Saturday, March 21, 2015

Finally On My Way

(Punta Arenas!!  Finally ready to launch off into the seas towards Antarctica,
but not until after exploring the town a little bit first)
Well I am finally on my way to Antarctica. It has been 10 months since I signed on for this job, and about 10 years since I first got the idea in my head that I needed to get to Antarctica. It is hard to believe it is actually, finally, really happening. I left from the Memphis airport yesterday evening, after making all my final goodbye phone calls, then had a short stop in Dallas, where I made my final final calls, and met one member of my team after I noticed the Antarctica patch on his backpack.

On the flight to Santiago Chile I got little sleep - I could fall asleep in the middle of a crowded grocery store no trouble, but for some reason I cannot sleep on a plane- but two decent meals and a good start on my current reading material The Mammoth Book of Antarctic Journeys, thank you Simon.  Two of my team members were actually sitting across the aisle and behind me, but I didn't realize it until we had landed in Santiago, Chile and they were talking about the espresso machine breaking last winter, and I figured they must be talking about the station.
(Hope you like my new ride! The orange boat on the right
will be my new home for the voyage down)


I met several more team members as we were escorted through customs and to our next gate by a local agent that made the whole process very easy.  I possibly have the most personal luggage of anyone, though a few people have research gear and other packages that fortunately make my load seem within the normal range, but I am obviously a first-timer. It seems about a third of us are first-timers, about a third are first-time-to-Palmer but have been to the ice before, and a third have been to Palmer before.

It was chilly on the flight to Punta Arenas, and I felt silly, knowing where I'm headed, but had to ask for a blanket. It was a comfortable flight from there.  We were met again by local agents and taken to our hotels. Most of us are at Dreams. A few requested a different place though I can't imagine it is any nicer than here.  I have a great view of the city from my 8th floor room, and from the window by the elevator I can see the Laurence M Gould, where I'll be for the next few nights after this last taste of luxury here at Dreams. The bathroom is all glassed in, but with remote control blinds in case I want privacy from the bedroom, and the shower has that rain shower from above as well as side sprayers.

I did get confused on the time, for some reason the iPhone is an hour behind, so I missed cocktail hour, but I met up later with the group headed for a wild game restaurant. It was closed and we went to a steak place instead. It was certainly no Tim steak, but it was ok, especially the scallops which were delicious.  The wild game place was open later and so we might try for it again tomorrow. Then we went to a local bar, where the six of us met up with the group that had gone out for pizza instead of game. There are enough people in the group that have been here before, so that everyone knows the best places to go. I had some local concoction that included pineapple sorbet and grenadine, a sugary dessert in a glass I suppose.

Tomorrow I will take a final long hot shower before we meet at 10 till 10, to walk to the Warehouse where we will get our issued clothing-I'm so excited for my red parka- and then load onto the ship.  We will then apparently be free for the afternoon, and I have plans to go to a yarn store and a local clothing store where some people last year bought alpaca fleece jackets.

So far, those I have met seem like fun people to spend a long isolated time with.  It's going to be a great winter.

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