Still trekking...X-ray 1

110km down, how many to go X-ray 1?

We are over halfway through our trek which means our little legs have covered over one hundred and ten kilometres over the last 12 days.  Yes, our legs and feet are sore but we begin each day with a warming up stretching session.

Some of the 110km covered...

We have passed through the many tiny villages of the Nicaraguan mountains, we cooked dinner and played games with children from the school, devoured eggs, plantain and coffee from a little restaurant and stopped off for cake at multiple pulperias. Momatombo is slowly appearing closer and more spectacular whenever we look into the horizon.  

Cerro Negro - the final push

Our PMs organised a surprise fancy dressparty, halfway, to celebrate our achievement so far. This has given us more energy to enjoy and complete this trek, with a smile on our faces and in good time!

by Anika, Project Comms Officer 

Trekking - full time job for X-ray 1

What is your profession? For the past 8 days and the next 11 to come, the answer for X-Ray 1 is trekking, trekking, trekking!

We have re-named ourselves Wolf-gang. X Ray 1 just doesn't do us justice when facing the challenging terrain of these Nicaraguan mountains. There is no doubt that they are beautiful but to get to the top may not take blood, but it takes lots of sweat and yes maybe a few tears! Tears of frustration, but by the end of the phase only tears of joy! Success!

A lot of effort... but worth it for the view

Some of us have caught the trekking bug and have fallen in love with our nomadic lifestyle, others are taking it one day at a time knowing that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Unfortunately for me, 5 star luxury cannot be carried in a rucksack on my back so I cannot have the best of both worlds.  The beautiful sunrises and sunsets don't come with a spa treatment.  The morning sunshine on my tired legs will make do for now until I get home.

Today we have one of our longest days, 19 km so we better crack on. So far we haven't got lost and we can see Volcan Momotombo in the distance so if our map fails us (which it might) we will just follow the mountain home.

Volcan Momotombo - the way home

To all our family and friends wish us all the luck and strength in the world because we are going to need it!  Volcan Momotombo here we come!

from Anika, Project Comms Officer

Quick update - X-ray groups are go

X-ray 1 got to Nicaragua safely, staying the first night in a school in Jinotepe.  They've now started trekking and are requesting extra porridge to keep their strength up.

X-ray 2 arrived at Playa Hermosa and got stuck into turtle patrols straight away.  Rumour has it there was  film crew there yesterday so they could have 5 minutes of fame, at least in Costa Rica.

X-ray 3 have been moving rocks and building paths in Carara National Park.  Oscar, the ranger there, has given them a wildlife tour which everyone enjoyed.  They have upgraded their accommodation to include an outdoor hammock area.

X-ray 4 successfully made their way to Achuapa and then on to their community where everyone came to meet them and helped carry the tools and equipment back to the site.

X-ray 5 enjoyed an awesome welcome party hosted by the community and have spent time getting to know their new mums, dads, brothers and sisters.

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?

X-Ray 1 Go West

We made it! X-Ray 1 trekked from the East side of Costa Rica to the West coast!

Since our last post, we have been waterlogged in a community centre; had a frog jump on Bex’s head during the night (much to her surprise); climbed some more peaks (one of which gave us the first sight of our target, the Pacific Ocean); and, as might be expected, trekked a lot downhill, meaning we have been feeling much warmer!

Enjoying the beautiful view!

We have also ridden our luck in terms of the weather; a storm enveloped us one night just as we made it to shelter. We should have been camping in tents at the peak of a mountain (‘The Dragon’), but decided in the afternoon we would push on so that we could get a roof over our heads. It’s a good thing we did as trying to cook a meal outdoors on trangiers with thunder/lightening and heavy rain all around would not have been great!

But what was great, was the whole experience of trek. Everyone in the group is very proud that we have completed it and regard it as one of our greatest challenges and achievements. Even half way through it had felt impossible that we would make it to the beach!

We recommend this kind of experience to everybody as it has been extremely rewarding. Seeing the sea at the end of the trek was a moving moment and everyone started running towards it. Some even forgot to take their boots off before hitting the sea!

We made it!

A relaxing rest day with the waves crashing down beside us was the perfect end to a brilliant phase and expedition.

Greg, Oscar & Andy

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.

Coast to Coasting along!

We are now over half way through and the biggest hurdle is behind us, which peaks at 3000m!

Since we last wrote we entered the jungle with an indigenous guide (cleverly dressed in wellies) and after hours and hours of walking through thick mud, sometimes up to mid shin, we were treated to a stay in a locals house. It was very basic, but had all the facilities we needed and we were happy to have a shelter.

The next couple of nights we managed to negotiate and charm our way into shelters to avoid camping in the rain, in particular, the highlight for all the group was staying in an incredibly hospitable couple's house. Susie and Alberto went completely out of their way to make us feel at home - everyone was very happy when 'Berto made some fresh chicken soup, as an alternative to lentils and mash.

After the next day of trek some of the group still had enough energy for a game of football with the locals. England managed to win against Costa Rica, even with the Germans on-side. Special mention to 'Hatrick Hero Ed' (PM) - we didn't know the old dog had it in him!

We had a fun time on the 'Raleigh Approved Risk Assessed' Indiana Jones Bridge - which was in a better state than the one in the town of Canada that we had to trek around after it had washed away.

We finish our blog in the opposite way to our last entry - heat is now what we crave, as camping at 2500m is not hot!

X-Ray 1 - Coast to Coast

Fieldbase duo Emma and Vanessa drove out to greet the Xray 1 trekkers as they emerged from the jungle of Barbilla National Park. Created in 1998, Barbilla is one of the country's least visited national parks and is home to the Cabecar, the second largest indigenous group in Costa Rica.

An annual rainfall of 140-180 inches keeps the park wet and verdant and allows a great amount of biological diversity to flourish here. Several of the species that can be found in Barbilla are endangered, such as the puma, jaguar, ocelot, tapir, and several birds of prey. Rare avian species such as the tolomuco and sun heron can also be found here.

Xray 1 were lucky enough to spend 3 days trekking in this remote and beautiful area. By day, they trekked through dense jungle and thick mud and at night stayed in indigenous communities. There were a number of river crossings to contend with, although the group were lucky to avoid much rain in what is one of the wettest areas of Costa Rica.

When we arrived to greet the group they were trekking up their last long hill of the day. They were a muddy but smiling bunch and those smiles only got bigger when we presented them with our home made banana cake!

The next few days will take the trekkers through typical rural Costa Rica so whilst the jungle mud may let up, the hills certainly will not...

Here are some of the sights of the last few days...

The Golden Orb Spider

The view as they emerge from the jungle

Day 4 of Coast to Coast trek!

We have been tasked with trekking from one side of Costa Rica to the other. As you can imagine, this is a challenging mission!

At the start of trek, the sheer heat hit us immediately and has turned out to be one of our biggest challenges so far. Although we are lucky, as 4 days in we haven’t yet had rain, it can be hard to appreciate as we are soaked with sweat!

Yesterday, whilst walking along a disused train track, we stopped to ask locals for directions in broken Spanish. We really weren’t expecting to receive a response in perfect Jamaican-English! Stumbling upon a community of Jamaican settlers in Costa Rica was an astonishing surprise that helped us to get back on track.

Spirits in X-Ray 1 are high and everybody is looking forward to the next couple of days when we will trek through the jungle!

Peace out from X-Ray 1 having fun in the boiling sun!    

Blink and you'd have missed it

So another Raleigh phase has gone by quicker than a meteor flashing over the Cheviots; here’s a run through of the endeavours of those fine Raleigh guys and gals’

Our trek groups have routed their respective routes. X Ray 1 delved through the heart of Costa Rica, almost coast to coast. Beginning in Barbilla National Park they have breached the continental divide and are celebrating their success at Punta Judas. Whilst Turrisantos may sound like a beach resort, apparently its completely the opposite. And you need to like peanuts. and tang. and getting slightly lost. but mainly peanits.

X Ray 2 conquered the Corcovado, tackling the eponymous national park and La Amistad in the hot and humid southwest of Costa Rica. They finished with three days striding the sands at Playas Madrigal, Carate and Piro.

X Ray 3, up in Nicaragua, mastered the Miratombo trek, with their final days in the Maribios Volcano chain, enjoying stunning views of Volcan Momotombo and Lake Managua. They visited many communities along the way, were treated to food by smiling hosts, slept on volcanoes, traversed deserts and rivers, all celebrating in style at Lake Asoscosas.

X Ray 4 have completed their work on the ‘Quebrada Bonita’ trail in Carara National Park, enjoying a day trip to Playa Hermosa, and celebrating several birthdays throughout the phase. The traditional celebratory energy bomb cake was pimped with addition of oreos. Must have been some huge sugar crashes down in Carara after that...

X Ray 5 in La Amistad have also been productive on the ‘Gigantes del Bosque’ trail (Giants of the Forest’. They have enjoyed various outings to the swimming pool in Altimira, a local farmers market, and to the Valley of Silence Ranger station where Raleigh undertook a project a few years ago.

X Ray 6, after 18 days of pouring rain, finally had a day of sun! They have been working at Volcan Tenorio, undertaking an overhaul of the path to the waterfall on the aquamarine Rio Celeste.

X Ray 7 have continued the work of Alpha 7 on the adobe brick houses in La Naranjita, mixing mud and ‘old man’s beard’ to create a ‘cement’ between the bricks, alongside trips to Esteli and visits to X Ray 8...

...who have completed the community centre in San Jose! This was celebrated with a fiesta yesterday afternoon, featuring all the classics - pass the parcel and some rather competitive musical chairs. They too undertook trips to Esteli, visiting the cigar factory and there was a barely a dry eye when they said good bye on Tuesday morning.

Finally, X Ray 9 in Dorbata. In their one phase, they whipped up a school building faster than a Groundforce montage and have enjoyed the good life in the beautiful surrounds of Chirripo Indigenous Territory. The school is already in use and the group enjoyed a game of football with the locals, the torrential downpour during the fixture making the Brits feel truly at home.

They’ll all be back at HQ tomorrow for all the fun and games of changeover so stayed tuned for the latest goings on at Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

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

X-Ray projects, some background

Many of you undoubtedly read the previous post regarding X-Ray allocations and spied some new locations in amongst some familiar names. Well observed. Whilst some of the groups will be continuing the work undertaken by the awesome Alphas, a couple of new projects have cropped up which I will give you a background.

The Turrisantos and Corcovado treks, as you may have guessed, are the same as those that ran in Phase One, albeit with one new addition, the Miratombo trek, which will be tackled by X-Ray 3 during the phase. Starting up in the north of Nicaragua, near to Esteli. This route snakes its way through the Miraflor and Estanzuela wildlife reserve, and for the second half of its duration, the mighty Volcan Momotombo remains within sight; the trekkers celebrate the trip’s climax in the crater lake of Asososca.

Environmental efforts continue at Carara and La Amistad National Parks, with X-Ray 4 and 5 respectively, however the new kid on the block is Volcan Tenorio, visited by X-Ray 6. Located in the north of Costa Rica in Guanacaste province, it is notorious for the ultramarine Rio Celeste, which attains its colour due to mineral deposits and the emanation of sulphur from the volcano. Whilst in the park, X-Ray 6 will be repairing access trails alongside constructing a stair case down to a waterfall on the Celeste. This is one of several projects Raleigh will have undertaken on Volcan Tenorio; previous Raleigh groups assisted with the constructions of a bridge and Latin America’s first disabled access pathway in a rainforest.

X-Rays 7 and 8 will carry on the community projects undertaken in La Naranjita and San Jose up in Miraflor, Nicaragua, whereas X-Ray 9, in a new project, have swung south to Dorbata, in the Chirripo Indigenous Territory which is located on the Caribbean slope in the Matama area. Populated by the Cabecar indigenous people, one of the largest groups in Costa Rica, X-Ray 9 will be constructing a school in the area, which due to its remoteness, is generally only accessible by foot. The majority of the population are subsistence farmers, with one notable import to the community being football boots!

We will of course, bring you news and views from the projects as they break. If you haven’t already, whet your appetite by checking out the fantastic photo review of phase one (see the link on the left hand toolbar), composed by Ale. I can assure you it only gets better the more you watch it.

Back from the Jungle and Still Breathing!

After returning from 3 days of hot and humid exploring deep in the jungle that is La Cangreja, your guest Blogger (Jed) can now update you on all our beloved groups' progress.

A bit of background on La Cangreja, where X-Ray 3 are ensconced.   La Cangreja translates as 'The Crab' - as the hills are said to resemble a huge crab.  I couldn't quite see it myself, but it's a good a name as any!  La Cangreja is a national park of preserved pristine jungle.  In my 2 nights there I saw beautiful scarlet macaws, giant (and I mean giant) butterflies, bigger than life beetles and the ever-present never-ending hordes of ants.

During this nature-fest I was working hard to set up the water supply project, so I spent my time designing the system that the group will install.  It will enable a further project to allow disabled access to the park and assist with the ongoing ecological research.  The water supply system is over 850m long and the group will have to dig (by hand!) a 1m trench for this distance over remarkably steep terrain.  X-Ray 3 will certainly have their work cut out over the next few weeks, but the results of their hard graft should last for the next 50 years.

The group themselves have now got their jungle camp set up with basher beds, hammocks, long drop, cooking station and even a communal games area.  The camp is on the banks of the Rio Negra, which is great for a dip after a hard day's work!  I'm sure they will have a unforgettable jungle experience.  There's a few pics below (thanks to Anni and Lisa) showing the group in action.

As for the other groups here's today's round-up:

X-Ray 1 - Turrisantos Trek
The field base team have met up with them and they are currently descending Volcan Turrialba as I write this.  Hopefully they will have hit the summit and had a chance to smell the sulphur!  Tomorrow they head off to Guayabo National Monument, which is the remains from a previous civilisation thought to be over 3,000 years old.

X-Ray 2 - Guanacaste Trek
The trek group are making good progress and will reach Lake Arenal tonight, where they can take in the stunning views of the lake and volcano, and also go for a deserved and refreshing swim.

X-Ray 4 - Playa Hermosa
They are having what I'm told is a 'lovely time at the beach'!  They've also managed to collect a huge number of eggs and have already released countless tiny turtles into the Pacific Ocean.

X-Ray 5 - Achuapa
Now fully settled in to the village, the work kicks off today.  They will be continuing the work from last phase on the youth centre.  They should also be setting up some time with the community to play games of football and baseball with them.

X-Ray 6 - Miraflor
They arrived safely in their community last night and today will be starting work on the water supply project for the village.  They'll also get to explore their new home a bit more and get to know the families they are staying with.

Updates from the Trekkies!

Jack Smylie-Wild for X-Ray 1, Turrimacho Trek:

Hi everyone and anyone who is dropping by to check on the progress, happiness and health of their sons, daughters, friends and partners who make up the cross-country-Costa Rica-mountain-topping, playa-seeking, grubby clan named X-Ray 1.

So, where to start? The time that passed so far on this trek has assumed that strange quality of seeming far longer than 12 days whilst those same days also seem to have flown by. We now have walked about 143km and the last four days have been particularly difficult: long days, never-ending ascents, tents in the rain, freezing nights at 2500m. The luck we've been blessed with today then feels all the better. We were due to camp again after a 23km walk, but somehow the roadtrip guys from the fieldbase team, who caught up with us today in their 4x4 for a food-drop, managed to find us a rather luxurious wooden cabin in a typical Costa Rican village called San Francisco at an altitude of 2000m. When the clouds clear we can catch a glimpse, a glimmer of the Pacific in the distance! Not far to go now. We arrive at Palo Seco, the beach, on Friday - day 16. None of us can wait, but we're all going to make the most of our journey before we reach our destination, for a weekend of frisbee, sleeping, swimming, chilling... enjoying being still! We're really looking forward to seeing you all very soon! Pura Vida x

Meeting the roadtrip... food and
messages from home

Cookies courtesy of Joanna :)

Kelly...  dayleader extraordinaire



It's not a tent! Luxury accommodation in San Francisco

Diary time

Sorting latest fooddrop for next few days trek

Stretching in more ways than one...

Bert preparing the daily sitrep back to fieldbase

*Photos by Cathy Titterton*

Abi Ramanan for X-Ray 2, Miratombo Trek:

Pulperia girls aside, X-Ray 2 have been enjoying a diverse trekking experience. I'm sure that you won't believe that we're not biased but this really is the best trek; travelling between different communities has been hugely interesting, not to mention great for improving our Spanglish. 

Day 7 ended "early" at a picturesque town and everyone almost imploded with excitement when we spotted a restaurant. Rice, beans and tortilla made a welcome break from rations. The roadtrip dropped by in the evening which was excellent timing, as quite a bit of souvenir shopping took place earlier in the day. Of course, it was lovely to see them too, and we all slept on the porch of a school on a warm evening. 

Day 8 involved quite a lot of plodding forward in single file in the rain and we were thrilled to finally arrive at another school where the local community were holding a 4 hour First Aid course. Great! The next couple of days went by in a blur, involving a lot of mud, and I must give a special mention to my sandals which are no longer with me as I said goodbye to them thigh-high deep in mud. 

Unfortunately, Nati had to leave us today (members dropping like flies) but luckily Dawn has arrived and everyone is super psyched for 24k tomorrow!

volcanoes and trekking

Hi to all the parents, family and friends.  The road trips have been off visiting the projects and you will be delighted to hear they have returned with some blog entries written by your loved ones.  Juliette 3 (as Laura, Amy, Wellard and Cathy have decided to be named) met with X-ray 1 who were on good form and collected these words from Joanna Bartlett:

 It was hot, sunny, dry and approaching midday when we, x-ray 1 took our first step of the 250km Turimacho trek across Costa Rica.  From Cimarrones Arriba we glanced at the Caribbean coast a few kilometres in the distance and then headed towards the pacific.  Kelly reminded us frequently that we would be at the beach soon!  While this reward was on all our minds we also took in the waterfalls, stunning views, nature and people we saw on the way.

 The first few days we trekked alongside countryside paths.  Day 2 also brought with it the mystery of the missing salami, which meant a disappointing lunch for the next day, but also amusing jokes regarding the salamis whereabouts.

 We have tackled the muddy slopes in the jungle.  The climb was tough and in some places the mud was so persistent that it sucked our boots into it; claiming Darens boots on numerous occasions.

 Still spirits remained high and we sang and danced our way through the jungle, yelling ‘pompi’ (in Cantonese) when anybody slipped in the mud, which was quite often.

 Our 14 year old jungle guide Juan Louis was very patient with our trudging pace.  We parted with him on day 5.  This was our longest day of trekking yet, taking us 10 hours to reach our destination, San Joaquin.  This was also the day with the best hilltop views and we passed a pulperia (small shop) for the first time, good news for us and the shop keeper!

 Tomorrow, day 6 we have a 21km hike ahead of us, fortunately we have some energy bombs(an oats, chocolate and syrup mix) to start the day!

Written by Joanna Bartlett.  Photos by Cathy Titterton.

Juliette 3, not lost!  Just checking the route....

a rare sighting of the Deputy programme manager Brie out on phase with X-ray 1

some venturers still manage to look glamorous, even on trek!

off they go for a day of trekking 21km!!!

Juliette 3 (Laura, Amy, Wellard and Cathy) then spent last night with x-ray 3 and can confirm the report below from Alfie of an evening of charades with a lively and fun group.

Alfie writes...........

We have been working on Volcan Turrialba (a volcano) and I can speak for the whole group when I say it has been the most enjoyable phase.  The working day is made easier by the rangers who are pretty damn funny.

I would say that the best part of the day is in the afternoon when we return to what must from the outside look like student digs.  This is the part of the day when we chill out and this period of time has been filled with conversations about what everyone is doing when they go home or are travelling on.  This makes it very obvious that it is the last phase.

Also at night we have our daily game of ‘Come dine with me’.  This is where there is stiff competition in what is made for dinner.  Some so far have seen:

Spicy noodles – Francis

Mac & cheese – Hugh

Curry – Kay

Better than normal pasta sauce – Cam

Cheesy mash – Alfie

Guacamole – Cam

Egg fried rice – Kay

But please don’t get the impression we are living luxuriously!

 On our day off we visited a town that had been evacuated due to acid rain and saw a house which had no roof as it had been totally eaten away by acid rain.  Although we are loving working at the volcano that day made us realise the destructive power it has.

In the evenings we have had a fair few games of charades and Mafia...... it has started to get a little competitive!

All in all we are enjoying every moment of this phase.  There always seems to be laughter from when we wake until we go to bed.  There are many different personalities in our group but this helps to bring us together and widen our conversations.  I feel as if x-ray 3 has become a type of family!

 PS.  Keep the blog messages coming, we really appreciate them.

Blog written by Alfie Carapiet.  Photos by Cathy Titterton.

Volcan Turrialba

The Rangers use quad bikes to get the heavy materials up the volcano.

Kiwi Cam building the paths.

The road trips are still out there collecting blog entries from the venturers in the other x-ray groups so check back over the next few days for more updates.

Blog written by Laura Salmon.  Photos by Cathy Titterton.