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Albatros Expedition’s Ocean Victory

At 7:30 am, I was awoken by Emma announcing that breakfast was being served and the day’s schedule.  After breakfast, staff would go to each room to administer a COVID test.  Later in the day, a video would be live-streamed to our rooms about this history of the Antarctica Marathon, then a virtual meet and greet with the crew.

My Cabin on the Ocean Victory

As I shook the cobwebs out, I noticed that the seas were pretty choppy.  During the morning announcement, Emma’s forecast was for smoother seas this afternoon, but we still had to endure 10-12 foot waves until then.  I felt a LITTLE queasy and weak, but was not sure if this was due to the seas or because I had not eaten for twelve hours.  Rather than chance anything, I decided to preemptively take Dramamine.  Forty minutes later, I was in the bathroom throwing up.  WTF?!?!  Dramamine is supposed to PREVENT throwing up, not ENCOURAGE it!  After throwing up, I felt like a million bucks and ready to conquer the world (or at least my cabin).  I swore off Dramamine and promised myself that I would never use it again.

I waited 90 minutes for breakfast to arrive, and finally at 9:00 am I called the ship’s restaurant to make sure we were not overlooked.  The guy said that it should arrive any at any.  Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and breakfast was here!  I had scrambled eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, fresh fruit, and orange juice.

Around 10:00 am, the COVID test crew showed up.  He gave us swabs and we had to collect our own samples.  This was preferable to the experience I had two days ago at the hotel.

Outside, the waves were still rocking the boat quite a bit.  Tom had a pretty bad case of seasickness.  He did not eat any of his breakfast and just lay in bed not moving.  I purchased 24 hours of wifi for $100.  The good thing is that the 24 hours is not continuous – you start and stop it.  If you forget to stop it and log out when you are done, the time keeps ticking.  It is not sufficient to just disconnect.  We were earned about this SEVERAL times, but I am sure somebody will forget to log out and merely disconnect (and be surprised when they have no internet time left).  Twenty-four hours should provide ample time to be online during the trip.

Later that afternoon, we watched a video about the history of the Antarctica Marathon.  Thom Gillian had recorded it during the first voyage and they replayed it for us.  It was quite interesting how the race and the seven continents club came together.  Apparently, after the first race, four people who did not know each other told Thom on separate occasions that they had had now completed a marathon on seven continents.  That sparked the idea for the Seven Continents Club.  He told us about the challenges of setting up the course (especially the first one when everybody was asking about the course and he had not established what it was yet), challenges of having ships cancel at the last minute, foreign politics, unauthorized people randomly landing on King George Island to run, one year where they had to run the marathon on the deck of the ship (442 laps on deck 5 or 365 laps on deck 6), one year where they had to cut the race short at 5 hours and 35 minutes because of incoming inclement weather (and fifteen people did not finish), and one year that sported 80 MPH winds and waves 50 feet high!  The end result is that this IS an adventure marathon and you MUST accept what mother nature throws at you.  He wants everybody to finish, but in the end, the call is up to the captain.  If bad weather is coming in and the race must be stopped, then that is what happens – NO QUESTIONS ASKED.  Safety is the number one priority for everybody.

Speaking of weather, Emma informed us that there was a small front moving through today, but it should be moved out by race morning, leaving us with temperatures in the low to mid-30s with 14-knot winds (16 MPH).  While still windy by my standards, this is somewhat calm for down here.  Sunday looks like a pretty good day for a race!

During normal times, the entire group of runners gathers in the mudroom to clean and disinfect their running shoes.  There are very strict regulations about this because no foreign dirt or seeds should end up in Antarctica.  They want to keep the environment as pristine as possible.  Since COVID has changed our lives, the crew cleaned and sanitized the running shoes and put them in our lockers in the mudroom.

Lunch was served at noon.  I had a cucumber/dill salad, shrimp quesadilla, and blueberry pie.  Tom was still pretty sick and only ate his fruit plate.  He has a bad headache but does not feel nauseous.

That afternoon we watched a live virtual meeting where the crew introduced themselves, where they were from (all over the world!!), and what their respective backgrounds were (geologists, marine biologists, etc).

Dinner was served around 6 pm.  I had a Waldorf salad, pasta with mussels in white wine sauce (very tasty), and dessert.

The seas were definitely quite a bit smoother, but Tom was still not feeling well.  All in all, this was a fairy boring day.

Me in front of the famous Ushuaia Sign at Ushuaia Bay

Because I was on the regular flight and not the charter flight, we departed 1 hour earlier than the normal group.  That meant we were departing the hotel at 6 am sharp, and had to have our bags in the lobby by 5:30 am.  I arose at 5:10 am, showered, and then packed up the final items that were straggling.  I made my way to the lobby and dropped my bags at the designated spot.  The hotel was kind enough to open breakfast 90 minutes early (at 4:30 am) to accommodate us.  They did not skimp on the breakfast like they could have – it was the normal one we normally had.

After I ate, I made my way to the bus, where Paul from Marathon Tours announced, “We are waiting for one more.”  I said that was probably me, and sure enough, it was!  I boarded the bus and off we went to the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport.  It was about 20 minutes from the hotel, so it was not too far.  There were three marathon tours staff on this flight (Paul, Alissa, and Gillian), four runners, AND one of our guides from the previous day.  During the ride, Paul said that this airport can get rough and to put wallets in your front pocket.  We were hoping that our guide would help steer us clear of the riffraff in the airport.

Since only the guide spoke Spanish, we all followed her like lemmings into the terminal.  There was an initial checkpoint outside where they were verifying tickets.  She talked to them (and presumably turned on the charm) and we went right through without having to show our flight details.  We then went to the ticket counter where she again worked her magic and soon we were all checked in.  One strange thing in Argentina is that if your bag is overweight, you must go to a different line to have it weighed and pay extra fees.  They do not do it like here in the US where the ticket agent collects any fees.  There were three people that were over the 33-pound limit so off to the overweight baggage line they went.  I was actually over by 2 pounds, but the lady let me off the hook.  When they came back, they were smiling ear to ear.  Apparently, the scale was broken, so they did not have to pay any more baggage fees, which saved HUNDREDS of dollars!  Gillian had all of the medals, which weighed a figurative ton!

Our tour guide walked us to the security checkpoint, and after that, we were on our own.  We quickly located our departure gate and settled down for the 90-minute wait before we started boarding.  There were some interesting conversations, and I had a good one with Paul and Gillian about Red Bull Crashed Ice.  This is where four people wear hockey gear (or some equivalent padding) and skate/race down a track/course.  The track reminds me of a ski course (but much much narrower of course), complete with jumps, uphills, and downhills.  I think I found a new sport to watch!  Check it out in the link above.

We started the boarding process for the 3-1/2 hour flight to Ushuaia.  After we showed our boarding pass we had to board a small bus that took us to the airplane.  I looked at one of the ladies in our group and said, all of that careful planning to stay COVID-free is going to be unraveled by this bus ride!  The ride was only 2-3 minutes to a plane on the tarmac.  After unloading from the bus, I climbed the stairs to board the plane.  I got stuck in a middle seat, but at least I was next to one of the people in our group.  The flight was uneventful, and before long, we landed.  We claimed our luggage and boarded a bus that would take us to our next COVID test, and then onwards to the port.

Ushuaia Rugby Club

The COVID testing site was arranged by Albatross Expeditions (the company that operated the ship) at the Ushuaia Rugby Club practice facility.  Even though we tested negative a day ago, we still had to have a rapid test done in order to board the ship.  We were met by Nadine, who said this process would take about 45 minutes.   After 20 minutes, she said that everybody was negative and that we were free to go!

Since we left about an hour before the previous group, we had some time to kill.  Not only were they an hour behind, but getting 160 rapid tests done would take more than twenty minutes.  Paul talked to our guide and arranged for them to take us on a tour of Ushuaia.  Ushuaia is not an overly big city (about 60,000 people), but it is the southernmost city in the world.  There is a world-famous sign with white letters on the edge of Ushuaia Bay (pictured at the top of this post), so we stopped there for pictures.  We drove around a bit and learned some of the local histories.  After driving through the downtown area, we ended up at the port around 2:10 pm.  We were given a small box lunch that had a roast beef sandwich, an apple, a bottle of water, and some other thing that I had no idea what it was.   It looked like a roll that you get in a restaurant.  I bit into it and there was some pink-looking stuff in the center.  It looked like ham salad, but I have no blooming idea what it actually was.

Ushuaia End of the World Sign

After eating lunch, I got my picture taken in front of a sign that said: “Ushuaia – the end of the world” (in Spanish of course).  I wanted to buy some trinkets here, but shopping was frowned upon.  We were somewhat in a bubble and the Marathon Tours staff wanted to keep it that way to minimize the risk of getting COVID.  It was about 40 degrees and windy, so I got back on the bus, as did everybody else.  At 2:55 pm, we were cleared to board the ship.   At that time, we also heard that everybody on the charter flight was COVID negative as well!

Upon entering the ship, we had to cough up our passport, which I did not like.  We got a key and a ship charge card to put all expenses on.  I was semi-unpacked when my roommate Tom strolled in.   We talked extensively about running, what races we have done, and what we are doing next.  I found out that he is a Radiologist in Washington DC and was a very nice guy.

At 5pm, we had a mandatory meeting about ship safety.  We were told that we had to quarantine for 1.5 days and would be taking rapid tests EVERY day during the journey.  During the initial 1.5 days, we were not permitted to leave our cabin at all – although the only thing to see outside is water.  If everybody was negative after this, they would loosen the restrictions.  Everybody was negative up to this point, so there SHOULD be no problems.  At the end of the virtual safety meeting, they gave us a weather update.  Emma , the announcer, said that we should be in the Beagle Channel for about 4-1/2 hours and then after that, we will be in the Drake Passage, the most treacherous waters on earth.  Waves in the Drake Passage were currently about 12-15 feet high.  The Ocean Victory could handle them without any problems, but she kind of chuckled and said, “I advise securing EVERYTHING in your cabin.”  Well, this should be interesting to say the least.

Dinner was served around 7 pm, and we had smooth waters until about 10:30 pm.  After that, the waves really started kicking up, and the boat was rocking pretty good, but nothing too absurd.  Tom took Dramamine, but I felt fine.

After watching some Dr. Who, I fell asleep around 12:30.

Other than a mandatory COVID test in the morning, there were no plans for today.  It was a free day to do whatever we wanted to.  I wanted to play it safe, so I did not do crazy.

For the COVID test, we were told to go to floor “minus two”.  What?  The elevator only goes to ZERO, how do I get to MINUS 2?  Is this the Highway to Hell or what?  I left my room and went to floor ZERO, where marathon tours staff were waiting.  I asked about the minus two situations and was directed to a set of escalators.  They said to go down two floors where more people will be waiting.   I went down but felt like a cow being led down the slaughter chute.  As I stepped off, Marathon Tours staff directed me to a room where there were 3 chairs set up for sample taking.  The line moved fairly quickly and soon it was my turn.  I sat down and pulled my mask down.  This lady stuck the swab so far up my nose I thought it was going to come out of my ear.  I tried to pull back a little bit, she then shoved it in even further and with more force.  I wonder if she enjoyed doing this to people?  The sample could not have been collected soon enough.  She gave me a thumbs up and I RAN out from the room.  The marathon tours staff asked me if I was done, and I simply said, “There is nothing like crying in the morning”.  Geez.  The results of the PCR were supposed to be completed this evening.  Anybody who was positive had to remain in Buenos Aires in quarantine and would not be permitted to make the trip to Ushuaia / Antarctica.

After that escapade, I ate breakfast at the free breakfast bar in the Hilton, then went back to my room.  I slept well last night, but not long enough, so I took a nap.  At 11:30 I rolled out of bed and decided to go for a walk in the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve.  I did the same route that I “ran” yesterday, but took pictures and frequent rests.  The temp was pushing 90.

Dandy Deli in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, Argentina

After 2 hours, I made it back to the hotel and showered off.  It was 2:30 and I was getting hungry.  Right next to the hotel was a place called Dandy Deli.  I decided to try them.  If nobody spoke English, I figured I could point at the menu to order.  Looking at the menu, I saw a pulled pork sandwich that looked yummy, so I ordered that and a bottle of water.  The bad part about this place was that I could NOT pay with US dollars, and had to use my credit card.  Still, it was only $10.  The pulled pork sandwich was SO mouthwatering good.  I have never had one as good as this.

On the way back to the hotel, I saw Will from Marathon Tours and quizzed him about the PCR test results.  He said that the lab had promised them between 4-5 pm, but obviously this was beyond his control.  It was currently 3:15 pm, so we were getting close.  Every person who tested negative would receive an email with further instructions.  If you tested positive, you would receive a CALL from either Jeff or the doctor to discuss your options – which is where this story gets primed with some interesting developments in a few paragraphs.

After talking to Will, I took another lazy day nap, then started gathering / strategically organizing my stuff.  According to my master plan, I would consolidate from three bags to two bags for the airplane trip to Ushuaia.  I knew it could be done because I did it at home.  I wanted to carry on any running gear that I had because I wanted NO risk of losing any of it.  The chances of things getting lost on a direct flight are a lot less than on a connecting flight, but it still happens.  I separated everything into two piles – one to check and one to carry on.  As I finished making the piles, it was time to meet in the hotel lobby to go to the Cabana Las Lilas – the Argentine steakhouse.  Although I had not finished packing, I had made a good start.

Our dinner groups at Cabana Las Lilas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

As soon as I arrived in the lobby, I noticed that the topic of conversation was about the COVID results.  I told them what I knew from Will and that the emails should be coming soon.  It was good to know that nobody had received an email yet.  We walked to the Cabana Las Lilas, which was only about 5 minutes from the hotel.  We arrived at 6:50 and had to wait for 10 minutes – which is where things get interesting for me (as was primed a few paragraphs above).  My phone rang.  My heart sank.  My mind starts racing and thinking, “WHAT?!?!?!?  I WAS CAREFUL!!!  WHY ME?”.

Me (sheelpishly):  “Hello”

Other guy:  “Is this Robert?”

Me:  “Yes”

Other guy:  “This is Jeff with Marathon Tours”

Me (Oh MY GOD!  WHY ME?!?!?!  I HAVE WAITED FIVE YEARS FOR THIS):   “Hi Jeff, how are you?”

Jeff:  “Are you at a place where you are comfortable talking?”

Me ($#i7.  WHY ?  I have been EXTREMELY CAREFUL.  Mother Nature can be SO cruel!): “Yes”

Jeff:  “I want to get this email out to everybody to relieve all of the anxiety, but needed to have a conversation with you.  First of all, please do not panic.  You have not tested positive. However, the lab was not comfortable with the quality control on your results.  You did not test positive, however, they want to rerun your sample.  There were 3 people, including yourself, who are in the same situation.  When I send this email, I did not want you to panic because you did not get one.”

Me (Well this is only WORRISOME news, not BAD news): “Do I need to come back to retest?”

Jeff:  “No, they will retest the three samples in question.  You did not test positive and 99% of the time, this is fine.  I am pretty sure you will not test positive, but again, I wanted to give you the courtesy of telling you what was going on and why you did not receive an email with a negative test result.  They have promised me that the sample will be rerun within two hours and I will call you again with the results.  I would not worry about this, and we should have your results by 8 pm”.

Me:  “Thank you!”

I was fairly confident that I was going to be negative.  I mean I sat in my hotel in Miami for 3 days doing nothing when I COULD have been playing poker or playing golf.  However, the anxiety was annoying, much similar to what I was experiencing when my PCR test results came back from Miami.  I told the group what the situation was (and that I had not tested positive and they wanted to get these emails out).  Right after that, we were seated.

Ribeye Steak at Cabana Las Lilas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

For starters, they gave us Pao De Queijo, bread with cheese in the middle.  This seems to be common in South America because I have had this bread at various Brazilian restaurants in the USA.  For the main course, I ordered my favorite steak – a ribeye – cooked medium well, with a side of corn.

After we ordered, the COVID negative emails started rolling in.  You could see the sense of relief on everybody’s face.  Every so often, somebody would look at me and say, “It is alright, you are going to test negative.”  I had no doubt, but this wait was still tense.

Dinner was finally served and this ribeye was el-perfecto – a PERFECT medium-well, and it was delicious!  I was so glad that we decided to come here for the experience.

As I was eating, my phone rang again.  This is it – the call.  I stepped away from the table.

Me:  “Hello”

Jeff:  “Hi, this is Jeff with Marathon Tour, is this Bob?”

Me:  “Yes”

I peered back to the table and most eyes were on me.

Jeff:  “Good news, they reran all 3 tests and you are negative.”

I raised my arm with a fist pump.  Sam asked if I was negative.  I gave him a thumbs up because Jeff was still talking.

Sam looked at the table and shouted, “Bob’s negative!!”

The entire table cheered.  It was funny.

Jeff:  “Not only did the 3 tests that needed to be rerun come back negative, but the ENTIRE GROUP also came back negative.  We have 100% of people moving on to Ushuaia.”

Me:  “That is exciting!  Thank you!”

I told the group that EVERYBODY had tested negative and that nobody was being left behind.  We let out another loud cheer and started clapping.  What a moving moment.

After dinner, I went back to my room and finished packing.  Everything fit neatly into my checked bag and my carry-on.  Since I was on the regular flight that left at 8:40 am, I had to be at the hotel door by 6 am.  I set my alarm for 5:10 and Mr. Sandman was soon visiting me.

Hurdle #2 cleared.  Ushuaia – here I come!

The Pink House in Buenos Aires

Today was our first full day as a group in Buenos Aires.  Numerous people were late due to the big snowstorm in the northeast.  I was SO glad Ashley talked me into going to Miami a few days early.  All flights on Saturday and 40% of the flights on Sunday were canceled from Hartford, so I am pretty sure I would have been delayed as well.  Anyway, today we were to have an arranged tour of the most popular tourist sites in Buenos Aires, another optional group run, then a mandatory dinner meeting.

Mausoleums in the Recoleta Cemetery

Our first stop was at the oldest public cemetery in Bueno Aires, La Recoleta Cemetery.  It was declared a public cemetery in 1820.  The first thing that stood out was that this was no ordinary cemetery like we see in the USA.  The entire cemetery contained mausoleums, and some were quite intricate!  When asked, the tour guide said there were about 4500 of them, and there was no space for any more.  She also said that the number of people interred there was unknown, but some rather famous people were here.  I had never been up close to a mausoleum before, so I took the opportunity to peek inside when I had an opportunity (note:  I did NOT enter any of them).  Many of them had caskets in the ground-level chamber.  However, I noticed numerous mausoleums had a crypt as well. The tour guide said that the crypts can contain additional caskets or urns for cremated people and can go an additional 5 meters / 15 feet below the ground!  When asked about the price of a mausoleum, she said that it varies depending on the style, but it can cost more than a house.

Floralis Genérica sculputre in Buenos Aires

Next, we stopped at a large metal flower that is supposed to open its petals in the morning and close them in the evening.  However, it was broken and the petals are always closed.

Statue in Buenos Aires with a rock for each victim of COVID

The next stop was at the pink house in Recoleta.  This is where the President of Argentina does his daily work.  To get to work, he flies in by helicopter and lands on the roof!  Pretty cool.  In the same square is a monument.  There were hundreds if not thousands of rocks placed at the base of the monument.  When I asked why all of the rocks were there, somebody told me that each rock represents somebody who died from COVID.  That was a fairly startling display of what is STILL going on in the world right now.  Yikes!

In 2014 when I was working in ESPN Deportes, I had this soccer task that I was working on.  As I was working on this task, I noticed a team logo that was not “typical”.  By that, I mean it was not a fierce lion or tiger, nor was it colorful.  It was just a plain circular black and white logo with black text.  Curious, I looked up this logo and found out that it was for a soccer team in Argentina named “River Plate“.  I thought that this was a strange name for a team, but whatever – I am sure there is a reason for it.  A couple of weeks later, I was walking behind a person while going to the ESPN cafe.  He was carrying/wearing a backpack with a sports team logo.  Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was the RIVER PLATE soccer team logo!  What were the chances that I worked on a soccer project, looked up that exact logo, then SAW the logo on a backpack for a soccer team in Argentina nonetheless!  It was comical, but I put that out of my mind for 8 years.  As we were driving through Buenos Aires, we drove near a soccer stadium.  The streets were filled with sporting goods shops – all of which had soccer memorabilia.  The tour guide told us the history of the two soccer teams in the area, and lo and behold, one was River Plate, and they played in this stadium we were driving by, which was Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti!  Wow – River Plate now has come full-circle.  Will I have any more River Plate encounters in my life?  Who knows, but I am very curious.

Souvenir shop in Buenos Aires

Our next stop was in a touristy area where I could try to buy some knick-knacks for people at home.  I went into the first store and found a nice Argentine leather wallet.  I needed a new wallet and this one was appealing.  It had 4 credit card slots per side (help 8 total) and TWO inserts for your driver’s license and whatever else you might want to put there – like your health insurance cards.  In my current wallet, I have to double up some cards in the appropriate slots because there is not enough room.  This wallet was PERFECT.  I asked the lady how much it was, and she said 4,600 pesos.  I learned the lesson yesterday at lunch, so I asked for the exchange rate (I knew the “official” rate was about 105:1).  She quoted me a price of $23 USD!  I took it!  What a nice wallet.  I was getting hungry, so I bought an empanada and a bottle of water for lunch.   The grand total (on credit card) was $3.94!  Not bad for a lunch.  I went back to shopping and found a nice penguin carved out of Rhodochrosite, the Argentine national stone.  The price was $11,600 pesos, but she told me $57 for USD (a little more than 200:1)!  I took that and crossed Grace of my “to buy something for” list.  It is pretty cool, and I think she will love it.

We made out way back to the hotel after that, and I geared up for a 4-mile group run.  The park was open, but you could take several paths in the park to do 2.5, 3.1, 4, or 6.1 miles.  I decided to do the 4-mile route, but halfway through, I decided to walk.  It was WAAAAAY too hot (in the 80s) and I do not do well in the heat when it comes to exercise.  I walked with 2 other people who decided it was too hot to run as well.

After the run, I showered and vegged until dinner.  At 6:30 I went down to check out my bib and cabin assignments.  I was in cabin 310 with a guy named Thomas.  During dinner, I located Thomas and introduced myself, but did not talk long.  As for the flight, the charter did not hold enough people so there were SEVEN people who were booked on a regular domestic flight via Aerolineas Argentinas. I was one of those lucky 7 – and was pretty disappointed.  I did not want to have to go through the airport myself.  What if nobody knew Spanish?  Lastly, I scheduled my COVID PCR test for 8:45 am tomorrow.  This test was required by the Argentine government.  If anybody tested positive, they must quarantine in Buenos Aires for 7-10 days

Dinner consisted of tomato + mozzarella cheese salad, then salmon.  It was quite yummy.  Jeff Adams spoke about what we will be encountering over the next several days with the sailing, race, covid, etc.  There were no surprises for me thus far.

After dinner, Sam and I called Cabana Las Lilas to make a reservation for 15 people.  They could accommodate us, but they did not open until 7 pm.  That was fine, and we booked the reservation.

At 9:30p, I ventured out with my newfound friend Bai (from Chicago, but she grew up in Shanghai, China) to look at the stars.  She is a big fan of astronomy, as am I.  We are hoping for at least one or two clear nights on the Drake Passage so we can look at the southern sky!  There was quite a bit of light pollution, so we were not able to see a whole lot (although Orion was very prominent overhead).  During the walk, I found out that she is a Financial Advisor in Chicago for Citibank.  She and her husband/children love to travel and she has been on numerous interesting marathon trips. She is also an amazing photographer.   After that walk, I retired to my room for the evening.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, January 31, 2022

After I blogged last night, I made my way to the actual gate from where my flight was leaving from.  I wondered how many people on this flight were going to be in our group.  As I approached the gate I saw somebody in a Marathon Tours t-shirt.  I approached him and quickly made friends with him (Rich) and his son (Jordan).  We counted at least four other runners, for a total of seven that we could see.  We all bonded over the experience we were about to embark on.

After boarding the plane, there were some routine maintenance issues.  I do not know the details, but the end result was that we were delayed by about 90 minutes.  At the beginning of the delay, I queued up Terminator, Genisys.  I had never seen it (or Terminator Salvation).  I made it through a good portion of the movie before we were cleared for takeoff.  We pushed back and were on our way for the nine hour flight south to Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) in Buenos Aires.  I finished the movie just in time for dinner (at 1am!!)  After dinner, I dozed off and woke up just in time to get the above picture of the rising sun over the Atlantic Ocean.

Breakfast on the Buenos Aires Flight

I went back to sleep until they started to serve breakfast.  It was strawberry yogurt, fresh fruit, a small cinnamon bun, and some orange juice.  I thought this was a perfect breakfast – not too much, and it kept the hunger pangs at bay.

After de-planing, I texted my contingent of followers that I had landed, then made my way to Passport Control.  The lady asked to see my passport, entry document, COVID vaccination card, and negative PCR test.  After she confirmed all of that, she asked me how long I was going to stay.  I told her four days (Monday – Thursday).  She said, “two”, and I said, “No, four” and held up 4 fingers.  She again said “two days”.  At this point (not that I was impatient, I just did not want to try to get my point across with a person who we might have been on two different wavelengths), I just shook my head and said, “yes, two”.  She nodded, stamped my passport, and I was through.  Next was immigrations.  I had nothing to declare, so I went into that line.  I put my two suitcases and backpack on an x-ray machine, picked them up on the other side, and that was it!  I was through customs within ten minutes.

On the other side of the customs doors, several runners were standing there waiting for our comrades to get through customer.  After a bit we decided to move outside where it was warm – to the tune of 75 degrees!  This was quite a difference from New England as well as from what I will be experiencing in 6 days 🙂 .  As it turned out, there were eleven runners on that flight from Miami.  Soon, the Marathon Tours bus picked us up and off we were to the Hilton Hotel in Puerto Madero .

I got checked in, went to my room, showered, and took a nap.  I set my alarm for 3pm, which gave me a 90 minute nap.  I woke up just before my alarm went off and ate the chicken salad that I bought in Miami.  I got dressed for the optional 4pm run and met about 80 other runners downstairs.  We did a small three mile run – basically a rectangle around city blocks.  We were supposed to run in the Playa Reserva Ecológica Buenos Aires near the hotel, but it was closed because it was “Monday”.  We should be able to run in there tomorrow.

Temple Craft, Buenos Aires

After the run, I showered again, then went downstairs to see if anybody was going to dinner.  I saw one guy in a Boston Marathon t-shirt so I asked him.  He and one other person were going to go out to get something.  I asked if I could tag along, and he said that it was no problem.  I also asked him if he knew Spanish, because I did not!  He said that he was born in the Dominican and spoke fluent Spanish.  WHEW!  So, I made two new friends (Sam and Cindy) in the lobby.  We walked a little bit and settled on a casual place called Temple Craft Madero.  We all ordered a burger and fries, and my two counterparts each got a beer.  The check came, and it was for 4,200 pesos.  Sam asked the waitress what the exchange rate for US dollars were.  Now, mind you, at the time, the official exchange rate offered by any currency converter was about 105 Argentina Peso for 1 US Dollar – about 100:1.  They actually said if we paid in US dollars, the total would be $22 – ABOUT 200:1!  So three of us ate dinner (3 burgers, 2 beers, and a bottle of water) for $25 – and the waitress was thrilled with the $3 tip!  Sam told me that since I did not have beer, to give him $5 and that would be fine.  I only had four $1 bills, but he said that was close enough.  He also pointed out that this was a good lesson for tomorrow – ALWAYS ask for the exchange rate.  Businesses would much rather have you pay in US Dollars rather than in Argentine Peso.  GOOD TO KNOW for when I shop for trinkets.

While we were walking back to the hotel, I mentioned that everybody at home told me to get a steak in Argentina and that we should do that before we left Buenos Aires.  Both Sam and Cindy thought that was a good idea and we should do it on Wednesday evening because there were no formal dinner plans.  Plus, it allowed us to ask around to see who else might want to go.  Sam gave me the task of researching what place we should go to.  As we arrived back at the hotel, I asked the concierge.  There were two places that he recommended:  La Cabana and Cabana Las Lilas.  The concierge said that BOTH places required reservations and that he would be happy to make them for us!

Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to the Marathon Tour staff (and support staff – who are not listed on the previous page:  Paul, Will, Gillian, and anybody else I missed).  For a trip to Antarctica, you must be open-minded and have to go with the flow.  I can only IMAGINE how many things Jeff Adams has to take into account.  Jeff brought it to out attention that if anybody changed their mind about staying with another runner in Buenos Aires due to COVID concerns, they had contracted with the hotel to allow ANYBODY to switch from a shared room to a single room at $90/night.  Additionally, if anybody tests positive for COVID and is not able to make the trip to Ushuaia, the same offer is in place.  If you test positive before boarding the ship in Ushuaia, they have secured houses and apartments there JUST IN CASE.  The entire staff goes above and beyond when it comes to anything to do with trips.  This is my fifth trip with Marathon Tours (London, Tokyo, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, and now Antarctica), and I have had NOTHING but good experiences.  I HIGHLY recommend them.  Yes, you can do a trip on your own for less money, but they take the worrying and planning out of EVERYTHING.  On a scale of 1-10, they don’t even get the proverbial 11, they get a 12!

Tomorrow we have a 3-1/2 hour city tour from 9am – 12:30 or so.  The rest of the afternoon is free time, but with another optional run at 4pm.  The welcome banquet/dinner is at 7pm.