Antarctica TOUCHDOWN

Published January 15, 2019

So remote, so FAN-TAS-TICAL, a modern day Jules Verne novella – HELLO from the bottom of the World 😊

Two days past I boated open-water & ranger-walked a Chilean penguin reserve. Today, chinstrap penguins observed ME – a trail of foreign runners trekking to a makeshift camp two miles distance. Beyond my wildest dreams. I was here.

Diego de Almagro hotel lobby. One carry-on, one checked bag. ‘do not Disturb‘ tagged my door, room rented for a week. Sixty+ on-time travelers, ready/all accounted for.

Passports collected, boarding passes distributed, every seat sold. Solid buzz of timber. Voice arcs of language, loud laughter, buzz-buzz-buzz. No ONE dominate conversation, a happy mix of shares. ANTARCTICA DREAM realized – multiplied 60.

3 hour flight. Cloud cover obscured all window-touristing. Propeller buzz, the new constant. Static comforting drone of sound. Lost in individual thought, wrapped inside our own Private Idaho. Quiet anticipation. 20 minutes out, descending. Hum change.

Ocean, white caps. First LOOK. NO, not white caps – ICEBERGS.

Snow scattered LAND below. Holy moly – WOW WOW WOW! First PASS. Plane tipped left, UP, circled twice. Now confidentially approaching, 2^nd descent. Peninsula littered with Research Modulars painted red – Russia, Chile, Korea, China.

Close, close, closer…TOUCHDOWN. CHEERS from the Team. Job WELL done.

Imminent immediate Photo Tourette’s. You know, same pic 20x – absolutely no difference. Can’t be helped. Sensory overwhelm.

Disembark. Bag retrieval. Two-mile hike to camp, three groups of 20.

barren, LUNAR…

& PENGUINS. Welcome to Antarctica! 🐧❄️❤️