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All together there were
seven of us, 6 Americans and 1 Australian. We planned to meet in the
town of Punta Arenas, in Southern Chile’s Patagonia region, on January
2, 2005. Australian Ian Hill, David Bloomfield and meteorite expert
Mike Reynolds and I planned to arrive on January 1, to allow for jet lag
recovery and flight delays. |
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According to plan, we
four, along with Bill and Nina Whiddon, who had arrived a day earlier,
gathered in Punta on January 1 for drinks and dinner. The following day
Murray Larsen arrived and our group was complete. |
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Photo by Bill Whiddon |
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L to R: Ian Hill,
Nina Whiddon, Murray Larsen, David Bloomfield, Mike Reynolds,
Aram Kaprielian, Bill Whiddon. |
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With our expedition still one day off, we
decided to take a day-trip to see the Magellanic Penguin
colony near Punta. These amusing creatures live in
burrows along the seashore and waddle to and from the
sea each morning and evening. |
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Photo by David Bloomfield
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| Upon
our return, we paid a visit to the offices of
ALE, the company we arranged our expedition
with. With the help of ALE staffers Mark
and Sue, we were outfitted with our Antarctic
gear – parka, pants, boots and sleeping bag –
saw their communication rooms, and also met
Punta Arenas Manager Peter McDowell. After being outfitted, Mike gave our
group, along with some ALE staff, an excellent and
entertaining talk on meteorites. |
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Punta Communication Room
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Peter McDowell |
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Mark & Sue came to our hotel that
afternoon to review our Antarctic clothing to
make sure we were not missing anything. So, we
each went to our rooms and laid out all our gear
for their review.
At an
orientation meeting the following day, we met
other Antarctic flight members – some climbing
to the top of Antarctica’s highest mountain,
Mount Vinson, others skiing the Last Degree – 60
miles from 89°S to the South Pole. At that
meeting we were
presented with the details - everything from |
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our flight aboard the IIyushin
76 Russian transport jet, to weather
and safety. The slide show and
discussion was quite informative and entertaining and
increased our anticipation. We were all excited! At
the conclusion of the meeting we returned to our hotel
to prepare our Antarctica gear for delivery to the
Ilyushin. |
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PRESS HERE to go to
the Next Page |
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| Back to Top |
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Copyright 2007 TravelQuest
International. All rights
reserved. 800-830-1998
Revised: April 02, 2010.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective companies or trademark holders. |
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