Finally in Punta Arena, Chile

we finally made it!! the whole project is all present and accounted for. so far we got into PA (Punta Arena) today in the afternoon. so far the temps are a balmy 43oF. who know what it'll get to as we head farther south. On the flight down from santiago (yes, the flight last night was not canceled), i got a really really clear view of Fitz Roy and the Torres del Paine. it was a real treat! unfortunately, i sort of woke up right when we were flying by the range and couldn't get the camera out in time. plus i was staring in awe at the formations. not a good combo when you want to take photos of an impressive formation and range. we also flew by a volcano (the Chaiten volcan) that has been spewing ash for that past three weeks. this volcano pretty much forced the evacuation of an entire town/city. when we flew by, it's was still spewing smoke and ash. the ash settles quite differently than the

after arriving in PA, we got our hotels and then headed out to see the state of our vessel. mainly we just wanted to tour the ship and check out our lab spaces. we promptly toured the Nanthiel B Palmer. mighty impressive ship. i foresee myself getting lost for at least the first week....for sure....or getting acquainted with the tv lounge.....and the various games on board.

of course upon entering the lab...we saw our many boxes to unpack. all of a sudden, our fatigue set in. go figure. well, we'll figure that out tomorrow.

tomorrow will be the fitting of all our cold weather gear. plus we'll be tracking down our stuff on the equipment list and SIP (inventory list) we got a couple of full days ahead!

tonight, we savored la luna (local restaurant) for dinner and a pub whose name i can't remember...they had a happy hour that went it 10pm. happy hour is 2 for 1. let me tell ya, the Chileans make a mean mixed drink. so, i'll probably remember the name of the pub we went to tomorrow. :D

till next time!

till tomorrow!!