Playas, parrots, and nearly Panama

Last Monday I got back to field base after a week on the road visiting two trek groups and one community project in the South of Costa Rica. Although only a short trip, it has included some of my best experiences yet; moments that I hope never to forget.

After setting off from Turrialba with Pedro and Holly, and pausing for a traditional gallo pinto breakfast, our first destination was La Amistad International Park to meet up with the Corcovado trek group. La Amistad is a large transboundary protected area, crossing the border between Costa Rica and Panama. It is the largest nature reserve in Central America and management of the park is shared between the two countries. The trek group walk through a small section of the park on the Costa Rican side and were staying for a night at one of the ranger stations, which was our meeting point. After a comfortable night, we left the group with their next few days' supply of food, and set off on a long drive towards Corcovado National Park to leave their following 3 food drops at various places along the way.

refreshment stop on the way to La Amistad

The drive down to the Osa Peninsula was stunning - beautiful jungle, lush green hills, blue sea and palm tree lined beaches. The real treat however came at our final stop in Carate. Driving through jungle and across rivers, we pulled up to a small house backed by thick forest and fronted by palm trees and a long, deserted sandy beach. I was feeling so envious of the trek group who would be arriving here towards the end of their trek and getting to spend more time exploring this area.

View to the left...

...view to the right...

With the windows down breathing in the sea air on our approach, as well as hearing the sound of crashing waves, we could here a loud screeching sound coming from the trees above. My jaw dropped when I located the source of the screeching and spotted flashes of red amongst the green leaves, and realised there were about 4 pairs of scarlet macaws in the surrounding foliage. It really was an incredible sight, this beautiful beach in one direction, jungle in the other, and large bright red parrots with blue and yellow wings above.

...view above

After spending a while soaking it all up here, we had to tear ourselves away to drive the hour and a half back to Puerto Jiminez, on the other side of the Osa Peninsula, where we were staying for the night. The following day we were in for yet more beautiful beach views on the drive to Punta Banco in the far south of Costa Rica. This was the starting point for our journey into Conte Burika, an indigenous territory adjacent to the Panama border, home of the Guaymí indigenous population, and the location of our most remote project group which is building a health post in the village of La Corona. This journey was something I had been hoping to undertake since I first heard about the project - inaccessible by road, La Corona can only be reached by trekking in from Panama through the jungle, or from Costa Rica by walking 20km along a stretch of coast.

We were taking the Costa Rica option. Initially the plan was to be accompanying the British Ambassador on the walk, who was meant to be visiting the project, and for this reason we had arranged a horse to help carry luggage. As it turned out, the Ambassador was offered a ride in a helicopter courtesy of the Costa Rican government (which then at the last minute broke down, so they didn't end up visiting - a real disappointment for the team and village who had spent a long time preparing presentations and celebrations). The upshot for us was a spare horse which could carry our bags, something I was extremely grateful for, particularly for the final 3km of the walk which climbs steeply uphill away from the beach. 

Aside from the distance and the heat, the other challenge of the walk is the tides. The walk has to be carefully timed to avoid hight tide, and given the length of beach to cover, there's quite a time pressure to keep going to reach the refuge of higher ground. With a low tide time of 5.30am, our morning began at 2.30am so we could be on the beach walking by 3. Despite walking in the dark, it didn't take long for the sweat to start dripping in the humidity and lack of breeze. I was surprised that even nearing low tide time we were still so close to the waters edge, at times having to work out when we could pick our path from rock to rock around a headland to avoid being soaked up to the knees - quite an experience with only a head torch to see the way. An hour or so into the walk, the clouds started to dissipate and the stars came out. On the flatter sections of sandy beach turning our torches off and being able to see only the white of breaking waves, silhouetted palm trees high on the cliff with stars behind, was unforgettable.

Rising tide

The final hill was the sting in the tail of the walk, and we were all glad the day was quite overcast to avoid even more heat from the sun. It took about 45 minutes to scramble to the top and we were very relieved when the ground started to flatten out. Signs of habitation soon started to appear, and we felt a world away from the one we'd left in Punta Banco. 

We got a friendly reception from the village and the zulu 9 team, and were impressed by the progress with construction of the health post. Doctors visit La Corona 6 times a year, and currently have nowhere suitable to hold their clinics. Usually the school is used, meaning no classes can take place during this time, and space is very limited. Construction of the health post is providing a purpose built space for consultation and treatment. 

Liz with a local family and friends outside the new building

The team taking a break from building work

Sadly we only had this one day to spend with the group in La Corona, having another 2.30am start the next day for the walk back. We left Holly the artist here, who is staying for the rest of the phase to complete a mural on the new building, and picked up Liz the photographer who joined me and Pedro for the remainder of the road trip. The walk back followed much the same format as the walk in, aside from sliding most of the first section down the steep slope on my derrière - much easier than walking.

The reward for all this physical exertion was a good one - possibly the best pizza I have ever eaten (hearing the legends of the Banco pizza from other Raleigh staff I was worried it wouldn't live up to its reputation. Thankfully it did, and it was amazing).

yes, I did have 4 different toppings...

After a bit of time for digestion, we hit the road again to start the journey up to La Laguna to meet the Turrisantos trek group. Our overnight stop on the way up there was very welcome, having been sleep deprived and physically exhausted for the previous few days, we were all glad of soft beds and time to get a solid 12 hours sleep.

The drive to La Laguna was another beautiful one, with green rolling hills and mountains and spectacular views. We met the group at a lovely camp site and enjoyed the rest of the day with them hearing about the ups and downs of their trek so far. Later in the evening while getting the key for one of the buildings where we left a food drop for the Coast to Coast trek, Pedro and I were invited in for coffee by the family who look after the site. It was a lovely experience chatting (and managing to understand quite a lot of Spanish)  and learning about their life and what had brought them here having emigrated from Nicaragua. That was followed by trying to attempt to get to sleep in the tent and regretting drinking a large mug of coffee.

At first light the next day we were back on the road for the final journey to Turrialba. This is where I am for the rest of the phase, trying to get as much work done as possible and preparing for final celebrations before everyone comes back for the last few days at field base. Most of us can't quite believe how quickly the expedition has gone and that the final phase is nearly over. I can't believe that this means my 11 month career break is nearly at an end - definitely motivation to make the most of my final few weeks before returning to reality.

10 days later

10 days and 2000 kilometres later we're back at field base, after a fantastic road trip to see three community projects in Nicaragua and one environmental project in Costa Rica.

San Juan del Sur

San Juan del Sur

After my last post in the very chilled out San Juan del Sur (where, FYI, there is probably the best ice cream in Central America) the road got a bit dustier as we headed north to the village of Siares, San Ramon, where  the team are building a pre-school for the community. The volunteers are hosted by local families and we were delighted on arrival to find that they had arranged a homestay for us for our two nights here - much more tempting than pitching the tent.

Siares

The new pre-school taking shape

Our family were incredibly welcoming and Holly and I soon felt at home, getting to know a few of the 10, soon to be 11 members of the household, including gorgeous 14 month old Alicia, whose mother is expecting a baby in a weeks time. Needless to say with this many people in a 3 room dwelling, privacy wasn't high on the agenda, but we were comfortable, and pleased to have had an early night when the cockerels, wood chopping and tortilla bashing began in the adjacent kitchen at around 4am. Breakfast was on a general Nicaraguan theme of rice and beans, accompanied by incredibly good coffee, served traditionally black and sugary, and the company of a family of chickens wondering through the house across the mud floor. The San Ramon area is in a coffee producing region, and the dad of the household proudly told me about working in the local coffee cooperative, producing allegedly the best coffee in the world.

Holly outside our homestay

After a relaxed day with the group on their day off from project work, we were on the road again, on our way to the community of Arenilla in the Miraflor reserve. The journey into the community can only be done in 4x4, on foot or on horseback - thankfully we were in trusty Bravo 3 and navigated safely down the steep and rocky track, to be greeted by muddy, smiling venturers and a stunning view across the valley. The project here is sustainable housing, making adobe bricks from mud and 'old man's beard' which grows in abundance on surrounding trees, constructing new houses for families whose former dwellings had suffered severe hurricane damage. It was fantastic to spend a day in the sun surrounded by beautiful views, getting stuck into the project work (both literally and figuratively, there was a lot of sticky mud involved) and although we slept at the community centre, we had fantastic food at David the community leader's house.

Market in Estelí on the way to Miraflor

The next stop on our road trip was the small and remote village of Matapalo, Achuapa. A few hours drive from Miraflor, there was a stark contrast here in temperature and landscape. Getting out of the car after driving for 45 minutes down a narrow track (again only accessible by 4x4, horse or walking) we were hit with a wall of intense heat, which only felt hotter as we walked the 20 or so minutes into Matapalo. The saving grace for the heat of this project location is a beautiful river, providing daily relief and rejuvenation to the volunteers who are sweating it out each day digging trenches to construct a gravity feed water system. Previously the residents of Matapalo had to walk some distance to collect water, but thanks to this project houses now have a direct supply of clean spring water. It was incredible to see this change happening on the ground, arriving at a stage of the final pipes being installed, tank cemented and the anticipation of taps being connected to a water supply. Since visiting, the project has been completed and Antonio one of the Project Managers has been telling us of the emotional scenes of the beneficiaries at the moment of the final connections of the pipework - an introduction of a basic technology that could be life-changing for the community. Here again we stayed with a family, and could see for ourselves how beneficial a direct water supply to the house could be. There is more about the project and its benefits, with particular regards to improving lives of women, on the Raleigh CRN blog.

Onwards from Achuapa we were back to San Juan del Sur one last time, via Leon, to break the long journey back into Costa Rica. 

Leon

Our next and final destination was the beautiful Cabo Blanco reserve near Puntarenas. Cabo Blanco is on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula and was the first protected area in Costa Rica. It is a haven for wildlife and surrounded by a gorgeous coastline; we were stunned on arrival and immediately fell in love with the area, and felt quite envious of the project groups getting to live here for 19 days at a time. We had some close encounters with howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, pizotes, raccoons  an anteater (which I was particularly excited about, though sad not to get a photo - I wasn't prepared for this sighting to be on my way to the toilet!), and to add to this amongst other things the group have had some rather sizeable snakes around camp. 

This made us slightly apprehensive about sleeping out on a tarp, but we survived our 2 nights and enjoyed a day exploring the surrounding beaches and jungle trails, including the path being built by the project group. When the park was set up initially it was completely off limits to visitors, however more recently certain trails have been opened to allow limited access, to get the benefits of income from tourists and provide an educational opportunities on interpretive trails. The path Raleigh are working on will allow easier access for those with limited mobility to explore part of the reserve and learn about the native flora and fauna.

We were sad to leave this beautiful corner of Costa Rica and see the road trip come to an end, though it can't be denied we were looking forward to some of the relative comforts back at field base. It was a fantastic 10 days, putting into context the projects I have been following the progress of over the last month, and giving motivation to the purpose of my role at field base, coming away feeling very humbled and inspired about the communities and partners we work with and what can be achieved by volunteers.

Now it's changeover again and the crowds are back at base. The next and final phase is not far off and I'm looking forward to whatever adventure it holds.