News from Nancite and Tenorio

After a slight mishap with a forgotten passport (mentioning no names, Ross!), we were on our way to see Alphas 1 & 2. On this road trip was Julian, Ross, Chris and Helen, as we wound our way North to Tenorio, the IPod game was in full swing to help pass the time. We were very lucky to have a near perfect view of Volcan Arenal as we passed by and were happy to reach Alpha 2 at Volcan Tenorio before sunset. The group were in high spirits and have made their wooden shack very homely. After a frenzied attack on the chocolate and fizzy drink supply brought, we settled down to play ‘mafia’. This seems to have become the night-time entertainment for Alpha 2, who have honed their bluffing skills to perfection and were wiping out Julian and Helen in no time! The next morning it was 5am start so Piers and Will P could show us their progress on the path and the hot springs.

The rainforest is providing a challenging environment to work in, but the group are making great progress digging trenches to drain the rain and the daily reward of a dip in the hot springs is motivation for all!

So it was farewell to Alpha 2 and back in Bravo 4 heading for Santa Rosa and Alpha 1. After an enjoyable hike into Santa Rosa National Park (apart from the rather steep hill at the end), we were welcomed by Alpha 1 at Playa Nancite. All settled in the Ranger Station, 200 metres from the beach, Alpha 1 also executed a planned attack on the shop items carried in! Waving goodbye to Julian and Ross the next morning, Helen and Chris were set to work with the group on the ‘mountain’ for a few days. Day by day the group are pick-axing out the rock, relaying the soil and smaller rocks to create a path up the ‘mountain’ so that the ranger can access the beach by quad bike. The work in the sun is tough but Alpha 1 is proving that they are hardcore by tirelessly going at it day after day.

This hard work is rewarded though - every afternoon they fling down their tools and dive into the cool and crashing waves on Playa Nancite. While we were there, we were also blessed with the amazing sight of 2 Olive Ridley turtles nesting on the beach, one at night and the 2nd in the late afternoon, surprising the group in the midst of an activity. The group are hoping that during the next couple of weeks they will be lucky enough to see an ‘arribadas’ where they could see up to 1000 turtles nesting on the beach.

After 3 enjoyable days with Alpha 1, Helen and Chris trekked back out, deciding that they were now fairly hardcore, to meet Ross and Julian at Santa Rosa. After an overnight stop in San Jose, they arrived back at field base, excited to see all again and hear how the other road trips got on…

Helen

News from Salitre

Hugh, Amanda and I have been on a Road Trip to Salitre to visit Alpha 3.
They have been working really hard and have dug the foundations for the comodor and moved 300 concrete blocks, a lot of corrugated roofing sheets, and wood for the walls doing a round trip of 1km each time.

They were certainly pleased to see us but we are still not sure if it was because with three extra pairs of hands and a Land Rover we were able to help move the 30 50kg bags of cement, or that we bought the shop to them with chocolate, pringles, sweets and cold drinks which all disappeared on the first evening!! We were rewarded for our hard work with a trip to the river to wash and cool off. We left them eagerly awaiting a lorry load of sand to arrive so they can then begin the actual building of the comodor which they were all very excited about.

Yvette

A fond farewell to Marco

Marco (aka Mark Blythe-Ashby) headed off yesterday to help set up Raleigh in India. Clearly this is a fantastically exciting opportunity for him, but we'll all be sad to see him leave after a year in Costa Rica. During his time here, Marco has been transformed from a podgy city boy into a lean mean trekking machine and all round happy chap. We decided to see him off with a fancy dress party, with each member of the team appearing as an aspect of Marco's life, so we have, from left to right...

Chris as 'R2D2', Yvette as Fat Marco, Julian as Darth Vader, Milly as Bravo 4, Marco as himself holding a Bravo 4 shaped cake of yipies, Roy as Marcia, Ross as Hayley, Hugh as medic Marco, Helen as a yipy bar and Amanda as Marcia. Explaining how these are all facets of Marco's personality would take a full doctoral thesis so you'll have to use your imagination...but Marco seemed chuffed with it all.

Festivities continued with a barbeque, followed by party games and the evening drew to a close in the new field base swimming pool with some green body paint.

Good luck Marco - we'll miss you! (and then come and work for you in India...)