After a crazy night of questionable life choices, woke to a BANG.
rap, RAP, Rap. Hotel door. Up, spinning, WALL, bed. Where am I?! rap, RAP, Rap. Focus. Diego de Almagro. Punta Arenas. I’ve got this. Back in Chile.
Conversation: Bus is leaving in 15 minutes. I don’t feel well, think I’m skipping today’s trip. You can sleep on the bus. Ugh. Ok, ok. 15 minutes. I’ll be there.
Change of clothes. Sip of juice. Teeth brushed. On the bus.
Conversation: How do you feel? Green 🤢
Bus stop. AMAZING what 3 hours sleep can do. Splashed water on my face. NEW day. Puerto Natales, border town between Chile & Argentina. COKE Sabor purchase. Thanks Katya. Would’ve LIFE MISSED Torres del Paine without ya. Road trip!
Landscape reminiscent of HOME.
Prairie grasses, MASSIVE PEAKS jutting STRAIGHT UP — an oil painting of colour. Turquoise water, snow-capped peaks. Colorado HOME…well, almost. Except for the guanacos, Chile’s native llama variety 🦙
Murky grey Laguna Amarga, 10 minutes more. Silt-fed glacier water. 180-degree turn.
pull over, PULL OVER. GUANACOS. Native, unafraid, running wild amongst us. On the lake? FLAMINGOS. FOREVER memory/life imprint. Photo FLOOD. I was here.
Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Entrance selfie, day pass purchased, passport stamped. Each bus stop progressive/building on the last/memory upon memory. Another peak, more glacier-fed waters. Salto Grando trail, Mirador los Cuernos. Thunderous waterfall, wind whipping off the MONSTER WALL above. YES, YES, YES!
GROUP pic time. Complete strangers a week ago. Different countries/language/age. Marathon brothers/sisters, ALL Antarctica adventurers. I heart my new RUN FAMILY.
Day trip in South America’s Andes Mountains.
HOME from HOME, my mountain soul fed ❤️
-
- first LOOK
-
- South America’s ANDES
-
- turquoise BLUE
-
- Laguna Amarga
-
- GUANACO 🦙
-
- Chilean llama
-
- FLAMINGO
-
- FOREVER memory
-
- Parque Nacional
-
- Cerro Paine Grande
-
- Salto Grande
-
- Cuernos del Paine (Norte, Principal, Este & Fortaleza)
-
- breezy STRONG
-
- adventurer RUN FAMILY
-
- mountain soul fed ❤️
Torres del Paine
Don’t you know promises were never meant to keep?
Just like the night, they dissolve off in sleep
I’ll be your savior, steadfast and true
I’ll come to your emotional rescueOoh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ~ the Rolling Stones
“The Endurance”
Wait, wait – GO GO GO!
Extreme travel takes extreme patience. My Canada bestie worked in Nunavut Territory for several years. Blogged a lotta shots of empty open airports. Travel delays, flight cancellations, re-routed itineraries. Overnight stays in non-destination towns.
No air traffic controllers on Antarctica. Visual landing on a tundra-scrapped runway. Xtreme weather possibilities. For the White Continent Team just waiting on clear skies. Antarctica summer. Cloud cover on King George Island determines our fly window.
Another breakfast, another lunch.
Eat big or sleep. Run long, not run. Not your typical pre-marathon routine. Not sure when I’m marathoning – what day, even what time of day. Crazy life adventure.
What it does give you? Time. Time to read those prep instructions emailed October past. Truly not a procrastinator, really. Super goal oriented. But…I’m a solo runner. Living by yourself, super sensitive to the inner,
constant danger, safe return doubtful
strengths/limitations – where you can push, areas there’s ‘no positive’ – mental constraints, complications, long lists of details. Can overwhelm, spiral confidence. Soooo…ya nip the details, rip off the toe nail, don’t overthink & blindly move forward. No wallowing in what one can’t do. Repackage, redirect, move forward. Anything is POSSIBLE – 62 of us will run Antarctica. Different countries, ages, run backgrounds. Proof: diverse paths can reach the same unique destination.
Hurry, hurry, wait. Hill-climbed past the cemetery, UP to Cerro de la Cruz — the Lookout. Scenic panorama of this coastal outpost: Punta Arenas (aka Sandy Point). Mercado-shopped for more coconut water. Spanish struggle, communication fail. HOWEVER, successfully used an ATM first time. More Monopoly money. VICTORY!
Two ladies speaking English – they’ve gotta be part of our group. We’re leaving at midnight. Have you heard? There’s a sign in the hotel lobby. Prep talk at 6pm.
Adrenaline RUSH. What? What? WHaT? Emotional ROLLER COASTER. OMG – I should’va done this/this/this, I still need to pack. OMG – it’s happening. It’s really happening. ANTARCTICA!
-
- Cerro de la Cruz
-
- the Lookout
-
- Monkey Puzzle Tree
-
- Pre-Flight Briefing
-
- ZERO Impact
ZERO Impact (Pre-Flight Briefing)
North Pole polar bears, South Pole penguins.
Early breakfast, lobby FULL with runners. Marathon Day? Nope, PENGUINS. Easy half-mile walk to the Pier, tickets presented, boarded a ferry. Open water excursion, short hour away. Isla Magdalena. No cancellation, no refund, no need – I kissed the BRASS 😊
Nervous excited boat chatter. Seas rolling but not rough. Couple sprays from a distant whale pod. Just a distraction. Island approach – close, close, closer, PENGUINS.
Disembark instructions: stay on trail, keep moving & don’t chase the natives.
🐧 Magellanic Penguin 🐧
South American penguin, breeding in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil where they are occasionally seen as far north as Rio de Janeiro…most numerous of the Spheniscus penguins.
Mass: 8.8 lbs Conservation status: Near Threatened (Population decreasing)
Day’s excursion did NOT disappoint. Literally HUNDREDS of PENGUINS.
Adults matched in size by the dull fluffy adolescent chicks they still supported, preened & fed. Seemingly nesting EVERYWHERE. HIGHLY recommended MUST-DO TRIP.
Sooooo much bigger than the wee blue ones seen in Oamaru (NZ/Mar 2017). Just WOW!
Rock-rock-rocky, return ride home. Took short breaks outside. Let the cold Tierra del Fuego air numb the quease. Whole lotta retching. Yikes! Who knew my lithe fit Asian brothers stomach’d so much bile? Just as well today was not Antarctica Day. Folks gonna need an extra day or two to repopulate calories. Ick. Just the sheer Sound, the Smell. Sad souls.
Post-boat dinner? Heck yeah, I’m not one to miss a meal 🍴 Italian dinner. Long table of 8. Julian (France). Brad (Quebec). Kentucky Dave. Circle continues to grow.
Pre-Flight Briefing tomorrow. ZERO impact (group poop 💩) discussion.
-
- PENGUIN Day!
-
- Los Pingüinos
-
- 🐧🐧
-
- penguin CROSSING
-
- adolescent fluff
-
- peep preening
-
- SEA GULL chicks
-
- Chilean lighthouse
-
- seasonal pair ❤️
-
- circle of FRIENDS
Isla Magdalena
