Welcome to the official blog for Raleigh India 12I | July - August 2012



Welcome to the Official Blog for Raleigh India 12J September - December 2012.



Monday 6 April 2009

Dressing up, treasure hunts, and Royalty...

Hello guys. It’s Monday blog time again, and once again it is I, Admin Lucy, standing in for PRO Peta. I’m not going to call her ‘blog boss’, as she likes it too much.

We have another special treat for you today in the form of a guest blog from Tom de Wilton. Tom spent the last phase repairing elephant fences at Anaikatty, and I’d like to thank Tom for writing a few words to help us understand what it was like living in Bamboo City.

Before we get to that, however, I have a roundup of news from the other alpha groups:

In alpha 1, we hear that romance is in the air on the trek: Charlie and Esmee are sickening everyone by being all loved up. That’s even despite the lack of washing facilities. What’s more, DPM Dani, who walked the first five days of the trek, has reputedly been sharing a sleeping bag with Leanne. Dani reports that the trekkers are doing really well. They submitted South India’s second highest peak in record time on 1 April and so far have yet to experience any rain.

Alpha 2 are well on schedule with the 15 eco-sanitation units planned for this phase. They spent a pleasant day off on Saturday at the Golden Temple, and had a Disney-themed fancy dress party on Sunday evening. Rumour has it that resident Liverpudlian PM Joey went as Pinocchio and that our very own PRO was present as Simba. Hopefully we’ll have some pictures from that to share with you very soon.

You have already heard that Alpha 3 have settled fully into their camp at the new project site in Kanive Mallapanna, and that they have devised a revolutionary ‘rice bag buffet’ for lunch (in which Pete Doherty advises hungry venturers that masala rice ‘could be magic’ whilst Gandhi feels that tomato rice ‘is our destiny’). The breaking news is that alpha 3 have respectfully christened their PMs Queenie Andrew and Princess Jenny. It sounds like the atmosphere at the new alpha 3 is great, and this is reflected in the speed at which they are building their anti-poaching camp. They have already finished the foundations and the brickwork, and are fast moving onto plastering.

The team at Alpha 4 are continuing to repair their section of the elephant fence. I have every confidence that they will complete it, even if one of their PMs is a little distracted: PM Neil has reputedly been digging up the Alpha 4 tepee in search of a prize in an elaborate treasure hunt devised for him by the venturers. Hopefully he will stop before he reaches Australia...

Finally, the news from here at FB is that bravo 3 has had a pooja held in its honour to bless it after its repair work (right: driver 60/60, left, helping out the pooja). And, sadly, the little owlets have left us for good – they flew off with their mother during changeover and have not been seen again. I am considering getting some chickens to ease my owl-withdrawal symptoms (those who know me well are aware that I have a soft spot for birds, and have already commented that the blog becomes a little more bird-focussed every time I’m let loose on it.)

With no more delay, over to Tom’s blog:

The creative spontaneity of Alpha Four

Looking back, I realize that it was not just the project of repairing the elephant-proof fences that made our time in Alpha 4 (Anaikatty) so memorable, it was also the huge creative spirit that spring from such an inspiring situation. Alongside the environmental work, a big focus fell upon the challenge of turning our isolated campsite into a home for 19 days.


(PM Neil, Ed and Tom)


I believe it was a challenge we responded to with outstretched arms.

Awakening to a glorious sunrise surrounded by the sublime and ever-present Nilgiri mountain range was enough to inspire creativity in all senses of the word; both in the physical realization of artistic projects, and also the more abstract utilization of creative ideas, acting and spirit.

Our PMs were fantastic at encouraging us to develop the camp; during an afternoon chai brake it was suggested a tepee could be a valuable addition to our affectionately-named “Bamboo City”. Within an hour, the majestic structure towered above our bashas where its incense and smoke-shrouded interior became the favourite place for sheltering from downpours, evening group reviews and late night wooden-spoon carving.

The treehouse was an idea conceived on our first morning whilst digging a slops pit. Situated in the Tamanin tree overlooking the camp, watching the sunset from the bamboo platform with a cup of tea and packet of peanut crunch was idyllic.

The infamous “love swing” was the result of a productive camp duty where three members stayed behind to look after, and improve, the camp. After several flawed designs, the three-person seat was able to swing freely, and when adorned with freshly-picked flowers blossoming friendships were inevitable.

Other creations which made the camp included:

- A carved sign with “bamboo city” carefully burnt into it (see previous blog entry!)

- Two stone chairs from which to admire the surrounding scenery

- A pillow made from an old pair of boxer-shorts and cotton pods

- An 18ft flag pole with Gerald, the big purple Raleigh elephant flying at the top

- The bashas themselves, reminiscent of a fleet of sail ships with their mosquito nets flapping in the wind

A more abstract use of the word creativity was applied with delicious effect in the kitchen. Even with dwindling supplies of food, each meal continued to surpass the last. Spare time was another aspect that was creatively filled with games (especially our favourite, Werewolf), and plenty of songs.

Thousands of photographs were taken during a fancy-dress night when people were giving characters of a pair to dress as, then had the challenge of finding their pair.

During Alpha 4, I rediscovered a creative side of myself I thought I’d lost. It was a fantastic 19 days that has typified my Raleigh experience so far, as an eclectic mixing pot of cultures, people and creative spirit.

Tom de Wilton

27 comments:

  1. Emily (Caz's little sister)6 April 2009 at 13:56

    Hey Caz,

    Hope you're keeping well and happy... We were thinking of you so much yesterday at Dad's 60th birthday... we had a few extra visitors when the oven caught fire... like the fire engine, an ambulance and the police! Jules came into her own (as you can imagine), Tim was quoting you "£600 for every ambulance call-out - £600!" and i doubt very much that Will will ever come to dinner ever again as the last time he came was when we had no electricity at Christmas.

    So yep, same old, same old here!

    Mega love, Emz x x x

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  2. To Matt Alpha 4
    Matt, I see from a letter sent to you from NW that the credit crisis has hit Mysore; I have sorted but when you can ring NW and reverse the charges. A Trunk call maybe! Matt's Mum x

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  3. Essie!!
    Whaha Charlie!!?? De muzikant uit Londen?
    Hoe is/was de Safari?
    Hier alles zijn gangetje, helaas geen sappige roddels..
    Ik heb uiteindelijk gekozen om naar Indiana University te gaan. Het ligt in de mid-east ongeveer 1000 km van NY. Ben nu bezig om me visum en al die shit te regelen. Dan hoop na koninginnendag voor 6/7 weken naar Sevilla te gaan en daarna naar Rosas, waar jij natuurlijk ook moet langskomen!!
    Nog heel veel plezier!
    Groetjes aan Edmee!
    Hele dikke kus Juul

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  4. Lieve Eef,

    H+T weer lekker bruin geworden in Tunesie terwijl ik het hier moet doen met de eerste zonnestralen op het terras en dak naast buurman klus..
    Ik heb ook een nieuwe baan in het ziekenhuis! dus alles loopt hier op rolletjes. Hoe gaat het bij jullie? eindelijk aan de trektocht begonnen? Lijkt me super mooi. Het is wel een dagtaak om alle verhalen te lezen, maar ja alles is beter dan de UB..
    Wij genieten hier van de laatste maanden in ons huis. Nog een 2 maanden en dan ben je weer thuis, dus heel veel plezier!
    kus je zus

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  5. Hi Ricardo,
    Hows it going,? all good i hope. Glad to hear u got washing done at laundry...lol looking forward to your arrival cant wait to see you.

    Hows rest of crew from hackney do u see them or not. dad ses hi and again orient won..dad ses next home match u both go to see it ..hope u coping good with electric fenceing...no hairs standing up i hope lmao...guess that would suit u tho...hehehehe..alls good here working hard as usual. michael off to portugal tuesday and i told him ASHTRAY...lol
    weather has been nice n sunny good for us thanks for doing the sun dance i asked for...it worked...
    welll im off to get me fix of the sun b 4 it goes off...lol

    take care ricardo..love ya loads

    MUMxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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  6. Hey!
    How is everyone!? Seen some pics on the blog, looks like you are having an amazing time!!
    Hows it doing on the last phase! Trekers doing well!! Here you are making record time!
    How is the new project going?
    All the same in England still,not that blistering but i think its getting a little warmer!!
    Im now working trying to regain some money from travels however the pay is pretty shocking
    but, hey ho!!
    Anyway hope the rest of your phases go well and look foreward to hereing how its all gone!

    Annie xxxxx

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  7. hi pop pop!(sophia)
    mum and i thought we'd say a quick hello and fill you in with some news from home! we've just had a lovely weekend (sue oriel and james came to stay). i went to rosi bacon's 21st which was awesome fun, had alex and fred and jess to stay and we all got fearfully pissed in the sitting room after we got back-fun sunday for all! we saw a piccie of george berthon on his travels; he's shaved his head, and the ears are most prominent! some weird news from magnus (whoooo)- his thing in ghana got cancelled! don't know what he's up to now, but we'll try and keep you posted!
    nell's working away, seems she has a lot to do, which means i'm faced with helping mum the gardening-what laughs! fraid i'm not here for easter as have a lot of work, so probs once again not in the good books!
    hope all's well and your not looking too emaciated. sure the bug will clear up soon, and in the meantime, mum's managed to tell the whole of sussex that you know what its like to soil yourself!!! the glamourous gap year...ah.
    take care- probs best to wash the hands thoroughly at the mo!
    all our love, we'll imagine your with us as we have a glass of wine!
    george, nell and mum (jock too and probs dad)
    xxxxxxx

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  8. Hey Leanne, I feel sorry for whoever is sharing a sleeping bag with you :) Well done for getting to South India's highest peak, I'm extremely proud of you. All the kids are good, they were asking for you yesterday, whilst trashing your room. Anthony is missing his tussles with you, he says he's bored and can't wait for you to come home. Aunty Sandra and Charmaine say hi. Apart from that it's business as usual, dad's still moaning about the credit crunch and mum is well.... still moaning about everything :). I've got a new dance to show you - the migraine skank lol. See you soon. Love Michelle.

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  9. Hi Seb
    Hows it going? Fred was in a wheel chair race between the piers on sunday which we went to watch, quite hot and sunny on the beach.Mimi in the process in applying for jobs in London. Nan is off to Maggies for Easter.Left an Easter egg for you. Let us know where you hope to travel to. Don't forget you may have to confirm your flight 72 hours before your return.Enjoy yourself
    lovemx

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  10. Edmee!
    Hoe gaat de trekking!? Ik ben nu in Chili, Valparaiso, aan de kust. Op 1 april zat ik ook hoog in bergen, de grensovergang van Arg en Chi. Laurens heeft zich aan het reisgezelschap toegevoegd, heel gezellig! Ik heb het super naar mn zin! BA en Santiago waren echt leuk, vooral voor het uitgaan. Vanavond gaan we naar La Serena, steeds iets noordelijker, steeds minder mensen maar meer natuur. Heb jij het ook naar je zin? Nog 2 weekjes en dan is het voorbij. Zin om te gaan reizen? Ik kan niet wachten je weer te spreken, of liever nog te zien.
    Ik laat snel weer wat van me horen.
    Heel veel plezier weer en succes met de trekking!
    Super veel liefs!
    Dikke kussen en knuffels,
    Boris

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  11. Lieve Claartje,

    Vandaag je mooie brief gekregen. Mijn brief was net gepost en is dus geen reactie op deze brief. Maar wel heel erg leuk om te lezen. Ik ben zo benieuwd. Wij gaan goede vrijdag na het werk naar de Beuvron om te klussen en zullen daar dan een week blijven. Dus als jullie terug zijn zul je het mobiel moeten proberen of we hebben contact als we weer thuis zijn. Pappa en Fleur zijn terug van hun werkweken Kasigau. Ze zijn heel tevreden over hun werkzaamheden. Fleur haalt de schade nu in op Criminelen. Wat een ver van mijn bed show zal dat nu voor jullie zijn. Voor je het weet zit je er weer midden in, maar toch wel zeer veranderd denk ik. Pappa gaat een dezer dagen informeren bij VNC dan zullen we er binnenkort op terug komen. Hele dikke kus ook van Pappa Bar(had ik net aan de telefoon) en Mamma

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  12. Charlie in Alpha 1 - changed your ticket as requested to the 28th May - will write again v soon but glad you're having a great time..... Very interesting news on the blog, I thought.....! Love from us all, M, D & E xx

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  13. Alison & Peter J8 April 2009 at 03:34

    To Emily J
    Hi Ems, I have changed your flight to FRIDAY 24th April, same booking reference number no change there. Dad & I are off to Norfolk on Thursday for two days to watch Frenchie & Mr T. Should be fun, and two nights off in an hotel! It was so lovely to hear you on the phone the other day, SUCH a surprise. Hope all is going well and you are enjoying your last phase. HAPPY Easter on Sunday LOTS of love Mum & Dad xxxxx

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  14. Hi Seb
    Hope all is well . Mimi and me are off to New York tomorrow back next tues 14th April.Car failed it's MOT, something serious is wrong with it, apparently doing doughnuts in the snow have damaged it!! Looks like might cost over £500 to mend . So probably not worth it. What a shame!
    Enjoy the rest of the trip. Looking forward to see you. We desperately need your help to fix the boat for what is going to a sunny summer. Love mx

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  15. heya sebby
    HAPPY EASTER!(cant wait to eat my chocolate eggs)
    r u ok? Mimi and mum are soon going to be flying off to new york and be leaving me behind :( with dad which is going to be boring cause all he is going to be doing is painting garage.
    how are you?? did you get my card i sent you?? do u like the chocolate??
    Guess what we got the glastonberry tickets , i cant wait to go !!
    Missing you lots and lots and lots , love you lots xanthe xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  16. Dear Jo Davies at A4.-
    I have been reading all the old blogs about the Elephant fence and imagining your experiences there. Hope you are enjoying the basic good life: fresh air, plenty of exercise, beautiful landscape, lovely friends, etc etc. We are missing you but very happy that you are having this opportunity. Your dad, Karen and I will be going to Cardiff for Easter. Let me know if you got your lenses. Sarita is in Colombia at the moment. We all, including Chandler, send you our love and best wishes for a Happy Easter. I will keep a chocolate egg for you. XXX MUM

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  17. Hey chris you're a god damn legend!!!!!! i absolutely love your hair and your face!!!! x

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  18. hey charlie...i love you....love chris

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  19. hey remi...i love you...love chris

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  20. hey seb...i love you....forgot to hand you a letter in the loop so here we are!! hope you're having a great time....love chris

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  21. Lieve Pino,
    terwijl jij aan het afzien bent in/op rond bergen en dalen, regent het hier als een gek terwijl iedereen al met korte mouwen en in rikjes loopt. Het is het rotweer!!! leuk om het verhaal van Tom te lezen over bamboo city!! Heel veel plezier de laatste wek van de trekking (ik hoop dat de loup nog net dit stukje mee neemt.!
    xx
    Tanja

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  22. Joe Maloney,
    Hi Joe, back from Turkey now, all ok here, hope you enjoyed your facy dress, trust you to go as Pinnochio,hahahaha, well not long now Joe, its countdown time,
    we're off to watch Liverpool V chelski game tonight, Manc U, dreww 2-2 with Porto last night,so fingers crossed, YNWA, luv ya Joe, mum & Kenny & fambo,xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  23. Hi Tom de Wilton
    What a lovely surprise to hear your voice the other morning - so surprised that I forgot to ask how the trek was going. Enjoyed reading your blog. Mrs Sp E would be proud of you. I know I am. Just got back from shopping for fancy dress outfits with Annina - quite a giggle. Tonight JB and I are off to see JCSS at the Headington theatre which will be fun. Visited M last night as it was her birthday. She loved receiving your letter. Your trip after Raleigh sounds exciting but can you write to us about it with more details if possible. Dad says to go and buy a hand set when you are in Bangalore. A is having a good time in Italy. Off to Kent on Friday for one night and then trying to open the tearoom Easter weekend. Neale is busy painting it at the moment.
    Enjoy the last part of the Raleigh adventure. Hope you are now good at cooking curries and know all about spices etc so you can teach me.
    Happy Easter - we will save you one of Dad's Hot Cross Buns.
    Lots of Love Mum xxxxxxx

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  24. Hi Emma
    I see you are now in Alpha 1 - is this a promotion??? You must have worked verrrrry hard!!! Great blog. Take care Jacqui & Steve xx

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  25. Essiieee!
    Wat leuk dat je wat op de hyves hebt gezet, je bergijpt dat we nu ook foto's willen zien ;). Ben klaar met pta's en mondelingen, heerlijk! Dus om dat te vieren vanavond lekker naar para met max!
    Lieve es, klinkt fantastisch wat je daar allemaal doet, laat snel weer wat van je horen.
    Veel liefss XX Leo

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  26. Hi Em (alpha)
    So good to speak to you yesterday and on facebook today.well done for how you are coping with the trek which sounds great but no wonder you have to start early if its 37 degrees!We are so excited that you are staying on to travel.Everyones fine here.The sitting room has been redecorated and we are getting a new carpet and sofa and chairs!I put my foot down with Dad and said I wasnt having anyone round until we got rid of the old sofa!Now hes going to book in loads of friends.I'm off next week so hoping the weathers nice and I can do lots of gardening.Lots of love Mumxxxx

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  27. You're a bit harder to catch up than when you were in Chile Neil! Hope all is good with you & you've got some great ideas for after Rayleigh. Miss you loads (but don't rush back)
    matt, ren & popster

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