Around the world, people are taking steps to keep their families and communities healthy and safe through social distancing. Our guides are no exception. MT Sobek guides around the world are staying home to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Staying home is a very different adventure from the kind they are used to!
We asked our guides what they do to stay fit and entertained while social distancing in their home countries, and we wanted to pass along the advice and words of encouragement they shared. As we receive more updates, we will add more blogs to share their letters of hope and encouragement.
Sanjeev Chhetri
Nepal
Explore Mystical Mustang, Everest Lodge-to-Lodge Trek, & Everest Base Camp Trek
We are currently under lockdown in Kathmandu, since 24 March. So far the lockdown is ’til 17 April but it might get extended after that. As we live in a gate community with 55 other families, we are fortunate that we can still go out for walks, to jog, and to bike. In Nepal, most of the grocery stores are not open but they are providing home deliveries three times a week so we are getting our food and other supplies.
As our son Siddhartha went to California last year for university, he is also currently under lockdown. He is staying with our relatives in the Bay Area so he is in good hands. Here in Nepal, there is only my wife Sirish and I at home. The routine these days is early morning I go for my bike ride within our community. My wife had been working out regularly at a local gym for years, so since the lockdown we set up a small home gym on our roof terrace so after my bike ride I join my wife for our daily workouts on the terrace. I also try my golf shots on our terrace (without the balls of course). After breakfast we talk with our son on FaceTime and then start our daily routine of cleaning, cooking, and washing. I also spend my time doing gardening, mostly cutting/pruning and water. After dinner I go for a walk about one and a half hours and sometimes watch Netflix before going to bed.
I think it is even more important in times like this to be physically active so daily exercise in any form is good.
We are all in this together and I strongly believe that we will come out of this leaving the coronavirus behind us. As the saying goes, “the storm will pass and the sun will rise again.” So looking forward for our paths to cross again in the near future. Until then, stay strong, stay healthy, and stay happy.
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Rodrigo “Ro” Bahamóndez
Chile
Hiker’s Patagonia, Patagonia Explorer, Hiking Patagonia’s ‘W’ Route, & On the Smugglers’ Trail in Patagonia
Hello MT Sobek friends! Hope you are doing well through this time.
Here in southern Patagonia I’m sheltering at home. Lockdown hit us in Punta Arenas and probably soon in Puerto Natales, but the most important thing is to stay safe and keep ourselves healthy. Here in the cabin where I live, I have time to do some fishing, improve my fly casting, and do some mountain biking before the winter comes. I’m also using the time to catch up with reading and eternal home projects. Of course, I’ve also been going all-in on maintenance – never has home been so set and clean!
I’m looking forward to this message finding you well at home and send the warmest regards from Patagonia.
Ro
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Erik Perez
Spain
Across the Pyrenees & El Camino de Santiago
Dear Friends at MT Sobek:
From Spain, I want to tell you that I am very well and healthy, despite the difficult times in which we are living.
In Asturias, northern Spain, where I live, the situation is better than in the big cities of Spain; we’re more inside the mountains and this area is mostly rural. We spend the days sheltered in place at home, although it is possible to shop and go for basic needs. Hiking, climbing, or skiing is not allowed, but we all understand.
Life for me, besides training daily to keep in shape, goes very smoothly with my main hobbies: reading more history books, and following politics and social issues in the media. The picture down below is at home with the mountains of Picos de Europa (part of the Cordillera Cantabrica), where I started working with MT Sobek. On the other side of those mountains, south of here, is where El Camino de Santiago goes by.
I hope we will meet here in Spain in the future to hike one of these areas that means so much to me.
All the best to you.
Our global family is the heart of adventure – we’re all in this together. Keep your families, your communities, and yourselves healthy and safe. When it’s time to explore again, we’ll be here to make it happen for you. Reach out to our knowledgeable destination experts anytime with questions or for additional information as you envision where your next journey may take you.