All Participants Arrive Safe and Well


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Published: February 9th 2007
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Hi There,

Greetings from sunny Turrialba, it is a beautiful day (about 25 degrees) and the view over Vulcan Turrialba is something else today (jealous yet!!).

My name is Bella and I am the Communications Officer here in Costa Rica and I will be bringing these updates to you. Please encourage other family and friends to subscribe to this update as this will be the main form of communication from the expedition to you all.

First of all everyone has arrived safe and sound to field base in Turrialba this morning after a 1.5 hour picturesque drive from San Jose.

After arriving at the British School at about midnight last night, everyone settled in with some well needed refreshments and a couple of games before hitting the sack about 12.30am. This morning everyone woke up at 5.00am had a quick group photo and then boarded the bus to head to field base.

So now at field base we have a group of 140 people made up of 110 Participants and 30 staff all ready to make CRN07B the best expedition ever! We have people from all over the world, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, Norway, Holland, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Upon arrival at field base, the participants received a thunderous welcome by all of the staff and then were treated to a full breakfast made up of traditional Costa Rican food (rice and beans) and some beautiful tropical fruits along with eggs and fresh cold meats.

All participants have been introduced to their first group for the next few days (9-10 Participants and 2 staff per group), and spent this morning listening to welcome briefings, taking a tour around field base, settling into their luxurious 5 star army tents (and for a lucky few groups trekking tents), and playing some games to get to know each other.

This afternoon the group went en mass to the local university pool in Turrialba to have a relaxing lunch, did some swimming, attended to all admin matters, and also played some football or rugby. Tonight everyone will get a sneak peak of what projects we will be doing this expedition before settling in for what will be a well earned sleep!

The next few days will be pretty exciting with all the participants attending jungle camp where they will be taught outdoor skills like reading maps, how to make a “basha” (which is a camp bed), how to use a “tranger” to cook food and most of all how to set up and use a radio!

The groups will depart for Phase I on the 14th of February so I will send another update around that time.

Until then,

Pura Vida de Costa Rica

PS: For parents and families of the Participants:- Everyone is safe and well! Participants will have the opportunity to contact home on either Saturday 10th or Sunday 11th of February in the afternoon Costa Rican time via email or telephone. (evening UK time). If possible please refrain from contacting the field base number except in a case of emergency.


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9th February 2007

Will Bowlby
Thanks for the update and delighted to see Will ended up in San Jose, Costa Rica rather than San Jose, Calafornia, but confused to see that, from the photograph, he is still wearing winter fleece despite heat ...... but one step at a time. Good luck to everybody and have a great time.
10th February 2007

Good luck William McLeman
Glad you all got there safely. Have a wonderful time. Looking forward to all the travelblogs. Love from Lydia and Brian xx
11th February 2007

G'day
Hi Ben, glad you arrived safely and looks like you're all having fun. Enjoyed the blog. Blake says G'day and hopes the mattress is OK
11th February 2007

daniel crooks
wishing you all the best on your adventure,think we spotted you in group photo (smile in future!) anyway looking forward to more updates... thinking of you love mum,dad, and martyn(wheres my card?!) xx
11th February 2007

From Oldie and Pepe
Hi Ben We wondered where you had got to, you said you were just popping down the road for a kebab and then we switch on the gas powered computer and ther you are in a tent in the jungle!!!!
11th February 2007

Pictures look great
From a wet and cold England even the tents look enticing . Have a great time . Trust Natasha's camping experience coming to the fore .... !
26th February 2007

Max Maclean: Did you survive the trek?
We've been following Alpha 1's trek on Google Earth but haven't spotted them yet - it must be the dense foliage! Sleeping in a basha for nearly three weeks sounds exhausting but maybe you get used to it. I hope you had some down-time too. We were slightly concerned as to what the 'challenges' of Corcvado National Park might be, as mentioned on the web-log, so hope you all had fun. Max, please phone or email when you can and tell us all about it but, in the unlikely event that you get a chance to call home on Monday, please don't as we're flying home from Italy and don't want to miss your call! xxx
11th March 2007

Kiwi Sam
Enjoying Blog, have also posted message on blog. Hope all going well with Alpha 7????????? Presume that was you in the photo. Great summer downunder. Hope you guys did great job in the cooking department after all that tramping in NZ. Cheers Nicky

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