In the words of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, ‘Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore’ - Judy I can appreciate how you were feeling, field base has been heaving as we have had just under a 100 hundred people here, it has been exciting times.
Sadly though we have already said goodbye to Foxtrot 1 and 2! They set off on Friday morning to their respective sites of Basava Pora and Ponani. Both groups were up at 6:00am to ensure they were packed and ready for the off before 9:00am.
Before they left Foxtrot 1 and 2 have been training hard here at field base, the groups have been getting to know each other and have been put through their paces on a 25K trek in and around Jayapura. Here are some photos of the groups in action.
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| Hannah cools herself down on the trek |
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| Foxtrot 1 |
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| The trek groups get to meet lots of the locals while trekking |
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| Foxtrot 2 |
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| Alice and Isy stop for a rest in Ahalya |
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| Getting some snaps |
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| A water stop in Hullahali |
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| Group massage to make those shoulders feel normal! |
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| Foxtrot 2 |
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| Finally at camp and Mark passes on some camp craft skills |
First off on expedition was Foxtrot 1 their expedition is in Ponani where they will be working on a community project building 11 toilet. Ponani is based in the beautiful Nilgiri District and our expedition will be well looked after by the local community.
On a separate note, sadly our lovely volunteer manager (VM) Rachael has had to leave us due to personal reason but luckily for us Hayley from the Raleigh Head Office in London is out here and has taken her place. Hayley has been on many expeditions with Raleigh so Foxtrot 1 is very lucky to have her with them.
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| Rachel loading up here belongings |
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| Hayley makes sure she has the important things in life |
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| And birthday boy Jack helps Hayley with the kit |
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| All bags on the bus |
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| Foxtrot 1 ready to depart |
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| All the kit |
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| Hayley and Sally a top VM team! |
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But before the off Jack gets a birthday sing song
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| Ali, Lewis and Bradley |
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| Jack and Isy |
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| Alice and Jack |
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| Gowthami and Emily |
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| Rachel and Elizabeth |
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| Danya and Sudhanshu |
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| Katie and Fran |
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| A final goodbye from Isy |
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| Bye, bye Foxtrot 1 |
Foxtrot 2 also set off on Friday morning but they are heading to Basava Pora to build elephant fences and trenches, Basava Pora is part of the H.D.Kote Taluk, Mysore district. This environmental project is concerned with the protection of the land between the village of Basava Pora from elephants and to minimise human-elephant conflict.
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| Pamina, Elena and Pachel all ready for the off |
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| Matt strolling to the bus |
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| VM Christina making sure her team get away on time |
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| Kurian and Pavan helping everyone get their things on the van |
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| Rachel appreciating the fresh fruit and veg |
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| Cheeky smile from James |
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| Hannah, Lucy, Sophie and Pamina |
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| Pavan and James |
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| Matt and Chelsey |
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| Edward and Kurian |
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| Joanne and Jonathan |
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| Rachel and Mahima |
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| Tu Wei |
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| Clare and Christina Foxtrot 2's VMs |
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| Mahima, with a beautiful goodbye smile |
But we're not too sad yet at field base as we still have our 10 weekers with us as they have been here preparing for their expedition. They have also been out on their trek training and returned on Friday morning to a welcome bucket shower wash and flip flops. Here are a few snaps from their training. We went out to see the trekkers as they turned up at the camp site, there were lots of blisters and sore backs but despite these trek wounds everyone was in high spirits and Maria still had the energy to get the guitar out to entertain her group round the trangia.
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| Kat led her team and made it back to camp first |
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| Oli having a well earned rest |
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| Rohith still in high spirits |
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| Sam, Catriona, Tabby and Emma make it to camp |
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| Alex and Sam happy to have finished |
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| Tim (VM), Shaquille, Michaela and Catherine (VM) |
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| Shaquille takes a rest where he can |
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| Sam inspects his blisters |
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| Jade and Louise |
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| Chessie trying to work out how to put her tent up |
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| Elvis getting his sleeping quarters ready |
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| Louise, Tarik and Kat |
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| Shrida, Ganeshan and Rohith |
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| Slop pit digging |
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| Sarah (VM) inspects her teams excellent work |
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| Donya |
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| Roxanne |
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| Struan |
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| Tom |
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| Catriona |
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| Tim demonstrating how to dig a short drop |
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| Lauren getting her tent poles in |
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| The view from a tent |
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| Struan getting dinner on the go |
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| Maria entertaining her group |
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| Susan (VM) and Ana (VM) lead the group in some star gazing |
So you can see it has been a busy time here since everybody has arrived. We have had word from our Foxtrot teams and they have both arrived safely and are busy setting up camp. Our 10 week teams are frantically getting all their equipment and provisions packed up and ready to go as they are all deploying to their Phase 1 project sites tomorrow morning (Sunday). We will be back tomorrow to let you know which teams everyone is in and what they will be up to for the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy all the photos.
Over and out from fieldbase!
