A few updates before we board the bus to base camp.

Day 1 (San Pedro de Atacama):

Four of the five members of Chafing The Dream arrived in Calama and took a 50min bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama. What a vibrant little town, wow! Inia (the Māori legend, and fifth member of the team) only arrived late that evening. We (and AI) didn't waste time to make fun of him for arriving late:

Day 2:

We headed out the following day around 5:30am to go and explore the Geysers del Tatio, at an astonishing altitude of 4,329m above sea level and Macucha village. Even when walking at a slow pace, you could feel the lack of oxygen, which is probably not the best sign, but we'll wing it and make it work. The geysers were amazing, nonetheless. We also surprised Gabi (Serbian Princess) for his 36th Bday, with shirts worn with custom printed images on of his face. For him, a similar shirt but with all our faces on. It was hilarious and drew a lot of attention hitting town like that for pizza and beer:

Day 3:

Sleep in a bit, go for a last jog before the race (to keep the race juices flowing ;)) and then race pre-briefing and gear check. My bag weighed in at 9.6kg (before water) which is slightly above my previous race bag weight, but I'm happy with it considering this time I also brought my GoPro camera, slops for camp, power bank and charging cables. What I DIDN'T bring though, was a bivvy bag, as it seems the item I brought was a space blanket instead of a closed bivvy bag. So they didn't sign-off my gear check yet and last minute running around from Chafing The Dream team to help me look for one whilst I look after our bags and write this blog (thanks guys, you are true gentlemen and squires!). Below an image of what a 250km Ultra Race backpack consists of and also the complete CHAFING THE DREAM team, whoop whoop! Boarding the bus for basecamp at 3pm local time (8pm CAT) and tomorrow is D-DAY with an 8am start for STAGE 1. I will keep everyone posted:

Hey fellow supporters

Just a quick rundown of our first few days in Chile. What an experience thus far!

DAY 1:

After landing around 5am in Santiago, I waited for Sam and Gabi's arrival (each about 2 hours apart). We did both Georgia and Lapland races together and it was great to reunite! We wasted no time after check-in at the hostel to go and explore the city. Met up with a fellow South African (Martin) residing in Santiago who was kind enough to show us around and give recommendations for what the city has to offer. Took a walk up San Cristóbal Hill, with an immaculate view of the capital, followed by some burgers and beer at "El Honesto Mike":

DAY 2:

We decided to head out slightly out of town in search of some more hiking and views. Cerro Manquehue was the next to take in, and honestly, wow! What a view from the top. Scary thought was that this was only at around 1,600m elevation, half of what the Atacama race will start at above sea level. After enjoying the view, we rushed back for a well deserved brunch at Original Green Roasters and pizza for dinner at Domani Pizzeria Napolitana (both highly recommended) :

DAY 3:

Whilst Gabi stayed behind to welcome Etan (4th addition to the team arriving around 9am), Sam and I decided that we haven't had enough elevation and views, so we left the hostel at 6am to go and explore "Glaciar la Paloma" in Yerba Loca park, Despite the unplanned 42km covered for the day (was meant to be 28km max.), it was one for the books, out of this world! We reached 3,525m above sea level and the picture below doesn't do it justice unfortunately. You need to experience it 1st hand. Afterwards we struggled to get a taxi, Uber, Indrive, lift (you name the option, we tried it), due to the park being so remote and an hour's drive from the city. Gabi and Etan came to the rescue by booking an Uber for themselves from Santiago - Yerba Loca park - return. And yes, we are not hearing the end of this exercise about how we got lost and how they saved us. Lol! (FYI the dog "Chocolo", that you see in the 2nd photo, did the whole 42km with us up and down the mountain):

DAY 4:

Rented a car to go and taste some wine in Casablanca (Bodegas RE farm) and see the coastal, South Pacific Ocean city, Valparaíso. The colorful city filled with grafiti art, vibrant vibe and the Concon Dunes was quite a sight. Now, off to San Pedro de Atacama via Calama, with only 3 days to go before race day. Will keep you posted and thanks for the support from all over!

Howzit fellow followers

Only 7 days to go! Can you feel it?

Writing to you from Sao Paulo, Brazil. With a "cozy" 8h layover before my flight to Santiago, Chile. Eish, almost there!

I would like to give a special shoutout to the IBLTS management team in Beira Mozambique, who pleasantly surprized me on Friday before I left office: It started off with a "...we've got a conflict in the workplace issue that needs to be addressed" (smart move, as it was a sensitive topic from the week before), to which my thinking out loud reply was that I'm about to head off to the airport and that it sounded like a "next month" problem to be resolved. They assured me it cannot wait:

"From Managing Us to Managing the Atacama!" & "Marco's Desert Crossing: 250km of No Meetings, No Emails".

Got to love their support and initiative. A sincere, heartfelt thank you: Esse, Abdul, Karabo, Edgar, Rui, Pamela, Afonso and Jussub. You are true legends and a true honor for me to work with you all. Don't tell my wife, but I think you guys might actually be my biggest supporters for this race ;) (just joking. Love you Jinny babes and thanks for allowing me to get onto that flight, hehe)