February 9 & 10- Punta Arenas and the flight home.
After our arrival at the dock in Punta Arenas, it took several hours for the ship to clear customs. After that, we were free to go. Unfortunately, it was raining in PA that day, although it was relatively warm compared to what we were used to. One of the first things we had to do was to return the big bag of extreme cold weather gear that each of us had been issued. That stuff served us well during the cruise and at Palmer Station. After returning the gear I checked my e-mail on the computers at the warehouse. They had real internet access there – something we did not have during the four days on the ship. There was a flurry of e-mails between my students, colleagues and myself because that very day was the deadline for submitting abstracts to the 4th International Symposium on DMSP and Related Compounds - an important meeting for us. Back to the real world!
In the early afternoon, we checked into the Hotel Jose Noguiera, the same hotel where I stayed the month before when we were on the way down. I did a little shopping that afternoon, and all the people from the ship met for dinner at a place called Santinos. It was a fun evening.
The next morning it was absolutely gorgeous outside. I had to walk back to the ship to retrieve a box that I had forgotten about. After returning to the hotel by cab, Ray and I walked around the town, shopping and taking in the sights. There is a very nice town square right across the street from the Hotel Jose Nogueira that was full of people and street vendors. I enjoyed shopping for some gifts, including jewelry made of silver and Lapis Lazuli (a blue stone found in Chile). There were lots of other tourists in town because Punta Arenas now is a place where lots of cruise ships stop. These cruise ships sail around the coast of South America, or some of them go down to the Antarctic Peninsula. Punta Arenas does not look like a wealthy town, by any stretch, but it seems to have a lot of tourist coming from the ships, and a lot who come to begin trips to Patagonia. There are some beautiful and rugged areas not far from PA. I heard a lot about the park Torres del Pine, which is supposed to be a fantastic place to go hiking for a week. I also learned that there is very good trout fishing in the areas around Punta Arenas. Some day I must get back here and check that out.
By 2 pm that Friday, we had to be ready to go to the airport to begin the long flight home. We got to the airport around 3 pm and our first flight was at 5 p. We flew from PA to Puerto Montt, stayed on the same plane as it then flew to Santiago, the capital of Chile. During the flight from PA to Puerto Montt, I caught glimpses of some beautiful scenery out the window. Unfortunately I was in an aisle seat and couldn’t see too well. This is definitely an area of the world that would be worth visiting again. Maybe on my next trip I will have more time to explore …
In Santiago I split from Ray and some of the other folks who were going to Miami. George, Kerry and I were going through Dallas. The flight from Santiago to Dallas left at around midnight and was about 9.5 hours in the air. I managed to get a few hours sleep on the plane. After arriving in Dallas at 6:30 am we had to clear customs. I was still traveling with the group of insect researchers who had been with us at Palmer Station. They had some difficulties getting their boxes of live Antarctic Insects through the inspectors at the Dallas Airport, even though they had all the proper paperwork. After waiting an hour, they were finally cleared to go on. At that point we all split up and went to our separate gates for the final flight home. The flight from Dallas to Mobile was a relatively quick 1.5 h and all went smoothly. I had some great views of West Mobile as the small jet came in for a landing. I could even see my house and the boy’s schools from the air. That was nice. Julie and Dylan were there to meet me at the airport and I was very happy to see them again. We went out for lunch and soon after Julie and I went to see our oldest son Andrew perform in the Baker High School Symphonic Band concert. It was great to be home.
Now, its time to look at the data we collected the previous month and deal with all the things that have piled up in my absence. My visit to Palmer Station was a fantastic experience, and one that I will treasure forever. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to take this type of trip as part of my work. The best part is that we learned lots of new things about the Antarctic environment. Maybe there will be a chance for me to return to “The Ice” some day.
