It took close to 24 hours to get from San Francisco to Punta Arenas, Chile. Other than a mad dash through the airport at Santiago everything went smoothly. We were traveling with Kevin & Lisa and also met up with Mark & Mauree Jane at the departure gate in Santiago. Arriving in Punta Arenas was like arriving in Edinburgh in March (except January is the height of summer in this part of the World). Cool, windy and damp.
Our hotel was the Cabo de Hornas (Cape Horn). Nice enough. Good rooms. Arguably the worst restaurant food in the Universe. But the Chilean wine was good, and cheap.
The next day (5th) we got oriented by the AntrcticaXXI folks and fitted with rubber boots (aka wellies) which we would need for Antarctica. We began to get the vibe that the weather would be an issue for the flight in the next day. Nevertheless, we had time to explore the town and relax after our journey. Frankly there wasn’t much to see - this was a town used to a harsh climate but got on with life anyway. Some interesting local color:
That evening we had a group dinner (thankfully not at the hotel). We got to meet the rest of the group - about half were Asian, mostly Japanese. About 70 people in total.
We got the news that the weather was bad and that we would not depart the next morning as planned but during the afternoon or evening at the earliest. OK, looking forward to another fun day in Punta Arenas!