A teenage scout from Aberfeldy has left home in Highland Perthshire to embark on a four-week voyage to Antarctica.
Eighteen-year-old Alex Maciver of 17th Perthshire (Aberfeldy) Scouts was added to a team from Kent going on the epic ReQuest2021 project when a member had to drop out.
The ReQuest2021 project idea was that of Alan Noake former District Commissioner of Kent Scouts and an admirer of Ernest Shackleton. He spent seven years putting the whole thing together.
Alex and another youth leader from Aberdeen are the only Scottish recruits on the journey to carry out geographical experiments in the ice 100 years after great explorer Shackleton made the same voyage on a ship named Quest.
Alex got a head start on a jumbo jet. He had to travel down to England on Christmas Day to be at Heathrow in time for a flight to Buenos Aries on Boxing Day.
The meet at Terminal 5 was the very first time the party of scouts had been together in full due to their geographical locations and the late team changes.
No jeans for the long haul journey as Scottish Scouts never travel without their kilt and Alex was no exception.
On Monday, December 27 he flew on to Ushuaia in Argentina. It’s the southernmost tip of South America, nicknamed the “End of the World” and serves as the gateway to Antarctica.
Without COVID being a factor, here he would have got his first sight of the famous penguin colonies - but the ReQuest crew had to quarantine instead.
The first blog reported: “With less than 48 hours to go until the team set sail, we are all now in a hotel in Ushuaia quarantining.
“The biggest tease being that we can see the impressive Bark Europa from our windows, waiting to take us onwards on our journey.
“Spirits are high.”
The final PCR test done, Alex’s tall-masted ship sailed yesterday. He will now be aboard Bark Europa until January 20, involved in the adventure of a lifetime.
Proud mum and group leader of 17th Aberfeldy Scouts Alison Maciver will update everybody about what happens along the way.
She saw her son off at Heathrow after months of preparation: “All his kit had to be bought well before the trip to make sure it fitted.
“Alex had to take an ocean sailing suit, base, mid and top layers. He needed deck boots and boots for walking on land in Antarctica.
“All his kit has to be pristine to prevent the transfer of particles such as foreign seeds to Antarctica.”
Alison added: “I hope everything goes well now. It will be very different for Alex this New Year.
“We can’t wait to hear all about it - ice, penguins, sea travel - on his return.”
On January 21 Alex gets back to Buenos Aries for a long weekend exploring the capital city, then he flies back to the UK on January 25.
Readers can follow the ReQuest2021 journey through the website blog https://www.request2021.org.uk/expedition/expedition-blog/ and at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReQuest2021, https://twitter.com/request2021 and follow the ship via satellite at https://www.barkeuropa.com/follow-the-ship
