Pre Phase Visit (PPV) - Trek for me!

The Volunteer Managers (VMs) visit their project sites to see where they will be living for phase one of the expedition and what they will be doing.  As Raleigh has a "rule of three" I was asked to accompany Jenna and Mayte - the VMs assigned to Trek in phase one.  Trek takes the volunteers through rainforests and up volcanoes on a variety of stunning routes that tourists don’t get access to and is designed to be challenging both physically and mentally.  The experience allows volunteers to practices their leadership skills, team working and get a real sense of achievement. 

 

Bridge being repaired!!

Ready to rock the Trek! 

Rain ain't getting us down!

We were driven 45km from Field Base and dropped off.  In addition to our personal items we carried two tents, cooking equipment, food, comms equipment, a huge medical kit and of course a shovel....We did also take the kitchen sink in the shape of four washing bowls plus a 25lt water container.  Overall I guess we carried about 25kgs each.

Community Center - luxury

Camping on a soccer field

Quaint villages in the valleys

Stunning views

First few kms were extremely muddy and hilly.  Unfortunately Mayte was not feeling that great due to missing breakfast - not a good way to start a trek.  She was dizzy and suffered a bit from V&D (vomit and diarrhea) - not unusual on trek apparently.  However she bravely carried on.  Day one was about 12km and we were lucky to be able to stay in a community center as it rained quite a bit that night.  Day 2 was going to be a long one so we were up at 4am and on the road at 5am.  

Day 2 felt like it was uphill all the way.  We asked one local if our destination was far and he said it was "all the way to the sky"!  He was not far wrong.  We climb 78 floors according to Apple and hit 30, 888 - roughly 19.5km.  We were heading to El Silencio were we were able to pitch the tents on a soccer field.  Luckily we were able to use the toilet in a neighboring house but when we woke up the following day they had locked their gate - hence the shovel!!

Mayte unfortunately developed lots of blisters on her feet - not having worn her boots in properly - and we slowed considerably from an average of 4.9km to less than 2.  It was a little painful walking so slowly but we had plenty of time, especially since we started out at 5am again.  We were back in field base around 11:30am.  Overall I believe we walked over 79,888 steps and went up 137 floors.  Getting back and having a shower never felt so good!  

Great experience, super team, great morale - so happy I only had a 3 day trip and will not be taking part in the full 19 day Trek.  Sorry Julie!

Happy to be back at Field Base