Role Call: Our Inspiring Venturers. Nuestros Ventureros Inspiradores

We know you are all probably wondering how your loved ones are getting on out here since they arrived at Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua's Fieldbase, as you can imagine with 160 volunteers it is a little bit tough to get everyone onto the blog... but we thought we would try! Here is Expedition 13A and our Venturer Role Call - our inspiring young people:

Aqui en Fieldbase, estamos concientes de que van a estar pensando en como estan sus queridos desde que llegaron a Raleigh International. Como pueden imaginar, con 160 voluntarios, es un poco dificil poner las fotos de todos en el blog... pero hemos tratado hacerlo! Aqui esta el equipo de 13A, y nuestro de pasaje de lista de Ventureros - nuestros jovenes inspiradores:

And so it begins... 13A here we go!

Today is Day 1 of Venturer Induction and we are incredibly excited that 119 Venturer volunteers aged 17 to 24 have arrived at Raleigh International's Costa Rica & Nicaragua Fieldbase in Turrialba, about 2 hours east of the capital San Jose. 

Expedition 13A has begun and we have welcomed individuals who are dedicating themselves to working with people from around the world, inspiring, developing and challenging themselves; working in partnership, learning to build sustainable communities and conserve the environment. 

Firstly last night saw a cooking competition between the HCVs and the PMs at Fieldbase, amazing teams making empanadas:

Judges, taking their jobs very seriously

And so to Day 1 of induction - lots more pictures to come, but it has been a crazy busy day for our Fieldbase team here as i'm sure you can imagine. Today has been a round robin of admin, ID shots, swimming assessments, moving into the new 'hotels and resorts' (more explanation to come in next the few days!) but everyone is happy and an incredible group of young people have taken today in their stride, even though they were exhausted and jet-lagged. The Venturers have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the beginning of their expedition.

More to come soon, we have got an amazing video of everyone going up tomorrow, so stay tuned...

The final countdown...

Alex can't wait to say hello

Everyone is back at Fieldbase, the Nicaraguan bus arrived yesterday and the Costa Rican buses today.

Claudia and Hester - welcome back

Lilian and Matt - big hug

Raleigh Chain explained

The quickest way to get lots of stuff from A to B is a Raleigh Chain (or you may call it a human chain if you aren't on expedition.)

If you have 400 mud bricks to move from one house to the next?....then Raleigh Chain.  

Tor and Ben - is that heavier than you expected?

 If you have tonnes of gravel to move up the path?....then Raleigh Chain.

Nicole and Puck - pass it on

There are lots of tricks to make it more interesting.  Passing on jokes, little known facts or indeed gossip along with that rock or sack makes the time pass more quickly.  Singing is another good way to move things along.  This has been the practice time that has given rise to many a prize winning skit.

And of course we somtimes get some additional help along the way...wheelbarrows are good too.

A little helper gives us a hand

The Raleigh Chain symbolises what were are all about here on expedition.  Working together, doing our share, enjoying the process and achieving results that we wouldn't manage on our own.  The total being more than the sum of the parts.

Arlene and Angel - have some mud

News from Nicaragua - Alpha 2

Miratombo Trek, day 6

This trip is not for the faint-hearted but as a team we're strong! Being part of a team helps you overcome any difficulties.  You can lean on your teammates and everybody helps each other along.  The awesome feeling of the team massages, team hugs, getting tortillas from the (always friendly) locals, and just the vibe that's in the air takes every bit of discomfort away and allows you to feel accomplished and proud of everything you've achieved during the day.

Arlene resting tired feet

It's funny how easily a person can get used to feeling dirty and not having the comforts that we have at home.  It all makes the experience even more special.  Also being the day leader teaches you to handle a lot of responsibility and helps you grow as a person.  That being said, it's not all fun of course, we work hard, we're all dirty, tired, hungry and have sore feet but still we push forward, smile and think happy thoughts and with every mountain we climb, we look around and see the view and that makes it all worth it.

Diego reaches the top

So we're just going to keep on moving until we get there!

Words by Project Comms officers - Puck and Ben P

Pictures by Arlene

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.

R&R - that's Turri Time and Salsa

After a very early start at jungle camp and a lot of training, there was a little time at the end of the day yesterday for some R & R.  The venturers discovered what local shopping opportunities there are in Turrialba ("Turri Time").  Rodeo Drive it ain't; but then if you're only after mossie spray and wet wipes it's just the job.

Then after supper it was time for Salsa.  K-dawg and Jae, our resident snake-hipped salsa king and queen, were the instructors.

There were some warm-up exercises, including getting the "salsa face" right - basically that's having a huge smile and looking like you're enjoying yourself - which inevitably you are.

After some expert coaching by the end of the evening I'd say everyone had mastered the technique.  The HCVs partnered up with those that were less sure and the dance floor was swinging to those Latin American beats.

12L venturers...arrived safe and sound

Happy to report that the venturers all arrived safe and sound in San Jose yesterday, (there are 6 who are still making there way over and will be with us today).  They were picked up at the airport and greeted by the big smiles of the welcome party.  Last night they stayed  in San Jose before getting up bright and early and making there way here to Fieldbase in Turrialba.

First things first.  Mess tins at the ready we served up gallo pinto, scrambled eggs, fried plantains, cheese and bread - a veritable Costa Rican breakfast feast.

Next some introductions in English and Spanish and everyone got divided into smaller sleeping groups - named Hotel 1 to Hotel 9 (with only a little irony!). The rest of the day will be full of activity - tours of Fieldbase, administration, money exchange, id photo and swimming assessments.  We should all sleep well in our "Hotels" tonight.

Delta Is For Digging

The Delta groups have arrived safely at their Project locations and are busy settling in. Many of them are busy testing out their spades in the classic Raleigh digging tradition.

Delta One in Playa Hermosa are enjoying sunny weather. They have started trench digging and have arranged a night patrol.

Delta Two in Carara National Park are experiencing cloudy weather. They have built their camp and have already finished digging one of their ditches. Tomorrow they will be clearing more of the path.

Delta Three in Duchari also have cloudy skies. They have started digging the foundations for the school building and have already managed a football game.

Delta Four in Tamiju enjoyed sunny skies, while they were busy digging holes. Tomorrow is expected to bring more hole digging.

Alpha Groups Training Slideshow

The night before the Alpha Groups deployed they too were treated to a slideshow showing how much they had packed into their short time in the country...

Delta Training Slideshow

The night right before the Delta Venturers were deployed into the field we reminded them of all they had been doing ...

Bienvenidos Venturers!

They're here!!!!

At 7.30am this morning a bus full of backpacks, suitcases and 10 weeks' worth of belongings pulled up outside Fieldbase, and as we were busy unpacking, 6 huge buses full of their owners, A.K.A. our intrepid (ad)Venturers arrived! The drums came out again to wake them from any slumber they had managed to get on their transit from San Jose and we gave them a fitting welcoming ceremony - we're so excited to finally have them all here!

And (I know the parents and guardians out there will want to know this!), they are all very well and have been VERY well fed on gallo pinto, plantain and have now been assigned into their hotels and resorts (some ironically named tents) where they will be staying while they're here at Fieldbase.

A day of training and admin to come now, and we'll give you an update on this and some photos on as soon as I get my photographers back from taking all their I.D. pictures!

Please feel free to leave comments for all, and please state who the message is for - they will be passed on as soon as we get a free moment - a very busy day to come!

Pura Vida y Deaca!

Raleigh Expedition 12G and 12H are go!

And so it begins...

Fifteen people.

One Farm.

One Fieldbase.

A shed (bodega) load of excitement, spirit, enthusiasm and ideas.

And an even bigger shed load of gallo pinto (om nom nom)...

That’s what it takes to kick off Raleigh expedition 12G/H to Costa Rica and Nicaragua - and the Advance Fieldbase team are here, checked in and raring to go to make this an amazing expedition!

Ross, Pedro, Roeland, Katie, Jen, Becky, Keiner, Dave, Björn, Krisztina, Nick, Amy, Emma and Leanne (plus Andy who’s arrived a week early, he couldn’t wait any longer!) are here at Fieldbase for some intense training on how to get everything and everyone to the right place at the right time (Logistics), keep the wonga in check (Finance), make sure everyone’s in rude health (Medics), make everything run like clockwork (Admin), show our viewers and followers what’s going on (Photographers) and keep you posted on EVERYTHING that’s going down across our many amazing projects that have been planned for 12G/H (that’s my job!).

Julian and Hector are also out here, 'next door' in Nicaragua, making plans for the arrival of the ICS team.

And of course, we've also been establishing the most important bits of running an expedition – the cooking and cleaning rota and how everyone takes their brew...

We’re all thrilled to be here and can’t wait to welcome the other Volunteer Managers in less than a week’s time and, of course, our Venturers on the 29^th June – you’re all in for a treat!

Hablar pronto!

 

You don't have to be mad to work here, but evidently, it helps...

Incoming

Quick update. Team Fieldbase is San Jose bound to pick up the venturers. After all, it wouldn't be much of an expedition without them....  The rest of the VMs are hard at work, toiling away over the project plans, prior to deployment on Saturday. We've got an action-packed week ahead.

***

It begins. Fieldbase is now close to capacity as this morning we welcomed a fairly tired bunch of venturers to Turrialba HQ, indeed I too am struggling to prevent my head from lolling after a late night/early start organising sleeping arrangements, feeding and marshalling half-asleep venturers onto buses at the British School in San Jose. A cracking gallo pinto with scrambled egg breakfast cooked by Sandrita and Mireya has been followed by an intense morning of icebreakers, swim tests, admin and accommodation arrangement,and despite the jet-lag, smiles are present all round.

The afternoon has progressed with radio training, the standard method of communication whilst out on phase, giving the groups chance to perfect their Maverick/Goose impersonations. Dinner was followed by a comprehensive run through of projects by Country Director Julian, as venturers were given summaries of the amazing array of projects being undertaken in Expedition12B. The option of evening entertainment in the form of a movie, unsurprisingly had a take-up of zero given the hectic previous 24 hours-Tomorrow it’s project allocation and jungle camp.

'Ninja'

Turrialba Fieldbase

Breakfast on the terrace

HCVs in full swing

Pedro and Ross greet the venturers

The venturers have landed

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 weeks of preparation and building excitement, Costa Rica & Nicaragua Expedition 11L is go!!!!!!

With the Host Country Venturers arriving at fieldbase on Monday, the rest of the venturers made their appearance on Tuesday having spent Monday night in San Jose. Their accommodation for the night was a school gymnasium allowing the opportunity to fight off jet lag with a few games of volleyball and basketball!

An early bus from the capital brought the new arrivals to fieldbase in time for a delicious, traditional Costa Rican breakfast of Gallo Pinto prepared by our wonderful cooks Sandra and Miraya.

Appetites satisfied it was headlong into a busy day of speeches, training and admin! Ross and Julian started with some inspiring welcoming speeches, before everyone got a tour of fieldbase and their high-class accommodation for the next few days. There were also swim tests and the all important radio training.

Coming up for the venturers later today a slideshow of the projects ahead of the groups announcement for phase 1 in the morning…watch out for an update tomorrow.

It has to be said there are somewhat bemused faces around, with a lot to take in and many new faces and names to remember but there is wonderful atmosphere of anticipation mixed with a touch of nervousness. There is no doubt that this is going to be an amazing expedition for all concerned.

I leave with some pics of the venturers’ arrival and first day in Costa Rica.

Pura vida!

Julian & Ross...inspiring!!

Listening to the welcome speeches

The luxury accommodation!