Ushuaia we made it!

Landed in Ushuaia this AM. Crisp and refreshing. We flew in over jagged but not extremely tall snow covered mountains and the Beagle channel, gateway to the Drake Passage. Most folks travelling to this part of the world are here for travel, adventure, hiking, going to Antarctica and the like. It is summer here and many Argentinians and other South Americans are here on holiday which means the cities are not as crazy as usual.
The other travellers we have met in the airport and on planes are from all over the globe. Met a trio of folks in their late 20's who are from Greece. One is in Argentina for a year deciding what to do after making a lot of money marketing IT strategies and wants to decide what next. He studied to be an engineer and likes the tech part of the work as well as mediating between the teckkies and the vendors but feels a little uncomfoteable with the oily side of marketing. We met an Indian family from Palm Beach. Father is a cardiologist, Mom is a dermatologist, one daughter is in law school and I am not sure about the rest of the relatives. They also will board a ship to Antarctica tomorrow, but not the one we are joining. Nice to see adventurous families traveling together.
Our hotel here, Via Rondine, is a small, sort of Scandinavian looking place, friendly staff, very patient withCate's halting Spanish.
It is great to be out of the confines of an airplane seat!!!
Dan tried mate for the first time. It is the national drink of Argentina. It is a bitter tea which Cate thinks tastes like tobacco a bit. The process of making it is as important as the drinking and there is a tradition and ritual that goes along. Google it.
(Dan) I liked the tea. Very strong. Hot water is poured over the cup full of herbs and sipped immediately through a metal straw. A few sips and you pour more hot water into the cup -- repeat. I had no idea how much caffiene I was dealing with but right now I am feeling like I downed a couple of "Nodoze" chased with Redbull. Wheeeee!
Still no sign of our luggage.

Tierra del Fuego from the air:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MULXRIFx2hY

The Flight to Buenos Aires

Saturday, December 27, 2008
The wake up alarm at our hotel jarred us awake at 3:00a. We had to be at the airport at 4a in order to make our 5:45 flight but we are finally on our way to Ushuaia! Our flight from Buenos Aires left on time and with literally no hassles. They didn't even ask to see our passports. All things considered, I must say our experience here in Argentina has been, far and away, vastly superior to what we went through in Chile.
When we arrived, tired and disheveled, at the Buenos Aires airport yesterday we were greeted by extremely friendly and knowledgeable representatives of American Airlines. The knew our names, even before we introduced ourselves, and had all of our accommodations ready for us. What a change from Santiago where they had no idea what to do with us and were just as happy to foist us off on Argentina as look at us. Of course, it didn't help our opinion of Chileans that Cate was robbed of her wallet with all of her cash and credit cards right at the airport! By contrast all of the Argentineans we've met have been incredibly kind and gracious.
I should say a word about our accommodations. AA put us up in a really lovely hotel – the Intercontinental – quite luxurious, for us anyway. We were on the 14th floor with a beautiful view of the San Juan de Bautista Cathedral from our window. Our room had actual hardwood floors, and the shower – oh man, it was more like a tropical rain than a shower. Fabulous! We had a wonderful meal at the hotel restaurant featuring this incredibly homemade Dulce de leche
icecream that almost made Cate swoon. All of this courtesy of American Airlines. It has almost made up for the fact that, by all accounts, our luggage is still in Miami, or maybe Santiago, no one is sure. It may or may not catch up to us by the time our boat leaves tomorrow. If it doesn't our trip to Antarctica is certain to be a colder and wetter one, as all our gear is in that luggage.
Nevertheless, our spirits are high even if we are barely conscious. We press on regardless.

Buenos Aires

So here we are unexpectedly. By now we should be in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego at a nice Patagonian hotel but instead we are at a nice hotel in Buenos Aires thanks to American Airlines who is picking up the tab.
Wallet was stolen, not lost. You all know what a pain that can be. Multiply that by limited phone access, having only limited Spanish (Cate, and Dan not at all) and being tired, cranky and stinky. All things considered, that I still have my cameras is helping me not get too crazed.
We both showered and are ready for dinner. It is 85 degrees here and sunny. That is a mood lifter. Hope our luggage arrives in Ushuaia in time for us to leave on the ship or we are really scr___d. That would not be a mood lifter.
Dan is listening to Spanish TV which is helping scrape the rust off my Spanish. Bueno.

It's the journey not the destination

Whoever said it's the journey, not the destination, that matters has never flown American Airlines to South America. On the other hand, using the journey vs destination standard, we're having the time of our lives. This is mostly because we are having to extend our journey by quite a bit actually. Our journey, and subsequent detours, started with our 2:30p flight from JFK international finally leaving the ground around 7:30p. This caused us to miss our 9:15p connecting flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile. We were, however, told that if we ran the mile from terminal C to terminal D in under four minutes we could make the 11:30 red-eye that was boarding as we spoke, "but you must run!" said the ticket agent breathlessly. So run we did, for at least 50 feet before Cate and I both collasped, panting like only two aging, out of shape gringos can. I recovered first and Cate, with what I thought might very well be her last words, gasped, "go on, save yourself, I'll catch up!" So I pressed on, determined to make them hold the plane for us.
I got to the gate, number 44, virtually the last gate in the terminal, just as the last of the passengers were loading. I could see Cate coming slowly down the concourse and knew then we were going to make it.
Unfortunately, this meant we would miss our flight from Santiago to Tierra del Fuego. But we were assured that there would be another flight tomorrow the 27th at 8:00a. America Airlines assured us they would put us up for the night and we could catch the morning flight -- no problem.
No problem that is until we arrived, tired, bleary eyed, and slightly smelly, in beautiful Santiago only to be told that no other flights to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego would be leaving until Sunday the 28th -- too late to make our ship before it sailed. Alas, time and tide waits for no man -- but will whiten and brighten your clothes, or so say the tv comercials. Well, we don't need laundry service, we need a flight out of Chile.
In what we will accept as a post Christmas miracle and after much haggling and computer key clicking we seem to have gotten a flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina where American says they will put us up for the night and book us on a 5:00a flight to Ushuaia. So, God willing, and if the creek don't rise, we may still make our ship on time. Maybe. Meanwhile, I just keep repeating, "it's the jouney that matters, not the destination, it's the journey that matters, not the destination, it's the journey..."
And now Cate tells me she has lost her wallet. It's shaping up to be a fine journey indeed.

The weather at home is frightful...

Well, the Northeast US has been battered by big snow and ice storms and very cold weather. We have had lots of practice walking on ice, being lashed by icy winds and generally test-driving all our new gear. It works. Cate's days are filled with all the last minute details necessary for such a trip, such as finding our Spanish dicitonary, getting extra batteries for each camera, googling a map to Kennedy airport, getting travellers checks and checking our lists. We are very excited as the day draws near.

Cate hopes to create a photo/essay of the trip and get it published in magazines and newspapers. Ideas? Leads? Connections?