A-to-the-X-to-the-Z; Who's who in Zulu...

Just as we settled into calling groups by their X-Ray call signs, Phase 3 has dawned on us and we've had to recalibrate to the new Zulu groups. Here are the latest allocations.

Zulu 1 - Maribios Trek (Nicaragua)
PMs: Annie Glennie, Laura Woodward, Wellard
Venturers: Anna Woollett, Antonio Jimenez Alvarado, Charlie "Cat" Legge, Charlie Bowden, Erika Perez Alfaro, Jack Harrington, Jenny Loweth, Maxim "Veggie" Seynaeve, Natalia Graczyk, Persia Castellani, Beki Turner.

Zulu 2 - The new Costa Rica Trek
PMs: Phil Tibbs, Vicki Harrison, Ade Hughes
Venturers: Ariana Ubeda Herrera, Charlie Gledhill-Flynn, Darren Mitchell, Jay Hutchinson, Jessica Vargas Naranjo, Lydia Barge, Michael Michael, Ollie Grayer, Simi Bhandal, Sophie Gatward, Vicky Golding.

Zulu 3 - Guanacaste Trek
PMs: Giles and Polly Mason, Sarah Bond
Venturers: Adriana Rodriguez Salas, Alex Jerrard, Arthur Vos, Carla Gottlieb, Eamonn McGuone, Enma Moreno Gutierrez, Hiten Mistry, Jexreel Belleza, Martin Fallon, Morrin O'Shea, Naz Taner, Tim Power

Zulu 4 - Irazu National Park and San Lucas Island
PMs: Pamela Martinez, Andy Meredith, Esteban Castillo (Irazu); Pamela Martinez, Piers Tufnell, Cat Bisset (San Lucas)
Venturers: Adam Tickner, Amy Cooper, Ana Massiel Medina Ramos, Garry Pearson, Jan van Arkel, Beki Slater, Rosie Schumacher, Sarah Kendall, Kenneth Yeung, Will Pawsey, Yali Gonzalez Calero

Zulu 5 - Playa Camaronal
PMs: Carl Gilham, James Lee and Rachael Armitage
Venturers: Adam Goldsworthy, Amy Kirkup, Ashley Fletcher, Cecilia Ruiz Galo, Corrine Davey, Felix le Hodey, Graham Smith, Holly Williamson, Raisa Arroyo Arguello, Stephen Holmes, Tom Campion

Zulu 6 - Achuapa (Nicaragua)
PMs: Euan Naismith, El Ourris, Lou Olverson
Venturers: Adrian Edwards, Amy Perkins, Andy Davies, Ben Green, Caroline Wevers, Josh Wilkes, Nicky Younger, Pablo Yglesias Vicente, Sophie ten Bosch, Veronica "Vee" Apaloo

Zulu 7 - Talamanca
PMs: Alex Coulton, Alice Dixon, Lawrie Kidd
Venturers: Anna Keen, Ben Saxby, Emma Lewis, Kate Gunning, Lee Watson, Ryan O'Sullivan, Wiki Perez, Josi Larios

As usual, the Bravo road trip crews will return with news and photos. If you want your messages delivered by the Bravo teams during phase, please observe the following cut-off dates and times:

Zulu 1 and 6 (Nicaragua): 29 Nov; 4pm Costa Rican time
Zulu 2: 30 Nov @4pm CR time (first visit); 8 Dec @4pm CR time (2nd visit)
Zulu 3 & 5: 7 Dec @4pm CR time
Zulu 4: 8 Dec @4pm CR time
Zulu 7: 2 Dec @4pm CR time

Expedition 10G signs off

That's it, Expedition 10G is done and dusted. And what an expedition it has been!

Three amazing schools built in remote indigenous reserves, thousands of turtle eggs collected and safely nested in a new hatchery, four days of tough trekking and a phenomenal Adventure Challenge set in a beautiful island location... it's had it all.

After four days of trekking through mud, rain and breathtaking mountain views, our Zulu groups gathered on San Lucas Island for their final survival challenge.

Located off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, San Lucas is a truly special place. It also has a fascinating history. From 1873 to 1991, San Lucas was home to some of the worst criminals in Costa Rica. The island is now a wildlife refuge but the prison buildings still remain as a reminder of the island's dark past. It's quite spooky touring the old prison at night so sleeping in the old cells was a real experience for our Venturers.

Woken at dawn by King Banana and his tribe on the day of the challenge, the Zulus were faced with a series of tasks: building a raft from bamboo, string and a few inflatable tires; making a fire big enough to burn through a piece of string two metres from the ground; a low ropes course and a collection of problem solving tasks (which were all timed for the overall competition, won by Zulu 2), before finishing on an isolated beach with just a few basics to survive for the night.

Later in the afternoon, "the boatman" came to visit with fresh fish, which had to be gutted and cleaned, and supplies for damper bread, which they cooked on an open fire. It was turned out to be a very wet night but none of our Zulus even thought about coming back to the prison even though they only had a leaky tarp and a few sleeping bags for protection, which was impressive.

The rest of the time was spent catching up with friends from the Delta groups and relaxing on (and jumping off) the pier, which was absolutely brilliant - definitely one of the most glorious locations this correspondent has ever had the pleasure to while away an afternoon.

But all too soon it was time for everyone to say their goodbye and head to the airport for their flights home.

It really has been a special expedition. Everyone involved - from the PMs and Venturers to the Fieldbase staff and everyone working behind the scenes - has been magnificent.

10G brought together a great group of young people who really gelled together to form some formidable teams and achieve some awe-inspiring things. We really hope they've had an amazing time with Raleigh and can take a lot of what they've learnt back with them to their studies or careers or whatever they have planned for the next phase of their lives. We wish them all the best.

Last call for 10G blog messages

Sadly there are only a few days left for Expedition 10G. Tomorrow our Zulu groups will complete the final day of their trek before beginning their survival challenge!

Most of Team Zero (Fieldbase staff) will be heading out to the secret location to join them for the final days of the expedition so this is your last opportunity to post blog messages and have them delivered to your friends and family before they depart. All messages must be posted before midday on Thursday, 5 August (UK time).

Thanks for all your messages throughout the expedition so far - our Venturers and PMs have really looked forward to receiving them and appreciated all your love and support.

10G Adventure Challenge: It's Zulu time

Our 5 weekers had an amazing 24 hours back at Fieldbase and are now out in the wild on the first night of their Adventure Challenge: a four day trek phase followed by a competitive survival challenge in a secret location! 

That means our mighty Delta groups have now been consigned to history - 10G has gone tribal with all new Zulu teams:

Zulu 1: Andy Martin, Bethany Round, Graham Snyder, Emily Marley, Hannah Bishop, Ranald Stewart, Issy Kelpie, Laura Dickinson, Polly Roberts, Randall Vargas Barrantes, Seona Stalker, Valentina Toledo. PMs: Karol Ostaszewski, Oscar Saborio, Natalie Smith.

Zulu 2: Alice Whittle, Daisy Bareham, Ffinlo Moore, Henry Lonsdale, Kara Forsyth, Luke Sparrow, María Gorethy Morales Valverde, Max Kiralyfi, Nicky Gale, Shehlina Karimi, Susannah Sconce, Tim Cook, Vicky Palmer. PMs: Emi Uzar, Sue-Lyn Cashman-Pugsley.

Zulu 3: Alexandra Corrales, Daniel Alpizar Peréz, Glyn Worthington, Hannah Love, Jessica Rivas-Furlong, Johnny Rowles, Laura Buss, Lucile Smith, Samuel Harris, Sophie Hammill, Stephanie Davis, Tim Carden. PMs: Lizzie Phillips, Owen Nicholson, Sarah Neale.

Zulu 4: Alice Mathews, Ariadna Venegas Li, Dan Cowell, Emily Rigby, Esteban Aguilar Güendel, Gaby Cichonska, Grace Abel, Martine Kruseman, Rachel Allen, Rahul Ghelani, Robert Pritchard, William Handy. PMs: Amy Roberton, Eleanor Williamson, Matt Lyes-Wilsdon.

There was a fantastic atmosphere around Fieldbase as the Venturers and PMs caught up with the other groups and exchanged stories from their project sites. 

The highlight came with the group skits which were truly amazing. All the Deltas put in an incredible amount of time and effort which really showed in their performance. And in a fiercely competitive contest, Delta 1 emerged victorious. Congratulations to them!

And we've got heaps of photos of our new Zulus preparing to deploy, courtesy of Photographer James: