A brief stop in Punta Arenas

We safely arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile. Normally we stay here for a couple of days to pack gear and get ready. But, bad weather is moving into the area where we will land in Antarctica, so we can’t wait for tomorrow. We have to leave tonight! That means we had two hours to do all of the things we would normally do over a couple of days!

We quickly went to our hotel… not to stay overnight but to get a fast shower and brush our teeth. (We have been in airports and airplanes for a day and a half. Yuck!) We received our cold-weather clothing from the Chilean Antarctic Institute, and repacked our luggage to be ready for use in Antarctica. We also got the safety gear we use from the U.S. Antarctic Program. It has been a busy couple of hours! We ate a quick dinner at the hotel, too, because it’s the last food we will see until tomorrow morning!

Now we are back at the airport waiting for our flight to Antarctica. There is our fight at the top of the Departures board!

We will fly for about two hours to King George Island (which in Spanish is Isla Rey Jorge). This is where the Chilean Base, Escudero, is. However we are not staying at Escudero. We will board a ship to visit the sites in the map I showed you a couple days ago. 

Hannah and Becky about to board the plane to Antarctica

We will have no internet on the ship, so there won’t be any more blog posts until mid-January when we’re back at Escudero. I will tell you all about our adventures when we are back in contact!

…And we’re off!

 

Dr. Becky and Dr. Hannah are on their way to Antarctica! We are currently flying from our homes in the U.S. to Punta Arenas, Chile. Here we are in the Santiago airport. We have made it to Chile! Now we are waiting for our flight to Punta Arenas.

Punta Arena is a small city on the southern tip of Chile. It is on the coast of the Straits of Magellan. It is one of the few places where ships and planes will leave South America to cross the Drake Passage for Antarctica.

We are currently in the Santiago airport (blue dot). We are about to fly to Punta Arenas (red tag). From there, we head across the ocean to the Antarctic Peninsula!

Usually we stay in Punta Arenas over night and travel to Antarctica the next day. That gives us time to gather our gear, hear all of the safety briefings, and have one last good meal before traveling further south. But, the weather forecast is not good for the next few days, so it sounds like our flight to Antarctica might be later tonight! We will have about 5 hours to accomplish all of those things. Plans change frequently in Antarctica, though, so we shall see how it goes!