Alpha Three Trek

Our DPM, Tim Berriman has just returned from Alpha Three with all the latest news on how they are getting on in Kerala...

The team celebrate reaching the top of the mountain

Life as the Deputy Programme Manager can mean a lot of time stuck at Fieldbase in Mysore, so I leapt at the chance of standing in as a trek leader for the mighty Alpha 3 for the first 9 days of their adventures in the Western Ghats. Since returning this morning I have been bullied into telling of our exploits for the blog....

Tim with PM Hana

After the controlled chaos of sorting the food and equipment resupply drops, personal stuff, maps, route cards and one hundred other jobs that need to be completed before deployment the 12 hour bus ride to Kerala was a welcome relief and time for some well earned snoozing. But as we entered the Western Ghats all eyes stared in awe at the breathtaking scenery and the size of the mountains. It seemed the tales told by the previous trek group of hours of toiling up never ending hills were not lies. Talk around the campfire that night was full concerns of blisters, rucksack weight and the impending 0400 wake-up call.

The first day did not disappoint, starting with a vicious climb up the winding roads of the Chattamunnar Tea Estate and then into the near vertical jungle above; surely at some point it would level out? Aching legs were quickly forgotten when we stopped for our first long break and had a chance to look out over the valley we had climbed out of, giving everyone a first real taste of the scale of the peaks we intended to climb over the next few days.

Thankfully the afternoon was a little easier as we meandered through the small communities of tea estate workers. Our arrival into each village was always greeted with shouts of ‘What is your name?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ from the local children, while the adults simply stared in amazement at the sight of trekking. As our guide, Shabeeb, said ‘they think we are mad, Keralan just people don’t do this!’.

Cooking "Trek" style: Arya makes some tea

Just as legs started to refuse to climb another hill and lifting rucksacks onto backs became almost impossible we caught sight of our first camp, the first arrivals greeting each member of the team with cheers as they collapsed onto the grass. Day One was over, but another 10 beckoned; could we repeat the performance tomorrow?

Day two quickly rolled into day three, the big one! Our task was to climb Meesapulimala at 2650m (or almost 9,000 ft), no easy feat with a small rucksack but with full packs it was going to take some doing. Alpha 3 were starting to motor at this point and fuelled by coconut sweets and peanut crunch we summitted at lunchtime in the mist, meaning a rest and a lunch of cold rice could be enjoyed knowing the afternoon was all downhill and our hardest day was almost complete. Unfortunately the weather gods had other ideas and unseasonal rain swept in causing a damp descent through the highest tea estate in the world. Still Alpha 3 made camp in high spirits and were greeted by welcome sight of piping hot tea from the campsite staff.

Olivia (The camel) and Bella

Still smiling - Olivia, Bella, Flora, Thomasin, Josie and Maud

So with fitness improving and routines becoming established the days then flew by, each one had its highlights. Dawn boat rides across lakes; stunning sunrises following a night of watching thunderstorms over the mountains and lunches spent swimming in deserted waterfalls in the jungle. All too soon the Raleigh vehicle arrived to drop Jason with the group whisk me back to Fieldbase. In 9 days we had pushed ourselves harder than many thought was possible and still reached the end of each day smiling.

Thomasin









The girls take a quick rest en route - Josie, Flora and Maud










James - could be sleeping...

I can only thank Bella, Qathab, James, Josie, Thomasin, Maud, Arya, Laurie, Ali, Olivia, Georgina and Flora, as well as my fellow PMs, Hana and Claire for making it an unforgettable part of the expedition.