Expedition 23A Phase 2

In Phase 2 Julie is on Dragon Trek, which is a 260km route from the coast in the north down to the coast in the south.  It is a particularly hilly trek and also includes several water crossings which can be a little dangerous if it has been raining.  It is considered a very hard trek in terms of distance, elevation gain/loss, very basic accommodation, lack of access to shops/sodas (restaurants), etc.

Julie is joined on this delight by Raul, a great VM from Nicaragua, who is bilingual and also very musically talented.  He wisely chose not to carry his guitar on this adventure.  Together they will be looking after 12 volunteers.

Julie and Raul - A great team

Jungle Trek!

Rare sunny day

Stables, incl manure!

Community Center

River crossing - surprisingly deep!

Chillaxing

Unfortunately several of the team suffered from nasty blisters and one, Finlay, from severe D&V.  Around day 8 it was decided Finlay needed medical attention so was taken in a taxi to the closest hospital where he was diagnosed with dehydration and an infection.  As a result he was taken back to fieldbase for the duration of phase 2.  Raul suffered badly from blisters and accompanied Finlay back to base.  DOC Georgie to the rescue as a stand-in VM for the remainder of the trek.

The trek does finish on a beach which is a great way to end.  Only a 9 hour bus ride to get back to base - starting at 4:30am - its the Raleigh way!