The jungles of Central America are a far cry from the genteel surroundings of Dartmouth - but that was the chosen destination of a group of adventurers from Britannia Royal Naval College, writes Lt Cdr Paul Rowland.

The 12-strong party of young Naval officers, a submariner nuclear engineer and an Army IT expert headed to Costa Rica on Expedition Britannia Challenge, an adventurous training trip to develop leadership, team and technical kayaking skills in challenging and unfamiliar surroundings.

The three-week trip to the mountains and jungles of Costa Rica was split into three phases; a four-day self-supported trek through primary tropical rainforest in the Corcovado National Park, a four-day ascent of the highest peak in Central America - Cerro Chirripo, 3,820m high - followed by two weeks of kayaking and rafting on the white-water rivers of the central highlands.

The expedition proved an unqualified success across the spectrum of the trekking and white-water phases, and provided the robust and arduous challenge as intended.

The Corcovado peninsula, consisting of some of the remotest lowland wet forest in the country, provided a challenging environment, especially as the team had to acclimatise whilst trekking in the hot and humid climate.

However, the excellent trails and Ranger Posts ensured that although arduous, the hazards remained relatively benign.

Wet boots and singing frogs all through the night proved the most tiring irritants, and the mosquitoes proved as good as the best Highland midges at getting into the tent at night.

The diversity of wildlife was outstanding, ranging from poisonous snakes and frogs, through many species of bird, to huge blue morph butterflies and millions of ants.

Close encounters with the nastier aspects of the local inhabitants were avoided, but dodging the caiman (up to three metres long) and white tipped reef sharks whilst swimming across the mouth of the Rio Sirena at the end of one day focused the minds of all, and saw a few surprisingly energetic Duncan Goodhew impressions.

Many of the team had not been to altitude before, and the ascent of Cerro Chirripo, with its steep climbs, was quite a daunting prospect.

By staying in the Park Ranger refuge near the summit, the team saved carrying the weight of camping equipment, but it still took nine hours to climb the first 2,000m after a 4am start.

Sleep was fitful at an altitude of 3,400m, but the reward was sweet when they made it to the top of Central America the following day.

After the obligatory team photo they also bagged the nearby summit of Cerro Terbi (3,765m).

Views were not the most spectacular, because of low cloud base, but it was well worth the effort to walk amongst unspoiled cloud forest.

Doing their bit for the environment, and hoping the extra weight would aid their tired legs in the descent, they each carried out 2 kg of rubbish from the Rangers refuge on their return to civilisation the next day.

After the two trekking phases a short rest was called for, to sort out kit and rejuvenate tired limbs.

A near perfect campsite was found, in amongst palm trees and set back around 100m from a practically-deserted sandy beach, with around a metre of surf on tap.

The Dartmouth team spent two days here fitting out the kayaks and testing them in the surf.

Throughout the trip they were accompanied by a local guide, and the majority of the kayaks were hired locally. They had also hired a large bus for their exclusive use, with accompanying smiling and joking driver.

The chance to travel the country in the company of locals was an added bonus to the trip - they always got the best deals, were taken to the best spots, and were royally looked after.

After their beachside break, they got down to the serious business of running the local rivers.

All the young officers were intermediate paddlers, and this was an excellent opportunity to hone and develop the basic skills they had learnt on the rivers of Devon and Wales.

A gradual progression of white-water difficulty over the ten-day period was planned, and seven rivers were paddled in all, some featuring excellent stretches of water which were paddled a number of times.

The towns of Dominical and Torrialba were used as bases, the first on the Pacific coast, the second on the Gulf side of the central mountain range.

The expedition was carried out in the rainy season, so careful timing of trips was necessary to avoid the flash floods that regularly hit the area in mid-afternoon.

T shirts were the order of the day for paddling clothing as the sun was fierce and the water pleasantly warm. The rivers varied from big volume pool-drop, to fast and steep boulder-strewn creeks.

The Rio Pejibaye proved a good choice early on in the river phase, and was a good mix of technical Grade IV water in its upper reaches, gradually easing to the easier Grade II and III water which made an excellent skill development environment.

The Rio Reventazon followed, the team running the 'Power House' section, to increase the tempo and prepare the team for the final river of the trip, the Rio Pacuare.

The Pacuare is a real gem, and ranks as one of the top rivers in Central America.

It took the team two days to cover a 28km section - but what a two days it was.

Hidden deep in steep valleys covered in impenetrable jungle, the river runs with clear blue water and has abundant wildlife.

There are over 35 named rapids of grade III/IV, most of them ending with deep, slow-moving pools - useful for picking out the odd swimmer.

There are some awesome surfing waves, and many a whoop and holler were heard echoing around the canyons as each took their turn in pulling off their fancy moves.

Six of the team took to a raft, while the remainder used kayaks, and all support equipment was loaded on another raft, allowing all to enjoy the river to its maximum.

As well as the challenge and fun of the white water there were side canyons and waterfalls to explore and slide down, all combining to give the Rio Pacuare a magical quality, and a fitting end to the expedition.

Coats Rica is an amazingly diverse country and relatively easy to tour around.

The roads are of good quality, if a bit limited in number, and although Spanish is the local tongue, many people can understand English as Americans are frequent visitors.

Food is fairly basic out of the main centres of population, with black beans being the staple diet.

The Britannia trip would not have been possible without financial help from DNPTS, HQ 5 Div, the RN & RM Sports Lottery and the Sailors and Fleet Amenities Fund.

The College's own recreational fund also assisted, and personal contributions were approximately £600.

All of the Young Officers and the other team members returned with many great memories and experiences to build on.

The team trekked over 96km and ascended a total of 3,000m through rainforest, cloud forest and paramo.

On seven rivers they ran a total of 108km, with water graded up to IV.

This was a rare opportunity for team members to be introduced to the unique challenges of living in and traversing neotropical rainforests and of kayaking technical white water.

Both elements gave the chance for serving personnel to sample real adventure and test themselves in extreme environments.