The legends of Alpha 1

The second half of the day a.k.a day 2 – was more exhausting uphill back into the jungle. The sun breaking through the enormous trees and shafts of light making it through the leaves, it was relentless uphill, slippery and boggy, mud like we had never seen before each hour broken up with energizing nuts and biscuit stops. Fuelled to the top we made it to the clearing, the trees parted and we got more views of the jungle canopy more importantly we were overlooking the indigenous village of Valle Escondido (which means hidden valley), where we saw in the distance Casa Anquilla- where we were camping for the night. By 3pm all Alphas were very proudly catching 40 winks on La Plaza. Dinner was the piece de la resistance – salty cheesey pasta with veg, chickpeas and tomato sauce. A splendid hot chocolate to end, a fantastic feeling of utter achievement with two days done in the time of one. And another world record… bed time of 7pm – marvellous.

 2 days of trekking in one - a well deserved rest for Alpha 3

Late start of 6.30am, our goal today was to reach Rio Pacuare where Don Martin was to pick us up. Another tough uphiller, meandering rivers and slippery downhiller in the glorious Costa Rican sunshine we made or target fifteen minutes early. The corner shop of Bajo Pachare provided Alphas 1 and 3 with the best coca cola we’d had for a long time.  Muchos achievement all round. Bring on the trekking proper!

An amazing 5 days out on PPV (Project Planning Visit) for all. I hope you have enjoyed our guest bloggers - more from them and their project communications officers during phase. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading the blog so far, for your support of our team and all that we are trying to achieve. Venturers arrive on Tuesday - here we go!

And I would walk... 250kms over 19 days

Trekking: A term derived from the Afrikaans word trek literally meaning to ‘pull travel’ translated as a long and challenging journey, typically on foot.

Every Venturer on Expedition 13A will take part in one of Raleigh CR&Ns Adventure Projects. A challenging time of discovery and incredible teamwork, the treks will take our teams through beautiful scenery, traversing volcanoes, negotiating rainforests and navigating through a UNESCO world heritage site. A challenge yes, an incredible journey yes, can everyone achieve it - absolutely without a doubt yes.

Alpha 1: The Coast to Coast Trek

Trek Leaders: Colin and Nurse Sarah

Summary: Beginning on the Caribbean Coast and ending at the Pacific Ocean this trek is 270 km across Costa Rica - traversing not just a country but also a continent. It begins in the port of Limon, heading along railway tracks and through small communities to Barbilla National Park . From this point the groups through the Chirripo indigenous territory to Bajo Pacuare. They then head to the beautiful river and over to Tapanti National Park ascending to nearly 3000m through the park before descending to the Pacific Ocean via the Cerro Dragon Peak. Ending after 19 days at the Playa Palo Seco where the groups make their final dash to the sea to celebrate their incredible achievement.

Alpha 2: The Corcovado Trek

Trek Leaders: Sarah L and Chris
Summary: Beginning their trek in La Amistad National Park, the largest national park in Costa Rica and a UNSECO World Heritage Site, the trek takes in beautiful mountains and towering cloud forest. After passing waterfalls and a hot spring (perfect for initial aching limbs) the group will cross the Fila Costena - a chain of mountains that run parallel to the sea. After traversing the mountains the group will finish their trek by crossing the famed Corcovado National Park which straddles the Osa Peninsula, walking through the best preserved tropical rainforest in Central America. Monkeys and Tapirs abound at the end of this trek and the final three days take in the beauty of the Pacific Ocean and the beaches along the coast.

Alpha 3: The Turrisantos Trek

Trek Leaders: Gemma and Dr.James

Summary: Commencing between the two active volcanoes of Irazu and Turrialba ascending to 3000m, on a clear day the group may even be able to sea the Caribbean Sea. Passing from here to the Guayabo National Monument - the ruins of an ancient settlement in the jungle before passing close to Fieldbase and then out to the Tapanti National Park. Ascending again to 3000m  the group will follow the ridges of the Fila de Bustamante towards Cerro Dragon Peak before making their final descent to the Pacific Ocean and a final flourish (and a run no doubt) into Playa Matapalo.

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.

X-Ray One - Turrisantos Trek

To say it’s been wet would be an understatement as to what X-Ray One have experienced these past few days as we weave our way our through Barbilla National Park.

After a short drive from Fieldbase to our start point, somewhat frustratingly we had a 2 hour wait for our guide, but we were treated to a talk on the park and the indigenous people, the Cabecar, by the rangers. Guide sourced, and we were on our way, albeit slowly. The going was arduous as thick, sticky mud, clogged and cloyed our every step and wore us down. Welcome to trek... Despite this, one could not help but appreciate the beauty of our surroundings, until PM Claire pointed out a poison dart frog, resulting in Jose taking his umpteenth tumble as he turned to take a look. Parallels were drawn between trekking and scenes from numerous Vietnam flicks – Phoebe displaying great heroism to delve into the depths of a bog and rescue Danielle’s submerged boot.

Mercifully the next day was far better with beautiful weather enabling us to appreciate our surroundings, as well as making good time to Valle Descondido where we enjoyed a soak in the river, and an early night to recover from the previous day’s toils.

We awoke at 3am to the roar of raindrops hammering the zinc roof above us; if we thought day one was bad, this was something else. Rivers of mud oozed their way through the jungle, sometimes knee deep resulting in numerous falls and the deluge was such that our guide had to take the longer route around to avoid swollen rivers. Needless to say, we blitzed it, and everyone can be proud of their efforts as we made it down to the bridge and out of the park onto firm tracks – bliss.

Tomorrow, although longer, is on gravel tracks, which will hopefully be easier going. In the meantime we send our love to friends and family at home – keep your messages coming!

Love X-Ray 1 xx

Alpha Yankee 1- It's a Hard Trek Life!

Day One- Fieldbase to La Union
We arrived at La Union late afternoon on our first day and set up our tents on a football field. Aside from a bleach leak and shampoo explosion, it was a good day getting to bond as a group and preparing for our first day of walking.

Day Two- La Union to El Progresso

We woke up at 3am in the morning, definitely a shock to most of us. Carrying our bags and getting used to the weight proved challenging. We had an interesting but gentle first day, walking along the border to Panama and seeing our first picturesque sunrise. Another highlight was the pulperia with a friendly lady who had a picture of the last Raleigh trek group who have passed through. That evening we stayed in a community centre and washed by the river.

Day Three- El Progresso to Alturas

We had two guides for the first part of our day. It was a challenging start as we began with a steep climb which seemed to never end. We had our first experience of river crossings, the first was deeper, none of us wanted to fall as we gingerly crossed over Sid was the only one to topple but recovered well. When we reached our destination we were overwhelmed by the beautiful surroundings of the nature reserve and the generosity of the land owner. WE stayed in barn like building which had showers- a luxury we took full advantage of. Some of the group got to see and hold a four day old deer, named Bambi, who's parents had been killed.

Day Four- Alturas to The Bull Ring (Aguas Caliente)

We were reluctant to leave in the morning but were encouraged by the hot springs that awaited us later hat day. Agua Caliente did not disappoint, we all changed and got into the pools of crystal clear warm water. It did however, make the last part of the day tougher to get going again after relaxing for a few hours. We slept in a community centre next to the bull ring which was smaller than we expected.

Day Five- Agua Caliente to Pittier

We made really good time today, though the last kilometre of hill was tough but we picked up the pace and arrived at the ranger station well before midday. Arriving in a National Park to a friendly ranger and beds was what we needed to prepare us for the next day, supposedly one of the toughest days.

Day Six- Pittier to Altamira

We had a later start today, the ranger guided us through the varying terrain. The most difficult part was a very steep muddy incline where we had to use our hands to pull ourselves up. Alex and Tom were brilliant at getting those of us who were struggling to the top. In the end, the day wasn't as bad as expected and tonight we are sleeping in tents over-looking a magnificent view.

Delta Romeo 1 are so macho...

Delta Romeo 1 have been roaming, roaming, roaming all over Costa Rica on their Turrimacho trek. Here are two updates from Olivia Christie:

Part one

The other Sunday morning we all boarded the bus, knowing that our trek would begin in just over two hours! Dreading the thought of attempting to lift our 21kg rucksacks and apprehension of what we had in store over the next 19 days.

Day one saw a short but tough walk to our first campsite as we started to acclimatise to the conditions and our rubbing hip belts. At our first campsite we were greeted by Don Gerado who kindly offered us coconuts as well as a place to pitch camp. We were beginning to experience the famous Costa Rica friendliness and warmth!

After the first of many uncomfortable nights sleep, we set off on our first full day trekking.... 11km up a steep rocky road that seemed to go on forever! We later arrived at the community centre with little hassle other than a close encounter with a snake! Thankfully it slithered away in a hurry. At the community centre Delta Romeo 1’s favourite pastime was conceived: aerobics c lasses, with huge lunges providing a large amount of entertainment and laughter.

For the last three days we have been marching through the jungle and we are starting to think that the phrase “what goes up, must come down” doesn’t apply to Costa Rican mountains. Torrential downpours on Tuesday afternoon made the clay track even more treacherous , and hardly  100 metres could pass without one member slipping and getting a complimentary mud bath! 

Our guide in the jungle was Juan Louis, a local boy who knows the jungle paths better than I know the back of my hand. Throughout the trek we have been greeted by delightful views, and despite the gruelling walks, spirits are remaining mountain-top high!

Part two

Mission:  Trek from Caribbean to Pacific coasts of Costa Rica

Days completed: 12

Kilometres marched: 143

Highest point reached: 2842m

Blisters obtained: 42

Packets of refried beans devoured: 70

Average backpack weight: 21 kg

Delta Romeo 1 have now been walking, scrambling and hobbling over mountains for 12 days, yet despite blisters and muscle strain we are on target and about to start our descent to the sunny beach for a day of relaxation. 

We have navigated our way over jungle paths, tarmac highways and dirt-packed country lanes. After long, hard days of walking, nights have been spent in tents, community centres, a pulperia (grocery store) and even a church. Sugar cravings are regularly satisfied by raiding any Pulperia we pass, with mini-cans of condensed milk being a group favourite. 

Monstrous mountains and bulging blisters have not been our only obstacles. Six days without showers attempting to cook gourmet meals out of pasta and tomato sauce in gale force winds have only increased team spirit and made us feel truly like we've 'got out there'!