The airport is a zoo. I stand in the wrong line for five, maybe ten minutes until I figure out what’s happening. Then I see it – the web check-in counter. I checked in online last night, I’m good to go. That line, it’s got two people in it, rather than the crowd of humans at the non-web check-in.
A guy leaps in front of me and interrogates the gate clerk. I don’t care; I’m so relieved to be out of the scary sprawling long line.… continued…
It is a long way from my house in Seattle to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina. It is longer if you go via New York, which I did, but I was not even the least bit sorry for the extra time and distance.
In New York I found coffee and a laughing Puerto Rican janitor — “Oh no! You understand Spanish!?!?” “Just the dirty words.”
And in New York I was found by Mike Barish, who fetched me in a red car and drove me to Coney Island where there was a pink sky and a full moon and a lot of Russians fishing off the pier.… continued…
Shackleton titled the memoir about his epic journey to the ice and back “South.” It’s an understated title for an historic adventure, as though his trip was just a little meander towards the pole, an idea, really, nothing special. South. I’ve been reading his book in bits and pieces over the past month. It’s not easy going; it’s full of numbers and measurements and dull discussions of the weather and then, all of a sudden,there’s a bit of spectacular poetic writing or a story that makes me glad I skimmed the pages rather than skipped them entirely.… continued…
Here’s some promotional footage by the folks who operate the Plancius, my new ship for Antarctica. I sail on February 22nd. … continued…
Meet the M/V Plancius. She’s a refurbished scientific research vessel, given a full once over about three years ago. She holds 110 passengers along with about 40 crew (including the expedition leaders — the science and nature guides). She’s not a huge ship, but she’s not the littlest cruise ship you can take to Antarctica either. She comes with camping gear and kayaks, in case you’re the sturdy type who wants to spend the night on land and/or isn’t afraid of dumping into the frigid waters of Antarctica.… continued…
