Hash Trash #537 The Rio de la Plata Hash

Once we had learnt here in Buenos Aires that a new Hash kennel had been set up in Montevideo, Uruguay, it was inevitable that we would get together sooner, rather than later, to have a joint Inter-Hash with our friends across the river. With the encouragement and dedication of Roger The Cabin Boy and Red Hot Chilli from BA, combined with Karine(GM) and Karine(RA) from Uruguay, the first International Rio De La Plata Hash took place on Sunday, April 10th, in Colonia del Sacramento, on the banks of the River Plate.

The BsAs Hashers made their way across the river by various boats, with Buquebus taking some, Seacat others, and a small armada of private yachts (well, Ok, two is a small armada!), making their way to Colonia. A large contingent of Uruguayos arrived on Saturday evening and an evening of fine dining, dancing, quite a bit of drinking, and I understand quite a few late night revelers only making it to bed as the sun was rising over the old town.

The sun shone down on Colonia (thanks to the RA's), and the Hash began to gather on the grass, with the BA Hashers laughing and joking, and the Uruguayos stretching and limbering up for some serious athletic pursuit. Ivor the Engine and Windy Culo had been limbering up in true Hash style on Saturday, by entertaining Raymundo from Quito (via Coolock, Dublin), but I fear that the only stretching had been to pick up another bottle of red wine. Gradually we all assembled, the GM welcomed one and all to this momentous occassion, the hares explained the different types of markings we would find on this 3-dimensional hash (we didn't know what his meant either!), and we were off!

For those unfamiliar with Colonia (you legal guys who have never had to enjoy a Visa run!), it is an old portuguese town, picturesque, and built out onto the river. Well, the first steps of the hash took us down to the town wall, and onto the rocks, where first blood went to Ivor when his knee decided to take a closer inspection of the terra-firma, but he was up and running before his engine whistle could toot. A scramble up into the town and across the drawbridge onto the cobbled streets, with tourists stopping to wonder what these cries of On-On were, and the local mime artist suddenly playing second fiddle to 40 plus hashers, still tightly packed together at this early point.

The hares had laid a clever trail back down towards the river, and then in one movement, we went down the steps to be faced with the first wading excursion of the day - Into the beautiful clear crystal blue waters of the Rio Plata (EDITORIAL LICENCE!) - Having successfully negotiated the water, Windy Culo decided that sand was a perfect place to turn over on your ankle, and promptly fell onto the floor in much the same way that Christian Ronaldo collapses under a tug at his shirt. To be fair, Windy was in some pain, and a quickly swelling ankle put paid to his Hashing for the day. Fortunately for him, there was a bar withing sight, and he hobbled over to there to partake of a beer or three while he waited for the Pack to return in time - Always helps to numb the pain....

Away from the water, the pack headed out of the old town and along the cobbled streets of this very pretty location. We headed past the football stadium, climbed a hillside (the trail actually went up steps - but hashers never take the easy option), and just as it appeared to be getting boring along a main road, we descended some steps down into a wooded valley, clambering through undergrowth, before climbing back up to a road and civilization again.

The pack split a little here, but after two different routes, seemed to converge again a few kilometres along in a park/scrubland area, with trails, horses, and flies in abundance. A number of checks had us guessing, but thanks to the Uruguayan RA being with us (also one of the hares), we stayed on trail, and found ourselves on the beach. Another rocky climb saw arrows pointing straight into the river, and many a soul followed blindly, while the wiser ones looked for a way across the rocks. The waders were waist high (or head high in a couple of cases of slippage), and emerged onto the sandy beach smiling and cursing at the same time, but all in one piece, if a little wet!

We followed the railway line back towards the dock, through a villa, with children shouting On On to us (or was it Hola?), and before we knew it, we were heading back to the starting point, after a run of around 12 kilometres, and the First Inter-Hash of the Rio Plata was ready for a circle.

Ivor lead proceedings, as Karine & Guillermo explained that their circles were relatively short, so the BsAs group, with Ivor explaining everything in English, and Easy Rides Her acting as translator, managed to show how to do down downs, with

Windy being held upside down, just to take the weight of his poor ankle, to celebrate his 169th Hash, and many more for various reasons, which you can guess at. Footsie lead the community singing, a new addition for Uruguay who only knew one Hash song (song sheets will be sent for future use), and the circle came to an end with a rendition of Swing Low, to cement the International Co-operation.

We descended on a local restauramt for food, beer, wine, and more singing, where, despite the glorious sunshine, Footsie lead the assembled throng in a great rendition of Singing In The Rain, and a lot of new friendships were made, in the spirit of Hashing worldwide. A tremendous success, and everyone present looking forward to repeating the event in Argentina next time.