Beaches, Olympics, wild horses and pictionary!

I know you’re all eagerly awaiting pictures from the Alpha groups, but don’t worry, Ross and Laura will be back at Fieldbase later on today, with hot off the press pictures from Alpha one and Alpha nine, which we will get up as soon as we can.

In the meantime, our Alpha groups still sound like their having the best time, and are making the team here at Fieldbase incredibly jealous with all the cool things they keep coming up with. Some of the groups have had days off and made trips to the beach, waterfalls and volcanoes. We’ve also had all manner of sporting events including a Miraflor version of the Olympics, Water polo, rounders and even pictionary! Read on to find out who’s been up to what…

Alpha nine have finished the floor of the comedor and celebrated with a well deserved day off at the beach yesterday. This is the same beach that you walk in along to get to Conte Burika, and it’s absolutely stunning with not a sole on it. It was back to work today, and they have now started building the frame for the comedor. Tonight they have some games planned, including rounders and pictionary!

Alpha five also spent the day at the beach yesterday and had a lovely day – their camp is usually quite dry and very hot so I bet they were feeling relieved to cool off in the sea. They are back to working on the path and building steps today, as well as mending some of their basher beds which had fallen down overnight – no one was hurt though – they’re not that far off the ground! Alpha five have also got some new neighbours, in the form of wild horses, who have apparently been galloping around their camp for the past few days.

Alpha four have almost finished digging all of their trenches and so also had a day off today, and visited a local waterfall, they all came back after having lots of sun and were feeling very relaxed. They’re also planning a trip to the beach for the end of this phase, lucky things! They’ve been keeping themselves busy in jungle camp and are coming up with a surprising array of things to keep themselves entertained, so moving on from their tropical elegance party, they have apparently been playing water polo - in the river I assume, but I await photographic evidence of how!

Rivalry between the two groups seems to have died down somewhat, although with Tom Wright’s mum fuelling it by suggesting they emulate Ray Mears, we could have a renewed competition on our hands – we will keep you posted!

The trekking groups are both still steaming along…

Alpha one arrived in Changuena by midday yesterday and spent the day relaxing and getting settled into the local community centre. Ross and Laura met them later on in the evening with their second food drop, and treated the group to scrambled eggs for breakfast before they set off back to Fieldbase. After a later than planned start, they scrambled up a slippery hill in the midday sun but still managed to reach their campsite by 2.30 in the afternoon, in time to relax by the stream and enjoy some freshly made energy bombs.

Alpha two left La Esperanza yesterday morning and trekked for most of the day along the inter-americana highway – the main highway that runs all the way from Canada down to Argentina. They spent the night in the community centre in Cedral and today have been heading towards Santa Rosa campsite. It’s Will and Dirk’s birthdays today so I’m sure the group have lots of celebrations planned for this evening – we’ve been passing on messages of happy birthday from the blog and other alpha groups via the radio. Tomorrow will be another early start as the group ascend the mighty Cerro Dragon, where they will be rewarded by some stunning views from the top.

Alpha eight in Miraflor have continued to race ahead with the work on the community centre, and so have also been helping to build a garden for the school. Today they held the Miraflor Olympics which included games such as wheelbarrow and three-legged races. They even had a Nicaraguan themed apple-bobbing style contest, by hiding sweets in a zip-lock bag that was filled with refried beans and they had to get them out using just their teeth – again, I will be looking forward to seeing the pictures of that!

Last but not least, Alpha seven in Achuapa have continued with their trench digging and to reward themselves after all the hard work so far, they took the afternoon off to head up the local volcano. The last Alpha seven group raved about this trip, with many of them saying it was one of the best parts of the phase, so I think the guys will be in for a treat as they sleep out under the stars tonight and wake up for what promises to be an incredible sunset.

And finally, I also have a very important message that Bella in Alpha nine has asked us to put up on the blog…

“Happy 21st Birthday Sol, hope you have a brill day and a good party in Sheffers and London and get some nice pressies, I’m missing the chocolate cake big time! There is a letter in the post. Love you loads, Bella xoxox”

More Alpha group updates

My goodness, all our Alpha groups have been busy bees over the past few days, every time we get a radio call, we’re amazed at how much they’re managing to cram into their days. Here is a round up of how everyone is doing and what they’ve been up to…

Alpha one have been speeding along and were feeling very proud of themselves yesterday afternoon after having reached the Rio Platanillal half a day ahead of schedule. Today they are headed to Veultas, which is at the top of a ridge with gorgeous views and will hopefully be staying at a lovely little campsite there that even has a swimming pool where they can relax after all their hard work.

Alpha two have had a couple of hard days and are a little damp from all the rain, yesterday in particular was a difficult day as they climbed over 1000m in one day. Lesser groups may be tired and grumpy after all of this, but not Alpha 2! They have been filling their evenings with games of Poker (probably betting crema biscuits and granola bars) and held a slumber party. Tonight they will reach La Esperanza, where Anna and I will meet them for their second food drop. The good news is that they are nearly at the top of the mountain range where they will cross from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to the Pacific side, which will hopefully be much drier and will bring some well-deserved sunshine!

Alpha four held a tropical elegance party last night, which included a three-course dinner and party games – sounds like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see some photos of that – we’ll try to pick some up on our road trip in about a week’s time! There’s been some excellent wildlife spotting in the La Cangreja jungle including a sloth, a snake and an armadillo. They have also been making brilliant progress on the path, as well as continuing to improve their camp, the latest addition is a library!

Alpha five are also going great guns with their work on clearing the path and will be starting on making some steps today. They have also been making improvements to their camp, the latest addition here is a swing - I sense the rivalry between Alphas four and five building a little, the boys in the two groups have even been leaving messages for each other via the radio – nothing wrong with a little healthy competition and I think by the end of this phase we are going to have two of the best camps ever seen on Raleigh!

Alpha seven have been having glorious weather up in Achuapa. They have moved to the nearby community of Los Playones 2 where they are working on a gravity feed water system and have already completed one set of trenches. They had a very well deserved day off yesterday, and are back to the hard work today. No reports yet of who won the baseball match, we’ll ask them on the radio when they call in this afternoon and let you know, although like Anna, my money’s on the opposition!

Alpha eight have now finished the third wall of the community centre and are moving ever closer to completing the building. In their spare time they’ve been taking the time to visit all the houses in the village and exploring the surrounding area, as well as helping out at the school.

And finally Alpha nine have nearly finished the floor of the dining hall and are planning on finishing that later on today. They had a game of football yesterday evening and Laura and Ross from the Fieldbase team arrived safely after their long trek in along the beach. There was some entertainment put on for them last night and I’m sure the group are keeping them busy today helping to finish the floor, and that Laura is also busy snapping away – we should have some amazing photos for you when they get back in several days time.

So all in all, a week into phase two (yes, a week in already, where does the time go?!) and everyone is doing really well, and by all accounts having an amazing time!

Alpha 2 - I want to be a Macho Trekker!

Thanks Anna for such a fabulous blog yesterday! We had a brilliant time visiting Alpha 2 in Taus, it’s only about an hours drive away from Fieldbase and it was a stunning drive down to meet them. We met them at the community centre there after a full day’s walking.

Group spirits were high and Catherine, Isaac and Vee, yesterday’s cooks, had prepared a feast of veggie mash, pork and beans, and pasta for dinner – yum! Later on in the evening we were treated to some of Adam’s magic tricks (he had a seriously good one that no-one could figure out!) and some of Floor’s hot chocolate.

This morning we saw them off about 6am as they head towards xxx, on what will be a challenging day through the jungle.

As promised yesterday, we have lots of photos ready so you can see how they’re getting on and all the amazing places they’ve trekked so far…

Heading off into one of the beautiful Cloud Forests the Macho trek has to offer

Snacks are definetly a must on trek - nuts and raisins, granola bars and the Costa Rican equivalent of custard creams - Cremas! These guys need to eat around 3000 calories per day to keep their energy levels high

Welcome to the jungle, Emma and Isaac deep in the stunning Barbilla National Park

Seasoned trekkers after just 4 days - Verity,Catherine, Rose and Adam stride it out on the flat while below Isaac leads the way, with Emma and Julie close on his heels

Sorting out the food drop in the Taus
Community Centre

Catherine shows off new air conditioned

T-Shirt courtesy of her fire drying efforts

Chill time in the evenings - one of the nicest things about trek

Emma, Will, Rose, Adam and Isaac put their chess skills to the test

Mapping their progress - Nick leads Alpha 2 through the route so far

The wonderful Dutch - Julie, Flo and Dirk