Just a quick update today (limited WiFi on the in National Park!).
Arrived in the Torres Del Paine National Park yesterday after a 6 coach ride from Punta Arenas (featuring a quick stop off en-route at Puerto Natales!). The views on the the way over were out of this world and the picture just don’t do them justice. We stopped off at loads of view points and could have easily filled our memories cards with photos, the clouds and views seem to change every few seconds!
We’ve had our Russ and Jeremy moment, spotting lots of wildlife, including Andean Deers, herds of Guanaco, loads of birds and eagles and even a couple of low flying Condors!!!! Just holding out for an elusive Puma…
Today we hiked to Mirador Base Las Torres view point. It was a 20km day, with about 1,000m of ascent – taking about 8.5 hours in total (so we’re all fairly tired tonight!). At the top of this world famous view point we were greeted by… a complete white out and blizzard – so much for spotting some of the world famous climbs!
Tomorrow we’re off to hike another local hill to see if we can get a better view of the Towers (fingers crossed!) before setting off on the next leg of the W-Trek on Saturday.
Stay tuned to the blog – we’ll hopefully have another update further along the Trek!
After a refreshing nights sleep and a hearty Chilean breakfast the team were ready to hit the town. As we stepped out onto the streets, we were hit by a wall of bliss heat. The 30°C heat was a welcome change from dreary cold of England. The first stop of the day was el Museo National de Bellas Artes in downtown Santiago. The cool building was a welcome respite from the now searing heat of the day. The museum had a wide range of art from the 1700s to conceptual art. We set out to find a spot for lunch and fell across a hidden gem of a neighbourhood, Bellavista. There was street art round every corner, strange locals and crazy talks palm trees.
For lunch we were persuaded into a lovely restaurant by Ricky Richardo, to refuel before an expedition up Cerro San Cristobal. They say only mad dogs and English men go out in the mid-day sun, and it turns out they were right! Despite the searing heat, the team made it to the top and were greeted with views from the top that were stunning. After photo taking and postcard buying we treated ourselves to an ice-cream and began our descent. At the bottom Tilda ignored her mother’s advice to buy shorts and purchased some trousers.
We wondered back to the hotel and relaxed before going back out to find dinner. We ended up at a small Peruvian restaurant. Dan demonstrated a glimpse of intelligence by naming some flags. After our meal we headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed to prepare us for a 3:20 am wake up.
The next day we boarded our flight to Punta Arenas. The flight held spectacular view of the Andes and our first glimpse of Patagonia. We met our guide, Nicholas, off the plane and went to a small beach to stretch our legs and kill some time before we could go to our house. It was lovely to have our own space and we spent the rest of the day chilling and had a lovely lunch of Chilean empandas. Later in the day we meet up with Monserratt, who is our Scout contact in Punta Arenas, before cooking our own dinner of paella. We headed to bed early after a relaxed day.
We were up and out by 9 for our tour of Punta Arenas. Nicho is so knowledgeable and it was very interesting. We visited Punta Arenas’ ski resort, view points of the colourful city, the town square, cemetery and then headed to a restaurant for lunch. Most of us experience the fantastic local sea food cuisine. The afternoon was spent buying all our food for the expedition and we bought an ridiculously heavy amount which we hauled back to the house. We totalled 4 and a half expedition bags of food (including 10kg of dried fruits and nuts), but Nicholas was insistent that we’d need it all!
*This only represent 5 of our 8 days of food!
We are heading to Torres del Paine tomorrow so we will catch you up on all our adventures in 10 days.
After a great farewell presentation yesterday, wishing their parents and loved ones Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a Happy Birthday somewhere thrown in the mix, the Patagonia team made their way to the airport today, to set off on their 4 week expedition. Everyone in HSX wishes you a safe flight, we hoped you manage to stay occupied for the whole 18 hours, and we look forward to hearing all about your experiences when you get back. Stay safe, take lots of photos, make lots of memories and enjoy every moment. See you at Ferny Crofts on your return!
” I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.”
“I should think so- in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Make you later for dinner, I can’t think what anybody sees in them.”
Unlike Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, who is dead set against any kind of exploration or adventure, it is clear that HSX members have adventure running through their core.
Last weekend HSX celebrated the 30 year milestone,
That’s 30 years of leading, participating, and developing life changing adventures all around the world.
30 Spectacular years.
The weekend followed our normal September plan, a training weekend at Ferny Crofts, this year we had two current expedition teams in attendance, Cambodia, which are heading off this winter 2016 for 4 weeks, and Patagonia, a team heading off next winter 2017 to Chile. The expedition teams took part in their own programmes, some PT, first aid training and continuous team building were all on the cards. Those who were left also took part training, on how to lead expeditions, running events, learn about budgets etc…All of that exciting stuff.
On Sunday we had a classic big BBQ and were joined by HSX members from the past, who with them bought an exchange of stories and photos that have not seen the light for many, many years.
It was a great afternoon, where the newer members and current expeditions could see where HSX started and came from, and the older members from previous expeditions could see that the sense of adventure is still as strong as it ever was.
Even though we are 30 years old, we feel like we are just getting started, we have a fantastic future ahead, with more adventures, more expeditions and more exciting plans on the horizon.
Somewhere in the story, Bilbo decides that actually, an adventure can be quite exciting, he wishes to see the great mountains, smell the pine trees and hear the waterfalls, ultimately his sense of adventure is overpowered so sets of on a journey.
We still have a journey to complete, and a story to tell.
Thank you to everyone who has ever played any part in our adventures.
Here’s to another, spectacular 30 years.
In 2017 our expedition will take us to Torres Del Paine National Park, where we will undertake our trekking phase.
Have a look at this short time-lapse video taken from across the National Park to find out lots of the places the Patagonia team will be visiting. I’m sure you’ll agree that the locations are quite stunning!
Inspired by what you’ve seen? Drop the leadership team a line at Patagonia@hsx.org.uk to find out the how you could get involved with this once in a life time expedition!
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