Alpha 1 - Guanacaste Trek

Alpha 1 or Alpha Love as this tight knit group is now known, have finally reached their destination - the beautiful Playa Naranjo beach, part of Santa Rosa National Park. Mountains, volcanos, crocodile infested rivers and never ending rain was no match for this group of intrepid travellers who not only finished on schedule but more importantly in high spirits.

Alpha 2 - Coast to Coast Trek

Alpha 2 have finally seen the Pacific Coast and are currently making their final push to the beach. We are expecting to hear their jubliant cries all the way from field base when they arrive this afternoon. The group will bid goodbye to one of their Project Managers, Dr James, who will be returning to the UK, and will sadly be missed by Alpha 2 and indeed the entire expedition. Two nights at this stunning beach lie ahead of this group, a chance to soak their aching feet and enjoy their well earnt beach BBQ.

Alpha 3 - Bosque del Nino - then - San Lucas Island

A great surprise was install for the venturers of Alpha 3 who on completition of thier project at Bosque del Nino packed up camp and headed off to the awesome San Lucas Island. In contrast to their mountain haven, San Lucas is a tropical paradise for this group, who will sharpen up their machete skills to work on trails and paths which criss cross the island. Last heard enjoying a fish supper, the group has settled in nicely to island life but are yet to meet Coco, the resident croc which makes it way past the pier at 5pm each day.

Alpha 4 - Playa Junquijal

Living life to the full and making the most of thier experience this group of enthusiasts have impressed the rangers with their ability to carry out a whole range of jobs. Their strength has also impressed the logs team who are wondering how they managed to break a sledge hammer???!!! To celebrate an incredibly successful phase the group have hired a boat and are heading out to the stunning Playa Blanca for a day of R & R where they hope to catch more than just a glimpse of some local wildlife.

Alpha 5 - Monte Frio - Nicaragua

Adventures in Monte Frio continue, and stakes have been raised once more by our Medic Carolyn who has outdone herself by delivering yet another baby. Her hard work has been rewarded and it would seem that Nicaragua has their very own Carloynita. Attending the international music festival in Atuapa was another highlight for this group, who were joined on stage by Alpha 6 and 7 for a prime slot, just before the headline acts. The groups report that their various renditions of Summer Loving, Wonder Wall and Valerie went down a storm and at least one member of the 500 strong crowd voted them the best act of the night.

Alpha 6 - Miraflor - Nicaragua

Alpha 6 returned from their trip to Atuapa music festival with an extra member, Kristen visiting from Bermuda, who has joined the team to put the finishing touches on their community centre in Miraflor. With painting pretty much complete, the group will attempt to install windows and doors before biding farewell to their families and friends in this tight knit community. No doubt some tears will be shed.

Alpha 7 - Miraflor - Nicaragua

La Esperanza was a whole new project for this group who have worked incredibly hard to get two walls up and leave their project ready for the next Raleigh group to complete the building in phase 3. This is the first time that a Raleigh group have been to this community and it is clear that they will leave a lasting legacy. The group have had more than their fair share of adventures and we look forward to hearing many tales upon their return.

Field Base
Back at fieldbase we are busily preparing for changeover 2 and working out how we will get all the expected washing sorted on a public holiday!? It's not all work though and we are definetly making time for our daily circuit training programme, an attempt to burn off the calories incurred through over consumption of glorious cakes cooked by our field based medic, Helen. We have also been honing our cricket skills in preperation for the big match this Saturday when we take part in the Costa Rican national league. We promise to have more photos up on the blog and more news from the groups upon their return so please stay tuned and keep the comments coming.

Hasta luego
Anna

Expedition 08E: Phase 2 - The Adventure Challenge Blog 9

Hola it's been an exhilarating few days here as the Zulu groups embarked on the Adventure Challenge. I finally caught up with them as they completed their treks and boarded the yacht bound for the infamous prison island of San Lucas.

Sancia, Zulu 1's ever stylish Project Manager, shared her impressions of the 4 day trek with me as the Venturers disembarked. As you can see from her photographs below, one of the highlights was the hospitality of a local old lady who welcomed Zulu 1 into her home and treated them to fresh, hot, home made tortillas.

After a long day's trekking Zulu 1 sample home made tortillas from the kindest little old lady.

Barney and Kaizer swap rucksacks for pinafores as they prepare supper in the little old lady's house.

La Sancia receiving a warm hug after sweeping the kitchen floor.

Emma, Ileana, Laura & Amy up for the sunrise and smiling in the knowledge that Zulu 2 are behind them.

Sancia contemplates the survival challenge...

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Zulu 1 are Abd-Allah Ayaz, Ileana Bejarano, Amy Chesterfield, Emma Damant, Lauren Davies, Tessa Deykin, Euan Ivory, Matthieu Leonard, Maritza Loaiza, Barnaby Redwood, Laura Richardson, Huw Simmons and Wing Yui Wan.

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The survival challenge promises to present all the Zulu groups with an entirely new set of demands amidst the San Lucas prison. I know that the Fieldbase team have been preparing for weeks so it will be interesting to see if it lives up to expectations...

Adios, Dennis

Expedition 08D: Phase 2 Alpha Teams Blog 8

Playa Naranjo - possibly the best beach in the world...

Hi it's Dennis again, after 19 days in the Santa Rosa National Park living with spiders and snakes the Phase 1 Alpha 4 team and I made it back to Field base. The Alpha 4 team completed their Ranger renovation project in time to trek to Naranjo beach, a small matter of a 30km day round trip but Venturers and surfers agreed, it is the best beach in the world!

Below a tarantula takes an evening stroll amidst the tents of Alpha 4...

With barely time for the Phase 1 teams to finish cleaning their equipment the new teams for Phase 2 team were announced. Once again fieldbase is a crazy cocktail of excitement and expectation as the new teams begin packing for their new projects.

Here are the new Alpha teams together with one or two pictures I managed to grab.

Alpha 1: Guanacaste Trek - A huge variety of different ecosystems await our adventurers as they begin in cloud forest above 3000 metres and head down to one of the last dry tropical forests left in the Americas.

Katie Baxter, Helen Buss, Alasdair Conn, Juan Pablo Cruz, Goerge Finlay, Lewis Laing, Shakii Pearman, Asley Phillips, Gabriela Sanchez and Mark Taylor with Alex "Coops" and Sarah.

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Alpha 2: Coast to Coast Trek - Starting on the shores of the Caribbean Sea this group will walk across a continent in 19 days to the Pacific Ocean.

Left; Che Augustus, Iesha Dill, Colm Doris, Madeleine Gardner, Emma Houston, Shohaib Hussain, Jorge Marin, Meriel Mulhall, Yasmin Vora, Tom Williams with Laura, James and Andy.

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Alpha 3: Bosque del Nino - One of the largest remaining areas of forest in the Central Valle. The team will renovate some of the visitor facilities including the main reception and trails.

Team; Vivian Aguilar, Zakina Allen, Ben Haigh, Matthew Hoghton, Rachael Kelly, Jason Reading, Anna Reay, Daniel Rooke, Hugo Ross, Zeko Rubaine with Karen and Ben.

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Alpha 4: Playa Junquillal - For the first time Raleigh International will work in this protected area to build visitor trails and look out points (miradors) for the many thousands who visit this beautiful national park.
Left; Jonathan Cox, Edward Davies, Joy Hardyman, Alshauntae Harvey-Hollis, Ben Masterman, Kandrea Romaine, Roberto Ulloa, Daniel Wigmore-Shepherd, Laura Wilkins and Laura Wyglendacz with Aleks and Ali. With Ashanti's birthday on Sunday the team wasted no time in shopping for the beach party on the Pacific Ocean !

Alpha 5: Achuapa - Monte Frio 2 - The team will be pushing hard to turn on the first of a series of small projects to bring clean and safe drinking water to 80 families in the community of Monte Frio.

Team; Santos Yessenia Blando Picado, Susannah Compton, Annabel Gray, Stephen Hosking, Miles Kaye, Sarah Long, Kasia Lukaniec, Sam Newman, William Vasquez and Ashun Wolffe with Carolyn and Manny.

Alpha 6: Miraflor - El Cebollal Abajo - The Miraflor reserve is 206sqkm of beautiful mountainous terrain with tropical savannahs and both dry tropical and mountain cloud forests. Within the reserve there are of communities living through subsistence farming and gaining income from coffee growing. The team will be building two preschools/community centres in the communities of El Coyolito and El Cebollal Abajo where currently there are no facilities for young children to learn.

Team; Rudo Chimbghandah, Makeda DeShield, Wendelle Lightbourne, Joanne Lockey, Rosamund Luther, Jasper Mackisack, Felicity Shapland, Tom Smart, Darwin Solis, Matthew Theakston with Therese and Miranda.

Alpha 7: Miraflor - El Coyolito

Left; Natalie Ali, Hannah Allen, Jamie Beacall, Rebecca Butland, Esteban Castillo, William Hatton, James Lee, Teliqua Mallory, Marie-Claire Streets and Ricai Williams with Amanda and "Jungle" Mike.

Thats all for now but I'll be catching up with the Delta groups today so will post their new Zulu teams later.

Mucho gusto, Dennis ( With special thanks to Katie Baxter, below centre )