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Setting Off Day 4
The Drake Passage: 59.1 ° S, 62.4° W, 3C (°37F) Setting off, DAY 4! As I noted in my first post, it’s not that easy to visit to Antarctica. We left Ushuaia last night around 8:00 pm, and have spent today crossing the Drake Lake – known by cartographers as the Drake Passage, but when…
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Setting Off Part 3
Ushuaia, Argentina: 68.3° S, 54.8° W; 11°C (51°F) Ushuaia is a small city that caters to the Antarctic tourism industry. It is a dull city averaging only 40 sunny days per year. We lucked out: it was mostly cloudy with a few short squalls, but the sun did appear from time to time.
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Setting Off Part 2
Buenos Aires, Argentina: 34.6° S, 58.3° W; 32°C (90°F), humidity 71% We arrived in Buenos Aires mid-morning, eventually circumventing sufficient traffic jams to reach our hotel by noon. Following a quick settle-in and light lunch, I departed with many others of my group for a brief tour of the city.
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Setting Off Part 1
Very foggy weather at the Vancouver International Airport did not delay my early morning flight to Houston. After climbing through clouds for several minutes, the plane rose above the fog and I spied a little piece of the Lower Mainland peeking through.
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Departure Day minus one – Preparation
It’s actually not that easy to visit Antarctica. First you have to book a tour – there are no do-it-yourself spontaneous possibilities as far as I know, no airports, hotels or take-out restaurants. Second, you really do need to spend some time preparing for this singular experience. I booked my trip a year and a…
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About Waaaaay Down South
Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who in 1912 led the first expedition to reach the South Pole, wrote: “Glittering white, shining blue, jet black. In sunlight the country shines like a fairy tale. Summit to summit passed through by glaciers as wild as no other country on our globe. There is Antarctica.”
