Expedition Cloudbridge 2017 Team Ready to Depart

Well… this is it. Words can not describe how proud and excited I am to say that team Expedition Cloudbridge are finally venturing out to Costa Rica. In less than a year (9 months) we came together as a team and decided on a research objective that would help aid Cloudbridge Nature Reserve and epitomise the importance of cloud forest ecosystems. Each of us had been assigned to roles to ensure this expedition was a success… and here we are, I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with. We’d like to thank everyone who supported us; without the kind donations, sponsors and help with fundraising events, this expedition would not be happening – thank you!

Our first flight stop turns out to be a fortuitous one; we will be arriving in Toronto where I will get to spend a day with my dad, also providing the team a place to sleep before continuing our journey to San Jose. We will be spending two days at a hostel in San Jose, anticipating the sheer excitement of our expedition and appreciating the warm sun before we enter the rainy conditions of the cloud forest.

For everyone on the team, this would be our very first time stepping foot in the beautiful and bountiful realms of a cloud forest, its not something you can take in over night. In the first week will be familiarising ourselves with our new wild home; acclimatising ourselves, getting our bearings and generally getting comfortable with our new tropical home. During this time, we will be going over our research methodology; planning the logistics and locations of where and how we will be working in the field. Myself and Rhys will be familiarising ourselves with both the light and rainy/humid weather conditions regarding the usages of all our photographic equipment – I think it will be a bit more challenging than working with standard UK conditions. We are also looking forward to meeting the reserves manager Frank and the rest of his team – there will be lots of things to learn from them.

Right now, its very difficult to comprehend that this is happening, for all of us on Expedition Cloudbridge – as young nature/wildlife/conservation enthusiasts, this is a big tick on the bucket list, and we can’t wait to share with you our adventure. Myself and Rhys will be making a documentary about the trip which we will be released a few months after we get back. Keep up to date with our weekly blogs which will be complemented with many exciting images showing the variety of life on Cloudbridge Reserve, as well as our own research. For those that are interested in hearing more about our expedition; finding out more about our research and who we are as a team etc. You can find all this information on the Expedition Base Camp website.

Let’s do this.