Ruth Carr

Raleigh Roadtrip Realities

So the word "roadtrip", it has a certain glamour don't you think?  Coasting along in the Land rover, window down, tunes on the radio, have a day somewhere new catching up on news and gossip and then riding out of town in a flurry of fond farewells and good wishes. 

Well it wasn't exactly like that...

We started out in blue skies and a clear road and had an overnight stop at a beach resort - so far, so peachy.  From then on things got a bit more "challenging". 

The thing with the communities that Raleigh helps is that they tend to be remote.  Very remote.  A "drive off road for two hours, abandon the Land rover and then walk for two hours up hill and down dale" kind of remote. 

And it's the rainy season so there is a torrential downpour every afternoon, starting at about the time we parked the car. Everything gets very wet (and very smelly) and there isn't an opportunity to dry anything out - for two weeks. 

And then there is the work that needs to be done when you get there - if there is trench digging to be done then you need to get stuck in too. 

It's been two weeks of physical graft, sodden socks and great fun.  The venturers did love the chocolate cake and the messages from home and it was great to see them all again.

So when there is a chance of another roadtrip I'll be first to sign up for that too...but I might take some wellies next time.

Roadtrip team - posed picture but real sweat

On the road

I'm here working for Raleigh as a communications officer, which means I'm responsible for writing up the blog, the expedition magazine and producing the team t-shirt amongst other things.  If you haven't seen it already the Raleigh blog is here.

This is one of the most rewarding communications roles I've ever had for the sheer immediacy of the response.  I can post a blog entry and within the hour I have comments from friends and family.  Someone commenting that their sister suits their new Raleigh t-shirt or wondering if that is indeed their offspring doing the washing-up.  It feels like a real conversation, which is something that marketers often strive for but rarely achieve.

The other great thing about this job is that you are encouraged to visit all of the Raleigh projects.  So from tomorrow I'm visiting the Costa Rican Coast-to-Coast Trekkers, the Miratombo Trekkers and the community projects in Achuapa, Nicaragua.  I turn up in a Land Rover with messages from home and chocolate cake.  I'm looking forward to the adulation: let's face it, I'm going to be popular and everyone loves to be loved!

Looking for "brownie" points

I'll still try and keep this blog updated with posts and tweets, but if wireless connection is a challenge there may be radio silence for a week or two - but I should have lots to talk about when I get back.

 



Communal living

Since I came to Costa Rica a month ago I have shared by bedroom with:

1. 5 other volunteer managers
2. Then 11 other volunteer managers
3. Then 11 other volunteer managers and 57 venturers (age 17-24) camping in the next door field
4. Now only 3 other volunteer managers
5. Cockroaches. They're orange, which is a surprise, and about an inch and a half long. I found one nestled between the wet wipes and the cotton wool looking quite cosy.
6. Little bitey ants which are really painful
7. Bigger but not so bitey ants which look much worse than the little ones but aren't
8. A bat
9. A tarantula, although not a big one it was definitely furry

None of it has really bothered me at all, although I have to say I wouldn't be too keen to find any of the above in my bedroom at home.  They do say travel broadens the mind...

Communal living

Beanfeast!

Raleigh believes in living sustainably - so at Fieldbase we try and walk the talk by repairing, reusing and recycling everything we can.  There is a biogas unit installed to convert organic waste into energy.

As part of this sustainable initiative meat is only served up once a week, which as a vegetarian suits me down to the ground (although there have been mutterings about bacon sandwiches from other members of the team). The food staple here is definitely beans - and I'm not talking the kind that have been put in a tin by Mr Heinz.  There is some joke in there about the beans in our diets and having our own, personal biogas units - but I'm not going to elaborate.

Whilst we have everyone here, project managers and now the venturers, Araceli cooks for us.  She often makes a traditional Costa Rican dish of gallo pinto and guess what, it's bean based...

beanz meanz beanz

Fieldbase is my world

Our photographer Joss is playing around with cool concepts for the cover of our Expedition magazine and I stood in to help out.  

Raleigh Fieldbase is my new world for the next 3 months.  Welcome to my world!