Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 - 1:52 p.m.
BIG Change of Plans!
A surprise to everyone, including myself...I'm going to ANTARCTICA!
I arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina in Tierra del Fuego..."The End of the World" on Friday Nov. 14th. On Sunday I found out about an opportunity to go to Antarctica for a super cheap deal for 10 days!
I already had a flight lined up to go to Buenos Aires the next day...I thought long and hard and finally decided that if I could change all of my flights (Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls & back, Buenos Aires to Ecuador, Ecuador to Miami, Miami to Washington DC, NYC to Seattle) that I would go for it!
The next day, several stressful hours later, I worked out my flights and called the travel consultant and said "I want to go!" and here I am, leaving tomorrow (Nov. 20th) for a trip of a lifetime!
I've had to adjust my itinerary considerably, however this is something that I've always wanted to do (never considering it would be NOW): One of my life's goals is to visit all 7 continents. (Antarctica will be my sixth, now I just have Africa left).
The Antarctic trip has a very rough itinerary, it's all weather dependant. We'll take 2 days to cross the Drake Passage, open sea between South America and Antarctica. Once there, we'll explore the Antarctic Peninsula...do walks on land (okay, ice), see lots and lots of penguins as well as sea lions and whales.
I return to Ushuaia on Nov. 30th. I won't have internet access while I'm on my excursion.
Well, I'll have even more to write about when I return from the most windy, highest, dryest, coldest and most isolated continent in the world!
Stay tuned!
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Afternote: I sent this out as an e-mail to everyone in my address book. I got many replies of congratulations and envy. However, a few of my friends, after reading the subject line, "BIG Change of Plans", thought I'd fallen in love with a South American man and was announcing my engagement! LOL!
