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World Challenge Expedition - Costa Rica
Miss Gulvin sent this report:
The last week of the summer term saw 35 immeasurably eager but equally as apprehensive Year 11 students depart this sunny corner of Kent and head for the even sunnier climes of Costa Rica – a stunning isthmus, 9 degrees above the equator.
In every way this was going to be a challenge – climate, language, money, comforts (or lack of!), trek, food and surroundings. But this was a challenge the students had prepared for and one they were ready to embrace following the end of exam season some weeks earlier.
During the next two weeks the three teams approached each component of the expedition with energy, enthusiasm and excitement. From orientating and learning about responsible tourism in San Jose, to the steep but stunning treks through endless rainforest; from the time spent with families, students and locals in the community engagement projects, to the screams of joy white water rafting, our girls were a credit to themselves and the school. As such, I never hesitate to accompany them on these trips of a lifetime and would like to thank all students and, of course, Miss Derrick and Dr Marchesini for generously giving up their time providing the girls with such an amazing opportunity.
Below are a few of the highlights:
Team 1: After a tearful departure from Heathrow, the team arrived in San Jose tired but full of enthusiasm for the adventures ahead. The first really exciting activity was the tree-planting in Santa Maria de Dota, where we were greeted by the amazing Rafael. He was very complimentary of how the girls tackled the task of planting 50 trees and told me that he could feel a strong positive energy coming from them. As we finished quite early, we made the decision to take an unexpected and off-the-itinerary trip to some nearby waterfalls. We unloaded the rest of the plants from Rafael’s pick-up and jumped in the back, enjoying the ride on the dirt road. The waterfalls were spectacular and we felt very lucky to have met Rafael.
The next stage was the community project. We travelled to San Jeronimo and met the families we would spend the next 4 nights with. For the project we had to spruce up the local church by doing a lot of cleaning and painting, which the girls thoroughly enjoyed. Staying with families was a real treat! We got to experience the Costa Rican lifestyle and we were extremely well looked after and really well fed. San Jeronimo is a tranquil pretty village sitting in a breathtakingly beautiful location. I took many walks around there while the girls rested after the day’s work. I felt myself at peace and thought how lucky I was to be experiencing the beauty of Costa Rica. The end of the project proved very emotional for the girls who had become close to their host families and many tears were shed on the last day.
We were now entering the trek phase. After a fairly easy first day we reached the accommodation for the first and fourth night, where we were taken to some very pretty waterfalls and treated to a delightful dinner. Following this we retired for the night nervous about the big day ahead of us. The second day of the trek was really tough for the girls. We had to tackle the hard task to go from 1400m to 3100m over 11km in one day of relentless up-hill walking carrying our big rucksacks. Four guides (Alvaro, Vittorino, Abelardo and Jorge) and a horse (Talimero, whom I became very fond of!) accompanied us on the climb. In general, the girls were in high spirits but as the day went on, they found themselves becoming more and more tired. Some tears were shed but the girls were so amazing at supporting each other and finding the resilience to see this hard challenge to its end. The sight of the mountain hut, which would be our home for the next two nights, was welcomed with relief and laugher. I couldn’t have been more proud of what team 1 had achieved on that day. The hut was very very basic and extremely cold, but the girls didn’t really mind and (wrapped up in all their clothes and sleeping bags) enjoyed their stay, playing countless card games which I was also invited to join. The next day we reached the summit and many pictures were taken as a memento of that amazing achievement. Descending was also a challenging task but once again team 1 showed determination and support for one another and made it back tired, but with a huge sense of achievement that they will remember forever.
The trek phase was over; we travelled back to San Jose and enjoyed some rest and souvenir shopping before our last activity: white-water rafting. I think it is fair to say that everyone loved this. The rapids were not too challenging and there were plenty of opportunities to swim in the river. The guys leading the activity were huge fun and made the day even more enjoyable. On the day of the departure there were a lot of mixed emotions. The girls were looking forward to being reunited with their families back in the UK but they were also a touch sad to leave a country where they had experienced so much. They have learned a lot about Costa Rica but most importantly about themselves: their ability to overcome difficulties and their amazing selflessness and mutual support. I am sure new friendships have been made and team 1 will remember their adventure with World Challenge for a very long time. I can just add that I was blown away but how amazingly well the girls did especially in those moments when it could have been so easy to just give up. The girls have shown amazing fighting spirit and I was so proud of them all. I loved every minute of this expedition and I am sure I will go back to Costa Rica to further explore this amazing country. One last word is for Alex, our World Challenge leader. She has been amazing throughout, bonding with the girls, supporting them and also “pushing” them in those key moments where things were getting a bit more difficult. A huge thank you to Alex, we were very lucky to have her.
Team 2: It is safe to say we arrived very tired in San Jose but, as would happen each morning for the rest of the trip, the girls bounced back with vigour and our first day shaped the rest of the expedition. Antonio’s eco-haven was the location for our enlightening workshop on sustainable tourism as well as where we had our first taste (literally) of the diverse fauna of the country. From there we headed a couple of hours out of the city to Santa Maria, a busy town nestled in the Dolta region, built around a huge coffee factory that was fed by the thousands of acres of plantations in the valleys that surrounded it. It was a beautiful place to spend the next five days, only to be beaten by our perfectly situated campsite in the hills above the town. Rancho Leosan belonged to a lovely couple, Alex and Leda, and was surrounded by (more!) coffee and provided us with picture-perfect views on our daily walks down to breakfast – the challenge was provided in great quantities with the walk back up to camp at the end of the day! The hammock became a popular accessory! Our routine for the next five days was a delicious breakfast provided by Christian and his wife, restaurant owners also from Santa Maria, digging drainage, planting seeds, painting classrooms, grouting and cleaning tiles, playing games with the students and cooking empanadas at the local primary school. The team really bonded over this project as each student was tested in a different way, enabling everyone to come together to complete the project.
After a night in Casa Perra hostel and a 4:30am departure, our next component of the expedition was the trek. (Now, I’m fairly confident that over the course of the preparation year the fitness sessions were the least popular! However, it’s also fair to say that on the first day of the trek their worth was proven in abundance. While breath-taking and stunning aesthetically, I will concede that the trek was…hard. Really hard.) The challenges continued to hit all of us like a sledge-hammer to the face within the first couple of hours – humidity, insects, technical trails, tiredness, insects, heavy bags, steep ascents and descents, insects, rain, mud, more rain, more mud. Finally, after 7 hours, 18 kilometres and countless falls, stings and bruises, we made it to our first camp. Now considering this actually just consisted of a wooden hut in the middle of a misty field, no running water or electricity, it could have passed as the Ritz. If the Ritz was one one-hundredth of the size, windowless and surrounded by hummingbirds. If I thought the team was well-formed before, they were now indestructible. A welcome meal and sleep meant that at 7.00am when we had to put our soggy clothes and boots back on, we didn’t even care. We’d got this! A shorter but steeper trek for the second day but the rewards were even greater. After 8 kilometres we reached Rancho Tinamu, where we spent the next morning learning to milk the resident cow, collect the hens’ eggs and feed the pigs. I didn’t think it was possible to surpass the beauty of our previous site but from our huts all we could see were rolling hills and hundreds of acres of rainforest. And clouds, lots of clouds. As well as befriending the local farm life, we learnt how to extract liquid sugar from sugar cane. We then burnt off our immense sugar high in the camp waterfall. There was no option but to be acquainted with nature at every opportunity.
After our last day’s trek – a mere 16 kilometres but this time with our first sighting of toucans! – we arrived in the coastal town of Quepos. We’d officially hiked to the Pacific Ocean! This was where we spent our last few days and had a little more luxury - namely warm water – before heading back to San Jose and home. The last, and possibly most memorable, highlight was white water rafting in Manuel Antonio National Park. Luckily our sighting of a sloth happened en route; all other wildlife was given ample warning courtesy of the cacophony of screams from the girls. Who knew it was possible to scream continuously for three hours?!
A life-changing trip with a top team – Ellen Angel, Isabel Dickinson, Lauren Eady, Emily Gadd, Millie Gillam, Faith Howard, Maddison Neseyif, Millie Stone, Maddie Stratton, Caitlin Windless and Kirsty Zhang. Thank you, girls.
Team 3: Team 3 arrived safe and sound in San Jose, in surprisingly high spirits following a very long flight via Switzerland! The first challenge was to arrange taxis to our first night’s accommodation which provided the girls with the perfect opportunity to test out their Spanish. They managed this with ease and their ability to converse in the local language would prove invaluable throughout the rest of the trip - their Spanish teachers should be extremely proud! Once settled, we opted for a traditional local soda where burgers all round were the order of the day.
Refuelled and refreshed, the following morning we were driven to a very thought-provoking workshop on sustainable tourism led by Antonio and her extremely friendly dog Bruijo (meaning ‘wizard’ in Spanish). Situated just outside of San Jose, the location offered an amazing panoramic view of the capital and Cerro Pico Blanco, the second highest mountain of the Cerros de Escazú mountain range, and this was just a taste of the wonderful scenery that awaited us. The afternoon was spent exploring the central market in San Jose where we were all slightly more adventurous with our food choices for lunch!
For the remainder of our trip we were to be based on the Osa Peninsula. Located at the southern end of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, it is one of the country’s most remote destinations. The team opted to take the local bus for a very short 8-9 hour journey, taking us up through the mountains, above the clouds and back down to Puerto Jimenez, a small town with just one dusty main road, but provided everything we needed to stock up on supplies for the project phase of our trip. There is just something about supermarkets abroad that we all just love, however organising a menu for 14 people for 5 days with very limited cooking equipment was tricky to say the least!
Phoebe, our project host, met us the following morning for an incredible dolphin and whale watching excursion on the calm, crystal clear water of the Golfo Dulce. But after a relaxing day at sea (for those of us that don’t get seasick!) the team were soon hit with a taste of reality with a 30-minute uphill hike through the rainforest in what felt like 100% humidity. Arriving at the accommodation we were introduced to Phoebe’s father in law, Roberto, and a few additional residents; golden orb spiders, everywhere! However, the lack of luxury was soon made up for by the unbelievable view point, where if you were lucky, Roberto would cut down and bring you a bowl of fresh rambutans (similar to lychees) to devour. The following days saw the team plant around 400 mangroves and conduct an extensive beach clean-up, where I think we were all shocked and saddened by how much plastic accumulates on the seemingly idyllic shores. We were also treated to a cooking class making ‘tamales’; a traditional corn-based dish steamed in a banana leaf normally eaten around Christmas time. The team really bonded over the days spent on project, with plenty of games by candlelight, showers in the rain and an evening spent watching an electric storm from the view point was just magical. It very quickly felt like home and everyone was very sad to say goodbye as we packed up and made our way back to Puerto Jimenez for the highly anticipated trek!
This phase would see us travel through the deepest part of the rainforest from the Gulf across the peninsula to the Pacific Coast and it was time to see whether all those fitness sessions would pay off! Our anxiety and nerves were soon allayed by meeting our two amazing guides, Donny and Danny, who were so knowledgeable about every aspect of the jungle and helped us all every step of the way – for some of us more literally than others! The first day was a very long and slow 13km trek, wading through over 8 river crossings and plenty of mud, for us to arrive at our first campsite where there was no running water. It was fair to say that spirits were somewhat low. But after a warm meal and a good night’s sleep, we awoke to sunshine and a breath-taking view of the forest which gave us all the motivation for Day 2. After all, it could only get better! The strength of the team really shone over the next few days and we got into a good rhythm; the pace quickened, every fall became more entertaining and the singing became ever louder! Our last day saw us abseil down the cliffside followed by a lunchtime swim in a waterfall before we reached our final destination – the beach! Being pretty much the only ones there it definitely felt like we were on the set of a Hollywood film as the powerful waves crashed on the shore set against the misty backdrop of the rainforest. It made all the hard work and pain seem worth it (almost!)
Now it was definitely time for some well-deserved rest and relaxation, which were spent playing a ‘friendly’ game of rounders, kayaking and a good bit of sunbathing on the beach. It was so lovely to be a part of a fully formed team; so full of energy, enthusiasm and fun that we could have happily done it all over again. What an incredible trip of a lifetime with a truly amazing team – Darcy Armstrong, Emily Bladden, Maria Bragin, Ellie Breeze, Emily Dent, Tia McKnight, Lauren McManus, Imia Parker-Bruce, Kira Russell, Sophie Thexton, Charlotte Watson, and Annie Yang.
