Our first day

Today was a relaxing day. It was just a bit of hanging around Ushuaia, taking some photos of town, a half-submerged wooden boat, and the mountains surrounding the town. It was fairly cloudy - we should have done more photography yesterday, but as we were exhausted, we weren't really thinking about that then. We have rested up, and it's a good thing as tomorrow starts early with a 6:45am meeting to pick up luggage tags to ensure our bags get delivered to the right cabin on the boat. Then it's off to Tierra del Fuego National Park for our first day of photography with the experts and lots of interesting scenery and hopefully lots of birds.

Don't worry...this is not actually our boat!

We made it to Ushuaia!

After about 30 hours of travel, we finally arrived at our hotel in Ushuaia, Argentina - Fin del Mundo (the end of the world, and it truly is!). All of our travel was pretty much on schedule. We also got all of our luggage both in Buenos Aires, where we had a 7 hour layover, and again in Ushuaia. Our flight out of Chicago departed about 30 minutes late as they held the plane due to some late international arrivals. But we had a 2 1/2 hour layover scheduled for Miami, so it wasn't a problem for us. The longest flight was from Miami to Buenos Aires, which took off about half an hour late, so we arrived around 8:15am Thursday morning instead of at 7:20am as expected and we really didn't get much sleep on the flight, even though we had our excellent exit row seats with lots of legroom. After clearing customs in Buenos Aires, we took a minivan across town to the domestic airport. There we had a lengthy layover while awaiting out 3:45pm flight - it was another 3 1/2 hours from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. So lots of travel and we are pretty much exhausted.

We've already met some great people who are on this trip with us. In Miami, we met a couple from Wyoming who are semi-retired. They were on this same Cheeseman's tour 3 years ago. We also met a gentleman from Birmingham, Alabama for whom this is his fourth trip to Antarctica. He says it's just a magical place which draws him to return. During our layover in Buenos Aires, we met a lot of people who will be on the ship with us. It turns out there are several others who have been to Antarctica before, with or without the Cheesemans, and some who have been on other Cheesemans tours. After we checked into our hotel, a group of us went out to dinner. Lori had excellent, excellent grilled sea bass, while Greg had king crab (a local specialty) with a sauce and some mussels and shrimp. The fish was all really good and fresh.

We have a free day in Ushuaia on Friday. We intend to spend the day checking out the town, which seems to be quite nice. But for now, it's off to bed for us so we can get some much-needed sleep!

Twas the Night Before...

Well, it's the night before our departure and we're just about ready to go. I stopped at Walmart and Target on the way home from work to pick up the last couple of items - a lock for one bag, some spare batteries for a camera remote, and some handkerchiefs. Now I have to combine those with the last-minute purchases from yesterday - dramamine, eye drops, etc., and get everything stuffed into the bags once and for all.

 

I've been monitoring the flights the last few days and though the weather looks good, our flight departing Chicago has been delayed several times in the last week. Here's hoping we are on time or close to it tomorrow. We do have a 2 1/2 hour layover in Miami, so hopefully that will give us enough time for any glitches. And I've checked (surprised?) and the later flight from Miami to Buenos Aires does have some open seats still. I guess there's nothing to do but hope for the best.

 

We are bringing 3 duffel bags, two camera backpacks, and one hard-sided roller bag that's virtually indestructible to be used to carry some additional camera stuff (like the tripods) and potentially cameras if we run into weight issues in Buenos Aires for the flight to Ushuaia. It seems like a lot but it's hard to know what we could eliminate and stay comfortable for a month away.

 

After all the planning, the moment has nearly arrived!

Time to Panic?

It's the Friday before Christmas and we still have a lot to do to prepare for this trip. Most of the winter gear we'll be wearing is gathered together but nothing is packed yet. And shipboard clothing hasn't really been decided yet either. The camera equipment is a different story altogether - we have everything we need, but stuff is scattered all over the house. We will spend some time today and over this long weekend getting everything pulled together and figuring out how to pack it all efficiently so it fits and minimizes the risk of having excess baggage fees.

 

I've been checking the weather forecast repeatedly now that you can see a reasonable forecast for next Wednesday, our departure date. So far, so good. They're predicting only a 10-20% chance of precipitation and mild temperatures. Our biggest concern, and the one thing we can't control, is the weather in Chicago when we are trying to leave. So far, it's looking hopeful!

 

We got more information about shipboard communication while we are away. We're pretty confident that we'll be able to send out text email messages so we can continue to update the blog. Greg's got his "scheme" all put together so we can achieve that objective at a minimum cost. He's researched the various email / internet access options, assessed the pricing, concluding some of the pricing was a bit crazy, and so developed a way to minimize data transmission and maximize value. Is anyone surprised??

 

I've already made a dinner reservation at a restaurant in Ushuaia for the evening of December 30. It's called Kalma Resto and it got some great reviews on Trip Advisor. Yes, I've looked at menu offerings and think I'll be having fish and I think Greg should have the king crab (it's all about the food!). We've also learned that high quality chocolates are something to shop for in Ushuaia. So we've got some things to focus on for the free day we'll have when we arrive. 

 

Our ship has left Uruguay, where it was being refurbished and made ready for this voyage. It's now heading south off the coast of Argentina and we'll be watching it closely these next few days. We board the ship on December 31 so there's still quite a bit of time before it absolutely has to be there. Well, I'll sign off for now and try to get going on our final preparations - including figuring out what to cook for Christmas before we go!

17 days to go

In the last week, we've received the last of our online purchases. Everything from additional camera equipment and accessories to earplugs arrived throughout the last week. I've got a list of a few items to purchase at the very last minute - things like Bonine for motion sickness, eye drops for dry eyes, etc. that we want to bring but may not use. I figure if I purchase these items just before our departure I can return them if they are unused on the trip.

 

I've also started putting more and more items into the spare bedroom, awaiting the final packing. Today I spent some time with the new tripod, making sure that I understand how to operate the head and the legs, unfolding it and folding it back up again. We got the final pre-departure letter from the Cheesemans on Friday night, filled with last minute information and also a list of the participants and expedition leaders including pictures. It looks like there are 91 participants and 15 leaders, including the three Cheesemans. We also learned that 52 people (including us) are on the flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia on Dec. 29. That's about half the group, so we're pretty confident that if something happens with that flight we won't be left behind!

 

There are of course a few last minute items to consider, and we do need to wrap things up at work before we go. But with only 17 days left to departure, it's beginning to feel real!

The Countdown Has Begun!

We are now just 24 days away from departing our home in Chicago, heading to Fin Del Mundo - the end of the world! We've done a test pack, ensuring that we have all the right gear and that it all fits in our bags, and that we won't seriously violate the weight restrictions we will face within Argentina. Greg is still madly researching and purchasing the final pieces of camera equipment we are bringing. And I'm trying to get our bags totally organized so that we don't forget anything. It's coming up quickly and we are getting more excited every day!