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Jaunted in Antarctica: Hitting Rock Bottom

March 10, 2008 at 4:15 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

Two of the Lost Girls are sharing their trips with us this week. Amanda just returned from Ecuador while Holly ventured to Antarctica.

For our journey to the South Pole, we signed up with a group called People To People, which essentially offers study abroad programs for adults. In addition to whisking us to the seventh continent, People to People lined up top experts to lecture on board our cruise. We got schooled in everything from glaciology to marine mammals to the politics of Antarctica.

Group or no group, if you're among the .05 percent making the trek to the bottom of the world, mastering the f-word is essential. (That'd be "flexibility.") Our trip to Ushuaia, the southernmost city on earth and the gateway Antarctica, involved flight changes, lost luggage and botched travel plans.

Trip participants flew in from across the country to meet in Miami, where we were flying Aerolineas Argentinas to Ushuaia with a brief layover in Buenos Aires. That three-hour layover quickly extended into an overnight delay. Being stuck in the City of Tango might not sound like a horrible fate, but it required being at the airport at the ungodly hour of 3 am to catch our flight to Ushuaia.

The airline at least offered us a hotel and dinner vouchers so we weren't forced to curl up in a crowded airport lounge while waiting for our plane to come in. And the good news was that we landed safely in Ushuaia the following morning.

The bad news? Our bags didn't. Missing luggage is more than a nuisance when traveling to The Ice: Temperatures can drop to negative 60 degrees, so hi-tech gear is essential. As protection from the unpredictably harsh elements, a waterproof outer shell, wind-proof hat and insulated inner layers such as fleece pants and silk undershirts are must-haves.

With our ship scheduled to set sail later that afternoon, we had no choice but to pull out the plastic for a last-minute shopping spree on San Martin, Ushuaia's main shopping thoroughfare. Stay tuned for tomorrow's tour of the town during our treasure hunt for new gear.

--Holly Corbett

Related Stories:
· Antarctica Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Jaunted Field Trips [Jaunted]

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