Backpacks, Blisters and Banter

It was an early start for all of us here on Friday. At 4:30am we jumped out of bed full of enthusiasm and raring to go for the 25K hike ahead of us that day, did I fool anyone there? No? Ok well maybe if I’m honest we were all a little bleary eyed at that time of the morning.  However luckily for us Jen, our deputy project manager, with her wealth of Raleigh expedition knowledge had made us a breakfast of ‘energy bombs’. For those of you who don’t know what energy bombs are pay attention, they are a delightful mixture of oats, chocolate power and condensed milk (If you’re feeling fruity you can always add sultanas) and after a bowl full of energy bombs you feel invincible.

Team VM ready for the off

Team VM struck off for their 25K hike from field base, for many of the VMs it was their first chance to explore the local area and get a feel for what the trekking phase on Raleigh is all about. With us we had our expert guide Johanson, from Muddy Boots our trekking partners, Johanson will also be one of the guides out with our groups on trekking phase.

 

Striking out from field base

Johanson, our guide from Muddy Boots

John and Rachel were the map readers of the day and expertly led the way, Johanson was on hand to give advice if needed, however they did and an excellent job steering the team in the right direction and letting us know where we were.

John making sure we are on the right track

After walking for a couple of hours we had the chance to stop for Chai in a small village called, Ahalya. The locals were very bemused as to why a group of fifteen people had turned up in their village with big rucksacks and hiking boots on. We soon made friends though, especially with the local children who loved having their pictures taken and Sarah, our day leader, took the opportunity to call into field base to give the operations room our SITREP, for those of you, like me, who are new to this terminology a SITREP is short for a Situation Report.  

The trekkers 

Susan making friends

Sarah, checking in with field base. 

It was soon time to wave goodbye to Ahalya and strike off once more heading towards Hullahalli a larger town which would be our next stop. On the way we had the opportunity to take in our stunning surroundings, my personal favourite however was the giant snail who made me feel better as he was shuffling along more slowly than me. Once in Hullahalli we had the opportunity to stock up on water for the night ahead and again we drew friendly curiosity from Hullahalli’s locals, with one man even videoing our arrival.

The giant snail! 

After 16K trekking it was certainly time for lunch and gave us the chance for another comms check with field base, some rice and for people to compare how their feet were faring. Hiking 25K gave us all a great chance to get to know each other better, there were deep conversations on really important life stuff like, how bad your tan lines were (I personally now look like I have pink leggings on underneath my shorts) and of course one of the most frequent topics of conversation on expedition, your toilet experiences so far. 

Lunch trek style 

 

Nearly there!

At 4pm we arrived at our final destination, the relief of arriving at our camp site for the night was overwhelming, mainly due to the fact we could all have a good cup of tea. Due to the looming rain clouds tents were assembled very quickly against a beautiful backdrop. By 9pm we were all tucked up in bed to the soothing sound of rain battering against our tents, this did mean however that nobody wanted to leave their tents to visit the short drop which led to a long queue in the morning. 

Tents assembled 

Our view, not to shabby

John digging our short drop toilet

On Saturday we were all woken up by Lou’s cheerful voice announcing that a breakfast of energy bombs was ready and waiting for us. Camp was quickly broken down and packed away but before we started off to get to our swim assessment it was time for some group photos. 

Breaking camp

Andrew and Lou are way ahead of the rest of us

Team VM still having a great time. 

Donks wins at who can jump the highest (far left)

I thought it would be a good idea to get the VMs to do a morning run

It was only a 3K trek to the swim assessment site (a reprieve for some of the blister that had developed the day before) and it was a great relief to get in the water even if it did reveal some of the tans we thought we had developed were in fact dirt. 

Great photo by Julia our Logs legend

Rachel is out first

All of our VMs passed their swim assessment with no problems, again the ladies washing their clothes at the edge of the river were very amused by our swimming performances and we also had one surprise guest emerging from the river with us. A local cow had decided to get Julia’s approval on his swimming style as well.

Lindsay doing well in the water despite a broken toe

Sally and Sarah 

Our surprise swimmer

Julia decided to give Mr Cow a pass

All dried off and back at field base it was all hands on deck to get our equipment clean and packed away. Dinner on Saturday night was a very welcome treat of pizza and nobody had to feel guilty about tucking into that extra slice after walking 28K over the past two days.   

Since the trek we've had some very exciting news with the VMs having been informed who they will be partnered up with on Phase 1 and which expedition they will be going on. Stay tuned as we will be revealing the looks on our VMs faces when they heard the news which was delivered in rather a magical way.