A challenge of a lifetime!

On arrival in Costa Rica all Challenge participants were eager to get on the road and get to our first hotel in Quepos. It was a bumpy 3 hour trip from the Airport at dusk, the sky was turning the most amazing colours of orange and red, before it went dark and the stars above shone more brightly than you could ever imagine. We all knew we needed to get a good night's sleep to prepare us for the next 7 days and most went straight to bed.

We started out as a big group at about 8:30 on the Saturday morning, cycling into the hills from the Pacific Coast, ending the day with a multiple hour hike to our first camping ground and the first of many cold showers. It had been an eye opening introduction in to what we should expect over the following 6 days. We had a briefing about the next day, which was the first day of racing, which was a team Hike and navigation.

Early morning start up some very steep climbs and Anthony, Trevor, Lee and I were making excellent time ahead of the rest of the teams, that is until we got lost... to catch up we ran to the mid-way point at the river and were found to be in 5th place only 5 minutes behind. After a quick break and water re-fill we all headed out again for the second stage of the Hike. We found ourselves with two other teams, one from Siemans and the other's were Suzie, Shashank, Patrick and Steven. We all decided to go in the same direction, and we all got lost again. We found the 'right' path about an hour and a half later after spotting other teams below us, and about 45 mins after that, we crossed the finish line together, taking equal points for a massive effort. We then had a short cycle to the next camp, a lodge in Santa Maria and the second of the freezing cold showers. We had our first 'quiz' but I think it should have been called mastermind!!! Any team that achieved over 5 really needs gold stars...

Third but second day of racing saw a 4:30 wake up call for an early morning road race up a long incline. Trevor and Anthony were supporting Lee and I all the way and we managed to make it up in good time, managing to pass a couple of teams on our way. The biggest story of the day was the courage which saw Suzie do that same climb having come off her bike within 5 minutes of the start, kudos Suzie!! We were travelling through 'undulating' hills for the rest of the afternoon on off-road track, which saw a number of our team members falling off and more injuries ensued. By the close of day three, only two of the Liberata team had no scratches to speak of...

Fourth but third day of racing, saw another full day of cycling and another racing challenge. The race on this day was a big team effort and we all worked together to make sure we were taking full advantage of the wind and the effort we were putting into our legs. At the end of the day, we saw another long climb to our first bed of the challenge and it could not have come at a better time. The evening was spent in the bar and the restaurant, it was the first opportunity for all of us to relax, and even though we had been together for four days, we could now mingle and get to know the other teams a little bit better.

Fifth and fourth day of racing we all woke up knowing we would be saying good-bye to the bike saddle and hello to the rafting paddle! The morning race was on undulating terrain and we again worked hard to get through it as a team and make the best time that we could. We had a little more fun after the race coming down the steep hills, freewheeling through amazing scenery and taking it a little easier, that is until we reached the unexpected climbs which were scattered every so often between the. We took the final bit of off road track down to the river and met our guides... WHITE WATER RAFTING IS AMAZING! The first day we only saw grade 1 - 2 rapids but we still had a few falling out of the rafts and going for a swim. We arrived what seemed like minutes later at a river side campsite which looked like something out of a dream. I remember this day as being the highlight of the trip for me, everyone again got to relax, we all chatted freely and looked forward to the day of rafting ahead of us while spotting the odd firefly here and there amongst the trees.

Sixth and fifth day of racing started off quite early as the team practised for a challenge later on in the day, the recovery from the raft overturning! Heads under water and bodies completely soaked but we felt confident going into the day that this one at least could be ours. We headed down the river and not long after pulled to the side and we started the 800 metre race where we had to self-navigate, Trevor took charge of the steering and the rest of us paddled our hearts out. We had a bit of bad luck at the beginning by going into a tree but overall we performed quite well:) A little further down river and we had to turn the raft over.... we watched six teams go before us, and all of them had different techniques, some were entertaining and others very impressive. Our turn, and 16 seconds later it was over... this is one we did win and it all came down to working as a team and wanting the same result! Through shallow waters we scrapped through and reached our final camp early afternoon. In a briefing we found that we would be having another early morning and had to be on the water by 5:00!! We all had second servings of food and got an early night, although not sure how much sleep we all managed to get.

Rush in the morning to get the kayaks to the water, Lee and myself were seeing this as a big challenge and looking forward to again performing well in the race, so we took it easy going down river. Once at the start of the race, we got beached!! Along with Trevor and Anthony, we then tried to play a game of catch up but for some reason or another we could not manage to go in a straight line and we fell behind. After swapping kayaking partners, and putting in a massive team effort, we got into a rhythm and caught up some time up on the others but were not able to catch up to the group. After a packed lunch, we carried on up the river toward the beach on the Caribbean coast, sloth's and monkeys in the trees, amazing wildlife and birds along the shores, we were kept entertained. Lee made me laugh all the way and made sure a smile did not leave my face. With a bit of effort, and a lot of shouting directions, we were going in a straight line and finished up on the beach proud of the effort we had all made.

There may have been things I wish I and the team could have done better, but I could not have wished for a better set of people to be sent to Costa Rica with. I have learnt some big life lessons and I have made some lifelong friends. I have been lucky enough to see one of the most beautiful countries in the world from a point where most would not venture. I have seen others grow and been humbled by their achievements, and I know what difference the money I raised for the Prince's Trust will make from first hand experience.

I know that I will continue to support the Prince's Trust in their work by fundraising and I hope that I can one day be able to give my time as a volunteer. I hope that everyone will continue to recognise their amazing work and make contributions to them in the future!! We have until the 28th of March to collect all of our monies and if anyone out there has not yet made a donation I ask that they do so at www.justgiving.com/liberata.

Lastly, I would like to thank Bob Gogel for giving all of us this amazing opportunity. I would also like to thank Jan Guias-Palmer for all her support and work behind the scenes. There are also a number of other members of staff who have helped the team raise funds and administer our web pages and blogs, a big thank you goes to you as well! We could not have done it without you!