Farewell, so long, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye

That's all, folks. The Spring 2008 Raleigh Malaysia expedition is now officially over! At the time of writing, all the participants are either en route to the airport to catch their flights home, or have been released into the big wide world (well, Kota Kinabalu backpacker hostels) to continue their travels in South East Asia and beyond.


We've had a brilliant couple of days here to round off the expedition, with plenty of sunshine and a packed schedule. The official Closing Ceremony, hosted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Sabah, took place on Monday evening. Last night was the participants' party, which was held a couple of hours along the coast at a longhouse right on the beautiful white sand beach. The sun shone, lots of silly games were played, DJ Gerard rocked the place, and a great time was had by all. The stunning sunset was a fitting end to what's been a really successful expedition.


We wish all the participants the very best in whatever they move on to next, and huge thanks go to the entire volunteer staff team, who have got a couple more days' work to do before they can chill out on the beach for a well deserved rest!

Grand Opening for Tampasak Kindergarten

After a challenging ten weeks in Kampong Tampasak and - over the last couple of weeks in particular - some very long days working in the hot sun, there was much excitement for Alpha 1 yesterday at the official Opening Ceremony of the new Kindergarten. And it looks fantastic!

Working closely with the community, the Raleigh group in Phase Three have put in a huge effort to finish the project on time, and the building has transformed within a matter of days. As Jim, Mark and Anna drove into Tampasak yesterday morning from Field Base, last-minute finishing touches were being added - paint was still wet and lino was just going down on the floor.

After speeches from the head of the village, known as the JKKK, the local project partner PACOS Trust, Raleigh Country Director Jim Clements and the Alpha 1 volunteer project managers Clare "Betty" Bethell and Izzy Noble, the assembled crowd was treated to a show of traditional dancing performed by some of the village's women and children.

Keen not to be outdone, after a slap-up lunch of rice and wild boar laid on by the community, Alpha 1 performed their own song-and-dance routine - to the tune of YMCA and featuring a motley assortment of fetching yellow hard hats usually worn on the construction site.


On that note, sadly that's it for the Raleigh Malaysia Spring 2008 expedition. Tomorrow, all six Alpha Groups will leave their projects for the final time and head back to Borneo Paradise for the end-of-expedition wash-up, closing ceremony and, on Tuesday 15th, the farewell beach party (featuring a final bout of fancy dress, with a disco theme this time!) Then it's time for goodbyes on the 16th, with all participants either heading off to the airport or continuing their travels.

We'll post a final update and some photos here next week...

A busy week in Imbak Canyon

As reported in the last blog post, industrious Alpha 3 down in Imbak Canyon have been flexing their muscles for the last week or so, getting stuck into some serious heavy lifting for the new suspension bridge. They haven't been too busy to give us an update on what they've been up to though, and so - in their own words - here's a news summary courtesy of Chrissie and Kate, the Alpha 3 'news hounds':

We had to shift the upright beams for the bridge up the hill to the trail. They're made of 'iron wood' from the Belian tree. It took 20 of us to complete the task as the beams were 13ft long and 2ft by 2ft in diameter.

We split into two groups on either side of the river to work on the bridge foundations. Group One were digging up the sand and gravel from the river and then winching it across. Group Two were then mixing the concrete to complete the foundations. It was hard work but they're finally done, - five weeks ahead of schedule!

Some of the group helped to clear away the landslide that has been blocking the road between Ranger Camp and the worksite for the last couple of months. Then we moved the timber to the worksite: 60 2x4 iron wood planks are pretty heavy. We also winched the metal suspension cable over the river. It is extremely long and heavy and we had to drag it out of the gorge, which took a lot of "One, two, three, PULL"s until it was long enough to secure to a tree to stop it falling back into the river.

Over the next few days the upright beams will be moved into place and cemented into the foundations. Meanwhile, we are feeling very settled and at home in Imbak, even producing home-baked treats from the camp kitchen, including chocolate-filled doughnuts and fresh bread. The group have also trekked to see more of the area, with a short walk from the camp to see an enormous Belian tree (estimated by the rangers to be over 1000 years old) and a longer trek up Repeater Hill to a spectacular viewpoint looking out across Imbak Canyon.

Before the end of the expedition the whole group is hoping to complete the Bucit Beruang trek, which will take us up to the summit of the North Ridge. From there, we will be able to see the mist coming up through the trees, the sunrise and the surrounding palm oil plantations, which once threatened the Imbak Canyon Reserve.

Phase 3 updates...

The expedition continues to fly by here in Sabah and the third and final Alpha groups are settled into their new projects and grafting hard to get their work finished and squared away in the next ten days. After eight weeks, we are of course now all Raleigh old hands, adept at sleeping in a hammock without falling out, fashioning a delicious meal out of rice and a few miscellaneous tins, washing in half a bucket of water, and removing a leech without so much as blinking...

Alpha 1 have still got plenty to do on the construction site of the new Kindergarten at Tampasak, and are putting a huge effort into getting that finished by the end of the expedition. They're now working on the walls and are busily painting everything in sight as fast as it is put up.


Alpha 2, meanwhile, have moved out of the goat shed and back to their usual riverside campsite, from where they continue to assist the community of Batu Puteh with the Eco Lodge, as well as with other projects including digging drainage trenches for villagers' houses, and cutting and stripping logs to make a boat. They inform us they recently held a fancy dress party themed 'over the bridge'. We're not sure what that means either; you'll have to ask Alpha 2...

In beautiful Imbak Canyon, Alpha 3 are putting the finishing touches to the foundations for the new suspension bridge and slowly moving the (extremely heavy) wooden support posts for the cables. There are four posts and it takes 20 people to lift one of them! Mike's birthday was celebrated in style last weekend with yet more fancy dress - a jungle theme this time.


At Alpha 4 in Danum Valley, the group is working with the rangers to clear trails and plant seeds, as well as doing some painting work at the field centre. Continuing the fancy dress trend, Alpha 4 had an animal-themed party on Wednesday. Sadly no photos of that yet, but we'll see what we can do...

Meanwhile among the Adventure groups, Alpha 5 are going great guns on their trek and are well over halfway through already, looking forward to finishing with a relaxing stint on the gorgeous tropical island of Mamutik. Alpha 6 have already finished their diving and just commenced their trek - leaving the ultimate expedition challenge 'til last!


It's a busy phase too for Field Base: Gill is still at Alpha 3 until the weekend, and was joined for a couple of days earlier this week by roving reporters Mark and Anna on their way from visiting Alpha 4. Bob has been out to Alpha 2, and the Loop (Ed, Nic and Bob again) has been to Alphas 1 and 4, heading on to Alpha 3 tomorrow but minus Ed who is now back in Field Base. Carolyn heads out on Sunday to join Alpha 6 on their trek, swapping with Antonia who will be the Field Base Medic for the final week. Then on Tuesday, Mark and Anna set out again to the Dive Island with Alpha 5, and on to the Opening Ceremony at Tampasak with Jim, if Alpha 1 achieve their goal of completing the construction work on the new Kindergarten. Phew.

The end is in sight, with just over a week still to go. As always, please keep your messages coming - we'll be printing them all out to stick up on the notice board at the end of expedition when we return to the very lovely Borneo Paradise...