Incredibly, I'm sat in departures in Santiago International Airport waiting for a flight to Madrid, Starbucks Grande Cappuccino by my side and my laptop, well on my lap really, checking the hundreds of emails and comments left on my blog.
Thanks so much to everyone that sent me well wishes whilst I was away, it has been so lovely to catch up with them, I will endeavor to respond and thank everyone personally once my feet are back under the desk (metaphorically speaking that is!) Life was so remote on the ice, we had no real idea of what was going on at home, I can't believe Sir Edmund Hillary and Benazir Bhutto have died (well, one of them assassinated!)
We were on tender hooks in Patriot Hills waiting for the weather to clear so the Illusian could land, whilst passing the time with multiple games of cribbage and suduko, several of the teams that had summited Mt. Vison arrived back to also fly out with us. The atmosphere in our poly-tunnel tent was amazing, everyone on a high from their successful expeditions, many completing or just starting their bid for the 7 Summits (climb the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents), sharing food and tales of derring-do.
There was a real mix of true adventurers in the place (myself well and truly excluded!) Ricky De Agrela from South Africa who microlighted around the world in 2003, or Bernice Notenboom, a truly amazing woman, with adventure stories that shadow those of our more prestigious, renowned male explorers. This is a wonderful life, exhilarating in one breath, then nomadic and lonely in the next - but you get to meet the most incredible people, who have broken the mold, taken huge risks and followed their dreams - they are inspiring!
Last night we were out to dinner with our team along with Bernice and John Bourke, a fellow Irish explorer with vast amounts of experience in running and funding expeditions, also Olga Mallo was with us, a Patagonian mountain guide. A great cocktail of characters, whose life stories would captivate you all evening. After a wonderful dinner of local King Crab Chula we went for our ultimate, Pisco Sour (Pisco brandy, lemon juice, sugar, egg whites and bitters) at the Shackleton bar in the centre of town, a fitting place to end our Antarctic celebrations and raise a glass to the 'Endurance'. Sat in the comfy leather club chairs in the wood pannelled bar, walls adorned with watercolours of the heroic era of polar exploration, I could see Shackleton, through my misty, sleep deprived eyes, stood next to me, whipping up a storm of emotion and empathy to organize the rescue mission to save his stranded men still on Elephant Island - cheers Sir Ernest, I hope the ice blocks I carved in your name at your Furthest South (S 88 deg 26 minutes) will stand the test of time.
Thanks so much to everyone that sent me well wishes whilst I was away, it has been so lovely to catch up with them, I will endeavor to respond and thank everyone personally once my feet are back under the desk (metaphorically speaking that is!) Life was so remote on the ice, we had no real idea of what was going on at home, I can't believe Sir Edmund Hillary and Benazir Bhutto have died (well, one of them assassinated!)
We were on tender hooks in Patriot Hills waiting for the weather to clear so the Illusian could land, whilst passing the time with multiple games of cribbage and suduko, several of the teams that had summited Mt. Vison arrived back to also fly out with us. The atmosphere in our poly-tunnel tent was amazing, everyone on a high from their successful expeditions, many completing or just starting their bid for the 7 Summits (climb the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents), sharing food and tales of derring-do.
There was a real mix of true adventurers in the place (myself well and truly excluded!) Ricky De Agrela from South Africa who microlighted around the world in 2003, or Bernice Notenboom, a truly amazing woman, with adventure stories that shadow those of our more prestigious, renowned male explorers. This is a wonderful life, exhilarating in one breath, then nomadic and lonely in the next - but you get to meet the most incredible people, who have broken the mold, taken huge risks and followed their dreams - they are inspiring!
Last night we were out to dinner with our team along with Bernice and John Bourke, a fellow Irish explorer with vast amounts of experience in running and funding expeditions, also Olga Mallo was with us, a Patagonian mountain guide. A great cocktail of characters, whose life stories would captivate you all evening. After a wonderful dinner of local King Crab Chula we went for our ultimate, Pisco Sour (Pisco brandy, lemon juice, sugar, egg whites and bitters) at the Shackleton bar in the centre of town, a fitting place to end our Antarctic celebrations and raise a glass to the 'Endurance'. Sat in the comfy leather club chairs in the wood pannelled bar, walls adorned with watercolours of the heroic era of polar exploration, I could see Shackleton, through my misty, sleep deprived eyes, stood next to me, whipping up a storm of emotion and empathy to organize the rescue mission to save his stranded men still on Elephant Island - cheers Sir Ernest, I hope the ice blocks I carved in your name at your Furthest South (S 88 deg 26 minutes) will stand the test of time.
2 comments:
Congratulations on your amazing achievement Jon (enjoy the rest!)
It must be such an overwhelming thing to contemplate and begin to put into perspective what you have just accomplished. Cannot wait to catch up with you properly soon (I hope in some civilised manner before you cycle or swim or absail (!) etc over here to NY) and hear more of your tales, but I am so immensely proud of you.
- Daragh.
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