Phase 1 Completed, All are off for Phase 2

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Hi Everyone,

Firstly would like to introduce you to our new Participants, we have Alyssa from Italy, Anne & Christiaan from Holland, Kayleigh Moy & Georgina Thomas from the UK, & Amanda James from Malaysia. A well international bunch who join everyone else for the next two phases.

We also say goodbye to Rachel Smith who has gone home to save for her next expedition to Namibia! Bye Rachel, hope you still keep reading the blog!

Here is the latest wrap from Phase 1, all writing has been done by the identified contributors. All have now safely departed for Phase II. New allocations for Phase II are at the end of each section.

Alpha 1: Corcovado Trek

PM’s: Richard & Lucy
Participants: Enaudi Hurtado, James Jackson-Stops, Freija Ommerer, James Clark Catalina Carrasco, Sam Coleman, Neil Hardman, Max Maclean, Amy Cocker, Jonathan Bath, Andrew Bell
Written by: Sam Coleman

As we were walking up the first mountain on the first day of the Corcovado Trek I felt like I had properly arrived in Costa Rica and was relishing in the challenge ahead of me. The next few weeks as a team we conquered the deepest jungle and climbed mountains in the souring heat. However hard the day was we were always welcomed at our final destination by a friendly Costa Rican face.

In addition to the beautiful scenery we were lucky enough to see so much wildlife including some rare finds of a troop of Howler Monkeys, a scarlet Macau and a Tapier all close up, just fantastic!

When we arrived at the beach 17 days later we watched the sun melt slowly over the endless Pacific Coast whilst sipping fresh coconuts we had knocked down from the nearest tree, a really big reward for a long hard trek.

Sitting on the beach and enjoying each other’s company and celebrating our true sense of achievement was a perfect way to finish this amazing journey.

New Allocations for Alpha 1: Alexander Ash, Rebecca Collingwood, James Eaves, Tomas Eblett, Eduardo Funes, Ayesha Khan, Simon Marshall, Mayank Mehta, Pablo Moraga, Christiaan van de Koppel, Dan Williams, Lucy Wright Project Managers: Richard Mott, Annabel Trust

Alpha 2: The Dragon Trek

PM’s: Jorge & Annabel
Participants: Sholto Bonham, Fred Burgess, Victoria Ager, Andrew Forrest, Benjamin Butcher, Amelia Griffiths, James Lethbridge, Florence Heathcoat-Amory, Yairo Arosteguis, Henry Smart, Berny Zuniga
Written by: Sholto Bonham

The Dragon Trek took in over 250kms of jungle, mountains (to conquer the mighty dragon was our goal!), plains, cloud forests and culminating in Playa El Ray on the Pacific Coast for a few well-earned days on the beach.

The Trek began in Costa Rica’s Carara National Park where we spent 2 days in tropical rainforest with a rather over zealous guide named Antonio who literally karate chopped his way through the dense jungle pausing for only a few moments at a time to smell which way to go next and to introduce us to the other residents of the jungle.

During our trek, we saw many other non human residents in the jungle including the Scarlet Macau with its impressive array of colours, tiny poison dart frogs, who moved faster than lightening, a small terrified looking mammal we never managed to identify and a pair of monkeys that levered down at us from the branches.

Our “guide” one of our Project Manager the personable and flattering Jorge Armando (who hails from Costa Rica) whose people skills made up for the inaccurate and antique maps of Costa Rica. His knack of getting friendly with the locals and his exceptional Spanish ensured we were never off track.

Our accommodation played host to a different bevy of wildlife as in the various places we stayed it was not uncommon to see a friendly or curious toad or gecko in the showers, and bats and iguanas in the youth centres or village halls that were kindly offered to us by members of the local community.

For the greater part of the trek following on from Carrara we walked on dirt roads picking delicious fruits from trees and as we went along becoming steadily more addicted to the tuna and crackers we at for lunch, arguably the best part of our rice, pasta, porridge and bean feast diet.

Thankfully we were able to supplement our diet with various additions from the “pulperias” in small towns we passed through, learning to be very creative with basic ingredients.

We also enjoyed playing football with the locals of Sur: a small village on the edge of the jungle, singing “Save tonight” and “American Pie” to keep us going on the hard hills and also played many games to keep us amused during those long days on foot.

Punctuating the trek were the well-anticipated food drops where field base would dutifully despatch our food and the mobile shop via Ian in the Land Rover, (Ian we love you an always will).

The Dragon Trek was not easy and we had our fair share of problems, ants, mosquitoes, bees, the heat, blisters, ticks in places we have never had ticks, hills and the atrocious taste of chlorinated water, all small things though in our drive to get to the end as a group and in once piece.

After sweating out the Dead Sea between us we reached a point high enough to see our final destination of the big blue ocean and we were spurred into life, forging on with our goal firmly in our sights.

The final day dawned: 29kms in the blistering heat, when as if by divine intervention we discovered a small bar offering a delectable steak lunch for 1.30 pounds each, a nice treat after eating such basic food for so long.

After practically sprinting the rest of the way to the end we arrived at the subliminally beautiful Playa El Rey where we all immediately downed bags, de booted and ran into perfect waters of Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast and spent the next two days resting our weary feet, swimming and playing beach cricket.

We had won our prize and in that moment when our feet hit the sand we knew we had succeeded and shared a blissful satisfaction as we knew that Amelia, Annabel, Fred, Flo, Henry, Gernie, Kairo, Jorge, James, Vicky Ben, Andy and I the 13 pillars of the mighty Alpha 2 had completed the Dragon.

New Allocations for Alpha 2: Jill Bartley, Robert Bennett, Rachel Bennett, Edmund Chadwick, Michael Davies Dominic Kane, Sam McArthur, James O'Donnell, Tom Phillips, Georgie Thomas, Morwenna White-Thomson. Project Managers: Fraser Gibson & Alice Ferrero

Alpha 3: The Rio Macho Trek

PM’s: Ben and Leonie
Partipcants: Elvis Pitar, Luke Eastman, Alex Robb, Joseph Cowles, Alex Jaggard , Sam Pickering , Natasha Friend , Helen Adlam, Harriet Ingle, Ben Hession, Nicholas Harris
Written by: Joseph Cowles

Alpha 3 the aptly named Rio Macho trek took us from Field Base in Turrialba all the way through to Playa Hermosa beach in the South West Coast of Costa Rica.

All the 19 days were so completely different. The variety and the sheer number of experiences we shared, as a group has been exceptional.

Being Invited to a Costa Rican lady’s birthday party, seeing a pig being slaughted, spending a morning at the local school, getting rescued from that rain by a generous Grandad, macheting our way through the jungle, sleeping in a disco and taking part in a dance class would only be naming a few.

Although we walked 250kms, the trekking has only been a small part of the last three weeks. Perhaps the ultimate beauty of this phase was the excitement of not knowing what was in store for us in each particular day, what we would see, who we would meet, where we would stay and how we would be received.

Everything always seemed to come together for Alpha 3 and this was due to one definite factor…the incredible spirit and nature of the Costa Rican people who always went out of their way to accommodate the 13 gringos as best they could.

One guy even took a day off work to show us his community and way of life. Their acceptance of us shattered all language barriers allowing two different cultures to come together and share some good times.

Accompanying this interaction with the achievement of walking almost entirely across a country up into the clouds and through the jungle terrain as well as the sublime scenery, inspiring views, gorgeous sun rises and sun sets plus finishing off at the coast at a perfect beach (in a great resort - we did some volunteer work there in exchange for some great accommodation and meals) was just such an amazing experience one that we will never forget.

New Allocations Alpha 3: Helen Coral, Daniel Crooks, Ben Hockridge, Ed Le Gallais, Alexander Lewis, Sarah Mahon, William McLeman, Roberto Miranda, Jonathan Morales, Jenny Smerald, Ashley Ward. Project Managers: Leo Palmer & Nina Rengers

Alpha 4: Barva Volcano Trails Development

PM’s: Helen & Andy
Participants: Edwin Jimenez, Oscar Flores, Mayank Mehta, James O'Donnell, Helen Coral, Daniel Crooks, Thomas Hoving, Jill Bartley, Bridie-Ann Milner, Ayesha Khan, Emma Davidson
Written by: Ayesha Khan & Daniel Crooks

High up in the hills behind San Jose was our destination for Phase 1.

Volunteering in Barva Volcano was a truly unique experience, we stayed in the old rangers station, had running water, electricity and toilets, somewhat of a treat for Raleigh!

The picture perfect postcard views across San Jose, the central valley and the “Lord of the Rings” style scenery were quite surreal and made Barva a special place to live and work.

The weather was an ever changing beast; we awoke in the freezing cold mornings, then experienced the eerie mist in the cloud forest in the mid afternoon, the burning sun in the late afternoon, then either crisp clear nights or sometimes rain (yes it did rain for 60 hours straight at one stage early in the expedition!).

Our Project involved the rebuilding and widening of the footpath heading to a magical Laguna at the summit of the Volcano. We completed a lot of hard work in the three weeks, chopping through roots (and the occasional 50ft tree!), digging trenches for water run off and laying paths to the first Laguna.

The fruits of our labour will enable MINAE to promote tourism in the areas well as providing a clear stable path through the rainforest to prevent damage to vegetation from people wandering off the paths.

The altitude also physically challenged us as our worksite was at about 3000 metres. We all got used to walking at least six km’s per day and managed to cut our time up and down the hill to half from when we arrived to when we left.

Being four kms from the nearest village we were secluded from the outside world. Our occasional movie and our listening nightly to someone’s IPOD our chief forms of entertainment. We did get quite creative though; “Cool Runnings” competitions (diving on sleeping bags down the hall) and games of real life “Cluedo” ensured that there was never a dull moment in Barva Country. Tom’s cooking also ensured we were never far away from a gourmet plate!

We had a wonderful time and left Barva knowing that we had made a difference to the Environment of Costa Rica.

New Allocations Alpha 4: Katalina Carrasco, Katie Gunn, Neil Hardman, Harriet Ingle, James Jackson-Stops, Amanda James, John Lee, Andrea Montenegro , Laura Mowat, Henry Smart, Berny Zuniga. Project Managers: Ben Brophy & Rebecca Lennox

Alpha 5: Piedras Blancas

PM’s: Mark & Danielle
Participants: Katie Dick, Marlon Talevera, Rosalie Kersey, Ashley Ward, Michael Davies , James Eaves, Phoebe Hammond, Tomas Eblett, Alexander Ash, David Masters
Written by: David Masters

The vast and stunning Piedras Blancas National Park, located in South West of Costa Rica, has been hit with widespread poaching of rare plants and wildlife. Our task was to build a new Ranger Station and lookout, which will further extend the Rangers presence in the area and provide greater mobility for combating this problem.

Our journey into the park encompassed a steep decent, a short trek through the heavy jungle and a nervous drift across snake and crocodile inhabited waters to find our eventual home!

Our home (a field) was sited, planned, constructed (we are pro’s at building jungle bashas), and all bashas were personalised (pimped up!). All was well achieved but the gods intervened as our camp was flooded after a major storm and then a pack of greedy pigs stole all of our food and tried to eat our cleaning materials.

Each morning the camp was greeted with a cool mist settling at the base of palm trees. Within a matter of hours the temperature soared slowing work progress. Breaks became essential, providing us plenty of opportunity to take in the parks breathtaking landscapes and wildlife and also the chance to steal a quick “siesta”.

At night the jungle came alive with howler monkeys, cicadas and bats leading a chorus, which continued well into the early hours of the morning. The clear skies engrossed stargazers and jungle bashas provided a surprisingly comfortable haven to retreat and recharge for the hard work of the next day!

The construction of the station is well underway with foundations being laid and the basic structure of the ground floor in place. Materials needed for further development have been transported to the work site and trenches have been dug as a basis for the water purification system.

New Allocations - Alpha 5
Nick Anderdon, James Clark, Luke Eastman, Anna Goudsmith, Katherine Gray, Nicholas Harris, Benjamin Irvine, Rebecca Jary, Tom Martin, Alex Robb, Anna Williamson. Project Managers: Mark Barnard & Sara Grinstead

Alpha 6: Playa Hermosa

PM’s: Sarah & Rachel
Participants: Simon Marshall, Rachel Bennett, Robert Bennett, Edmund Chadwick, Pablo Morag, Rebecca Collingwood, Will Bowlby , Hayley Myers, Caroline Kingston, Maynoris Lopez, Roberto Miranda, Danielle Tyler
Written by Sarah Watkins Project Manager

Playa Hermosa is a place of startling contrasts. Visually beguiling it stuns you with its sunsets, its shores, but then sears the small of your back if you dare to stop and admire.

The heat by turns, both invigorates and debilitates. Although there are times when you suspect that one more swing of the sledge will topple you rather than the building in front, there are others when the sun seems to act as a giant battery, energising and fuelling your efforts.

It is difficult to sum up the scope and variety of this place in just a few words, or indeed to convey what it means to be given the chance to live and work here.

I will settle for a selection of the memories that have embedded themselves the most: porridge at dawn in the coconut leaf shelter; sweat streaked t-shirts and blister bound hands; collective adrenalin surges at the dusty collapse of another wall; beach cricket against a backdrop of a musk rose sky; piles of discarded tools and spent limps stretched prone at parched water-breaks; campfire camaraderie with truth or dare and that beachfront birthday; the gentle sand spray of a digging turtle; Pinto the dog on another mission; exhaustion; satisfaction.

Alpha 6 - Hayley Myers & Rebecca Collingwood

Playa Hermosa can only be described as a place of pure natural beauty. The view from our volunteer house overlooking the beach was amazing. Each morning a new day greeted us with a long sandy beach and strong thumping waves.

Our main priority at Playa Hermosa was to begin the demolition of five buildings with the Rangers of SINAC always there to land a hand. We also cleared the land to make way for a shower & toilet block to attract camper and surfer tourists, which will raise vital money for MINAE so they can continue to complete quality environmental projects in Costa Rica.

During Phase 1, we successfully demolished the five buildings in a week and began work on repairing beach huts and clearing the beach of natural and unnatural waste.

To cool off after a hard mornings work, we escaped to the warm but refreshing ocean, swum and caught waves, enjoyed our daily siesta, made some jewellery from the many shells collected from the beach, or caught some time to do some artwork or writing before returning to work in the afternoon.

When we finished work for the day the aches and pains of the hard labour of sledge hammering and moving rubble were forgotten as we experienced day after day magical sunsets.

During those sunsets we all focussed on all we had achieved that day & enjoyed time with our new friends playing a game of cricket or rounders before settling in for dinner and our evening games or chats.

One night we were lucky to see a glimpse of an Oliver Ridly turtle (such a surprise as the season had finished), this beautiful and endangered turtle only breeds in three places in the Pacific Ocean making it such a special and unique experience.

New Allocations Alpha 6: Helen Adlam, Andrew Bell, Benjamin Butcher, Sam Coleman, Joseph Cowles, Jenny Ellam Claire Hall, Florence Heathcoat-Amory, Victoria Hirst, Charles Nicholas, Alex Solomon,Max Maclean. Project Managers Sarah Watkins & Ivan McDougall

Alpha 7: Achuapa, Nicaragua

PM’s: Sara, Ivan & Mel(Interpreter)
Participants: Nick Anderdon, John Lee, Sarah Mahon, Dan Williams, Sam McArthur, Jenny Smerald, Victoria Hirst , Benjamin Irvine, Katherine Gray, Tom Phillips, Katie Gunn
Written by: Vicky Hurst, Katie Gray, John Lee

Living in Monte Frio a remote community in the Achuapa area in the North of Nicaragua for three weeks was a rewarding, and challenging experience

In Phase 1 we began the work to provide the villagers of Monte Frio with fresh drinking water directly to their houses. Previously the only way for the villagers’ to obtain drinking water was to lug buckets to and from the village wells and rivers, which are not particularly, clean.

During our stay we worked at two sites (two different wells for different parts of the community). In both cases the water sources were several Km’s from the village itself ensuring our morning 3km “commute” to work filled with viewing some spectacular scenery, catching up with village gossip and looking at the many animals (cows, pigs, chickens etc) that were grazing.

Our daily work consisted of the digging and pick axing a 30cm deep continuous trench using (and breaking) only simple tools of pick axes and shovels. It was very monotonous and hard work but we kept our selves entertained by telling jokes and enjoying conversation with many community members who also came out to help with the work.

Digging trenches was predominantly a test of attrition with large rocks and roots proving stubborn obstacles. Prising out an awkward rock is satisfying in the same way as squeezing a really bit spot!!

At the end of Phase I we completed digging of about 3000 metres of trenches and layed pipes to connect the first five homes with water for the first time. The joy of the villagers faces, the children, and the snorting pet “pigs” when water came flowing by hose direct was a truly unforgettable experience that we will never forget and made all of the hard work in the blazing heat absolutely worth it.

It was not all work… we had many other highlights including, eating Iguana, resisting the very persistent efforts of the villagers to marry us off, getting to know the long drops and their resident insects, becoming accustomed to the communal spitting habit, learning how to make tortillas, experiencing a Nicaraguan church service, our daily swims in the river to cool off and do our washing, and last but not least having the most amazing experience living and feeling like family in such a close knit community.

When we left the Monte Frio community it was with a feeling of mutual friendship and gratitude and we will take with us memories we will never forget.

New Allocations Alpha 7: Will Bowlby, Amy Cocker, Emma Davidson, Katie Dick, Oscar Flores, Andrew ForrestAmelia Griffiths , Phoebe Hammond, Thomas Hoving, Alex Jaggard, Rosalie Kersey, Marlon Talevera. Project Managers: Mel Evans & Ling Harrison

Alpha 8: Miraflor, Nicaragua

PM’s: Becky & Kate (interpreter)
Participants: William McLeman, Laura Mowat, Dominic Kane, Tom Martin, Anna Williamson, Jenny Ellam , Charles Nicholas, Rachel Smith, Andrea Montenegro, Morwenna White-Thomson
Written by: Tom Martin

The community of El Quebracho a remote community in the Miraflor reserve in Northern Nicaragua outside Esteli, was the home of one of our two projects in Nicaragua. The reserve is filled with many different ecosystems such as tropical savannah, dry tropical forest and mountain cloud forests.

We came to create a buildings of dry stonewalls and cold corrugated iron which will be used as a schools and community centres.

it quickly became clear that our time in Nicaragua was going to be much richer than that. Our memory of El Quebracho will be of a warm, open village that accepted a society different to their own. This juxtaposition of cultures has been our project, a culture that taught us to think less and feel more.

There is an intensity of spirit in Nicaragua that defies its troubled history. A guiding hand on the building site or the fluid movement of the community members in dance belies a perception of themselves and those around them that is clearer than anything we had seen before.

We learnt how to make cement out of very simple ingredients, carried water, layed bricks, and saw our community centre take shape as a result of our and the communities efforts. We relaxed with our families in the afternoons, took time to write and enjoy the spectacular sunsets before taking in our daily grub of beans and rice!

We were also treated to a wonderful community celebration put on for Morweena’s birthday, which we mixed with many locals from the Miraflor reserve, enjoyed some local food specialities cooked in clay ovens and enjoyed listening to the sound of a strummed guitar whilst we all danced together, such amazing simple pleasures!

We also had the opportunity to receive a guided tour of the Miraflor reserve which is filled with spectacular old growth trees, leaf cutter ants, tropical plants, orchids, coffee and bananas all of which are experiments by Miraflor to combine different types of farming in the same area. This outing culminating in a visit to an amazing waterfall and we enjoyed relaxing in the sun, washing our dirty bodies and clothes, looking at the Blue Morpho butterflies fluttering by!

After we left Miraflor the community will give our project life and we that worked on it will be lucky to take some of that life with us.

New Allocations Alpha 8: Yairo Arosteguis, Fred Burgess, Natasha Friend, Edwin Jimenez, Caroline Kingston James Lethbridge, Maynoris Lopez, David Masters, Hayley Myers, Danielle Tyler Project Managers: Kathryn Cruse & Rachael Retter

Alpha 9: Conte Burika

PM’s: Alice, Chris (Medic) & Hayley (Interpreter)
Participants: Amanda James, Rebecca Jary, Alexander Lewis, Ben Hockridge, Ed Le Gallais, Lucy Wright, Claire Hall, Alex Solomon, Jonathan Morales, Eduardo Funes
Written by: Claire Hall

The people of Carona consist of approximately 10 families who are members of the Guaymi tribe, an indigenous group living in the remote Burika peninsula on the South West Coast of Costa Rica hugging the Panamanian border. Raleigh’s task was to build a multi purpose facility, which can be used by the community.

This need for this centre was established by the community leader Khanaki Caballero and it will be used for a central community meeting place, a place where mobile visiting doctors can see patients and for other community needs such hosting organizations such as Raleigh to visit and learn the culture of the community.

Due to the remoteness of the village a 20km walk along the beach along a stunning coastline from Banco was required to reach the village. Our first major challenge dawned when the rising tide separated the group, ensuing a long 5-hour wait for the tide to change was had in the blazing sun!

After 15 days of hard work, we successfully completed the first stage of construction, having collected approximately 250 posts with many locals chipping in and lending a hand. Having cleared the site area the posts were then carefully measured, cut and placed in the ground to form the foundations of the building.

The community was generous and very hospitable gracefully receiving us lodging us in one of their homes.

In our free time, we were also given so many opportunities to see the stunning surroundings of Conte Burika and also took in awesome days out at the beach.

Our time in Conte Burika ended on a real high as we joined the community for a night of dance and a chance for us to express our immense gratitude for the most amazing time of our lives.

New Allocations Alpha 9: Victoria Ager, Jonathan Bath, Sholto Bonham, Alyssa Di Oto, Ben Hession, Enaudi Hurtado, Kayleigh Moy, Bridie Milner, Freija Ommeren, Sam Pickering, Elvis Pitar. Project Managers Helen Barclay, Andrew Rugeroni & Christine Morris


Until next update which will be around the 29th of March
Hasta Luego

Bella

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Photos

Welocme Explorers
Introducing our new arrivals - (Ann & Georgie missing from Photo!)
Photo by Jo Morrison

Alpha 1 - Group Shot
Our first nights accommodation
Photo by Jo Morrison

Alpha 2 - Enjoying the Beach
Victoria, Ameila and Flo arriving enjoying the beach after 17 days walking!
Photo by Jo Morrison

Alpha 2-Team Shot
Team Shot en route
Photo by Jo Morrison

Alpha 2 - Butterfly
A butterfly captured out with Alpha 2
Photo by Bella Zanesco

Alpha 2 - Suspension Bridge
Andy Crossing one of the many suspension bridges

Alpha 3 - Brewing Sky at Sunset
A brewing sunset at Jardin, mid way through the Trek.
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 3 Group photo at the beach
Lots of Happy Faces
Photo by: Jo Morrison

Alpha 4 - Working Hard on the Trails
Laying out the steps up to the Mirador

Alpha 4 Group Photo in the Forest
Lots of Happy Faces
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 5 - Group Shot
Pile Up!
Photo by Jo Morrison

Alpha 5 - Accommodation
Bashas Pimped!
Photo by: Jo Morrison

Alpha 6 - Running
Enjoying a Splash on Sunset
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 6 - team shot
Relaxing at the House
Photo by: Jo Morrison

Alpha 6 - Sun Worshipping
Another sunset in Playa Hermosa
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 7 - Local Transport in Achuapa
Outside the Cooperative Fransicso Paz Silva
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 7 - Team Photo
Taken at one of the well sites
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 7 - Receiving Water for the First Time
A local child enjoying having water to their house for the first time
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 8 - Enjoying a Wash
Waterfall in Miraflor was their shower!
Photo by: Bella Zanesco

Alpha 8 - Bricklayers
Jenny Ellam working with one of the locals
Photo by: Bella Zaneco

Alpha 9 - Group Shot
At the building site
Photo by Jo Morrison

Alpha 9 - Local Girls
Local Girls in Conte Burika
Photo: Jo Morrison

Comments

[Lydia and Brian]

Hello Alpha8 and William
Hello Alpha8 and William Lovely to read your latest blog. Looks like you are having a wonderful time. William, are you looking forward to mince and tatties? Love from Lydia and Brian

[eilyn]

all da best amanda!!
yo amanda!! still surviving out there? looks like everyone is having a blast! costa-rica here i come in 3 yrs time! take good care! huggs

[Faye Wrate]

So Proud
My dearest sis - we are so proud of what you are achieving as interpreter for Raleigh - it sounds so exciting and a real life changing experience. I know you're having a fabulous time and I'm sure both the locals and the participants appreciate and love you as much as we do xx Well done

[MUM]

kAYLEIGH MOY
Hi Kayleigh, hope your having loads off fun. I think next time i will go with you..... Keep having fun love mum xxxx

[Melissa Wood]

Willie Mc =]
lovin' the blogs! just incase you get back to base before your letters arrive, i havent forgotten about you, they are on the way! Danny boy misses you, he wants a letter too! Snowing over here, make sure you've got your thermals on for arrival back home! Catch ya in the funnys, mel xxxx

[Chris Eblett]

Hi Tom!
See you are fully immersed in Jungle life and meeting all the local inhabitants (including animals) as well as performing balancing stunts (notice you're on the top!) have a happy birthday on the 1st April -it will be a bit different this year for all of us. Miss you -lots of love and hugs -mumxxx

[The Lethbridges]

No more Beans
Really interested to read all about what you are doing. Seen photos of you on Dragon Trek you look well even if your feet dont! Phase two sounds good, your starting structural engineering already a project it sounds as if you wont forget in a hurry. Dont worry there will be no beans on the menu when you return. Love you lots, from us all.

[Lesley & Ian Maclean]

Hi Max - have a safe onward journey
We're delighted that you've had a great time in Playa Hermosa and even more pleased that the new piercing is healing! They rang tonight to ask if you could leave a day early to party in San Jose before you fly out. I seriously contemplated saying no - just for the fun of imagining your reaction - but decided that after an abstemious few weeks you deserve a beer or two! Even if you have a humungous hangover, do get to the airport on time (and try and reconfirm your flight the day before). I've just checked the weather in La Paz online and it's between 4 and 8 degrees so hope you've got a sweater! Please do call to tell us you've arrived safely and where you're staying. Less than two weeks now til we meet up in Oz and a few weeks of (comparative) luxury. Love you and miss you but have a fab time in Bolivia, Mum, Dad and the pesky Flipper! xxx

[Alison and Darrell]

Helen Adlam Alpha 6
Thinking of you from Bequia - you don't seem so far away from here. Hope phase II went well and you witnessed some great sunsets from the beach. Missing you lots and looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks. Love you Mum and Darrell.

[Luis Moraga]

We are almost ready to go
Hi Pablo, Hope the Nicaragua leg of the trip is as exciting and rewarding as Costa Rica. Danny and I are almost ready to go: this weekend we are checking the last bits to purchase. All the vaccinations are organised and we look forward to meeting you at the end of the month. Danny wants to do the same trip as you in the near future! We have not seen you piece on the blog (there has been no update - you should give Bella a gentle reminder!). Luis.

[Kristen Cherrie]

Go for it Big Yun!!!
Hello Ash, how you doing. I've told Angela and Andrew about this site and they've been really glad to get your letters. Wow this trip sounds Amazing. You'll come back a different man. Well hopefully the same crazy Irishman lol. Your doing things and seeing things you'll remember for the rest of your life. Weel done!! Be well and come back soon. Kristen (can't wait to hear about it all)

[David Allan]

Tommy Boy
Ahoy there tommy boy sounds like u are havin a great trip, luvin the photo of u on top of that pyramid. i feel sorry for the poor bugger benieth. im back in pont at the mo for easter, has been weird playing footy n pubin without u here. neways my chumlin, keep busy n get urself a girl, some of the birds in the photos look fit! in a bit Dave

[Brenda Grinstead]

Hello Sara,
Great to read about your adventures. Hope you are enjoying phase three and looking forward to seeing you soon.