suddenly, a new adventure

Two days rolled into one...

After less than one week's notice, I was on a plane from Los Angeles to Lima to Santiago to Ushuaia. I only purchased this international airfare 3 days ago - who knew it could be done and for less than $1300? I am flying LAN airlines all the way there and all the way back, but via different routes.

The plane was delayed about 30 minutes at LAX. Our pilot said it was due to airport operations and I am guessing it had to do with the rain. The way to Lima was mostly cloudy, but I took a few shots of Baja California in the beginning of the flight - one shot looks like there is a red tide in the Gulf of California (below).


(click on the photo to enlarge)

It was about 8 hours from Los Angeles to Lima, non-stop. Then less than 2 hours of layover there, then on a plane to Santiago.

Santiago was more of a pain that I thought it was going to be. Being a US Citizen, I had to pay 131 USD reciprocity fee just be in Chile, then go through immigration. That took up some of my 4 hour layover, then I slept in the airport for a couple of hours, which was good sleep. They took my larger carry-on and checked it in, then at boarding time, the crew must have found something on the plane that warranted an inspection because we all sat back down and were told that they'd have an update for us in 40 minutes. This is when I ran into Cabell and Ernie who were also on my next flight. True to their word, at 11:40am, the airline directed us to another gate and we boarded there about 1.5 hours behind schedule. Good thing there were no connecting flights after this one.

The scenery between Santiago and Punta Arenas was beautiful. Snow capped mountains and water and clouds. Our plane touched down in Punta Arenas... basically to get off the plane with all our carry-ons, then go through immigration (yet another stamp in my passport) and then get right back on the airplane. Strange.

The scenery from there to Ushuaia was the same types of things, but only more snow and more beautiful. About an hour more of flying, we landed in Ushuaia, but not before I got a photo of the town and snow capped mountain background (below).


(click on the photo to enlarge)

To my amazement (and some of this is probably due to jetlag and sleep deprivation), all 3 of my bags and I arrived safely in Ushuaia. I was put in a cab to the Albatross Hotel. Meanwhile, Ernie and Cabell were both missing a bag at first, but those got found. But then Cabell's bags were almost confiscated - all of them, forever. Luckily, the customs staff showed some mercy and Cabell arrived at Cesar Hotel with all 16 of his bags about the time I walked over there from the Albatross to figure out why my name was not on the reservations list there. My name wasn't on the reservation at either place, but Michael was at Cesar and fixed it.

So I am now at the Cesar Hotel Hostel: http://www.hotelcesarhostal.com.ar/. Had a shower, a local brewed cerveza called 'the Beagle' (as in Darwin's ship), pizza, 2 bottles of water and a ton of vitamin C.

The temperature is chilly out, but actually quite nice until the breeze blows - then it's pretty cold.

There is a science meeting tomorrow at 11am that I will attend. And I think I have been assigned to the visual index team which meets at 1:30pm tomorrow.

I've set up this blog and hope to keep posting here, but we shall see how the internet access goes.

I hear music outside my room window. Sounds like a loud radio playing. But I will try to sleep anyway. :)

Good night.