February – March 2002
Intro
Antarctica! I went to so many other amazing places on this trip, but.. Antarctica! How am I going to peel myself away to talk about anywhere else? I will try. But first, Antarctica. So, funny story, back in 2001 I was in a bookstore (travel section, obviously), browsing around, and I came upon Lonely Planet’s ‘Antarctica’. My first thought: “You can go to Antarctica?!” My second thought: “Why is the book so thick?!” Apparently, not only could you go there, but there was a lot do in Antarctica!
Needless to say, I bought the book that day, and started planning. I found a company which led small group expeditions (only 50 people!) to the icy continent on a Russian icebreaker, departing from the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, Argentina. So building an itinerary around this 10-day ‘cruise’ to Antarctica, I decided to tack on Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Easter Island, and French Polynesia. Seriously, what is wrong with me?
You’d think with all my planning, I would have thought, hey, maybe you shouldn’t combine one of the coldest places on earth with one of the warmest places on earth on the same trip! Packing all of a sudden became a problem. With all the gear I had to buy for Antarctica, including Wellington boots, a parka, and plenty of thermal underwear, I had little room left for shorts, T-shirts and sandals. I ended up having to lug around a huge