Hello from La Arenilla - Zulu 5

Which Zulu are you?

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

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


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

Zulu 1 - Coast to coast

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

Zulu 2 - Miratombo Trek

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

Zulu 3 - Environmental

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

Zulu 4 - Los Loros

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

Zulu 5 - Miraflor

An intimate bond with nature

Holly Williamson of Zulu 5 discovers the precious gem that is Camaronal.

Camaronal is a place of exceptional beauty. From the secluded, private-feeling black sand beach, to the breathtaking outlook atop the Mirador, Camaronal is a little treasure that gives one an escape from the busy outside world. It is a little sanctuary, a wonderful place to slow down, relax, and re-evaluate the priorities in one´s life. Coming here strips down the unnecessary luxuries and clutter of everyday life and guides one to experience simplicity, where focus is on finding happiness in the beauty of the land and people that surround us. A combination of the Costa Rican - Pura Vida, life is good, laid back beach vibe and my desire to be fully engulfed in the moment, led me to three weeks of blissful enjoyment.  

Curling up in a hammock at the ranger station, reading a book while swaying in the wind...writing in my journal as the sun´s rays set over the horizon...playing competitive Beach Olympics with the team…getting a little taste of the latino culture, learning to dance the tango and salsa...all of these bring back unique, treasured memories of my time here.

As I worked with the turtles under the stars, while the light reflected off of the crashing waves, I felt a unique, intimate bond with nature. Although a natural balance is at work with the occasional raccoon eating eggs from the nest, humans poaching eggs are skewing this delicate balance. Spending numerous hours cleaning up plastic waste that washes up on the shores, it also became clear how big of a negative impact we are having on this precious world.

Coming here has really opened my eyes to the disastrous and disrespectful way we are treating our planet. We have a responsibility to make our impact as small as possible. There is an immense need for enthusiastic volunteers to bring creativity and visionary ideas to add to the growth of the refuge. From hard physical labor, to improvements in communications and awareness, there is a lot that can be done whilst here as well as continuing on once we leave. There is great opportunity to shape the direction of this delicate area as it develops into the future. 

My Camaronal experience was absolutely amazing! Zulu 5 was an amazing group, made up of funny, hardworking, wonderful people. Relaxing in paradise with great people, while making an impact on the world…how could you ask for a better way to wrap up the Raleigh expedition?!

Graham reports for Zulu 5 from Camaronal

Graham of Zulu 5 - probably the happiest venturer this side of the isthmus - reports on what the group has been getting up to in the first week of Phase 3.

We arrived at Playa Camaronal on Saturday night and we spent the night at the ranger station. On the first night, five of us were on turtle patrol and saw three turtles. Since then we've spotted leatherbacks the size of picnic tables. 

Jungle camp is looking really good although some of us need to improve on our bashas. We've begun building the path to the mirador which goes up a hill. Nelson, the ranger has instructed us to build rest stops because he wants big Americans to be able to get to the top. We imagine that it'll need several rest points. 

Recreational activities have been a combination of Mafia and salsa lessons by Raisa and Nelson. We've been dancing every night. Last night we learned a very sexy dance called the merengue. Tomorrow we're going to a waterhole near the ranger station for a dip.

We're having a smashing time out here. The work's great; Nelson has some grand plans for the mirador with talk of getting a McDonald's up there (he seems to be doing a lot for these big Americans), and we've got a great combination of PMs - James, Rachael and Carl. I didn't speak much Spanish in Phase 2 but I've been compensating for that by speaking a lot more here. I can already see another awesome phase ahead.