Happy St. Patty’s Day and Merry Antarctica Eve

Since no one was wearing green or running around spilling beer, I’m assuming the Chileans don’t observe St. Patrick’s Day.  But I do.  And I’m hoping the luck o’ the Irish lasts until tomorrow — because if the weather holds, I’m off to Antarctica.

I met the other people in my tour group tonight.  Alex is a student from Chicago who’s been doing volunteer work in South America for the past few weeks.  Bill, Cami, and Marina are runners from the States, and they’ve been doing marathons around the world.  They’ve hit all 6 continents, and tomorrow they’re finally crossing the seventh off their list.

Cami’s writing a blog about her marathon of marathoning, and you can view it at this link: http://www.7marathons7continents.blogspot.com/.  In addition to literally running around the globe, Marina is also trying to couch-surf her way through all 50 states.  You can follow her adventures here: http://marinamarathons.livejournal.com/.

Due to the airline or the tour company or someone’s policy, they weren’t allowed to organize a formal race.  So instead, they’re going to set up a course on whatever “paths” are available, or just hoof it through the snow.  Since there’s a strict rule that all groups have to stay together, that means that I’m along for the ride too.  I’ve committed to starting the marathon — but I can’t promise that I’ll be a finisher.  Wish me luck.  Because I’m gonna need it.

If all goes as planned, we’ll leave Punta Arenas around 8:30am and arrive at King George Island a little after noon.  We’ll meet with a research team, grab some lunch, and then take a boat to the Antarctic Peninsula for penguin viewing.  After spending the night at the research/military base (very schwanky accommodations), we’ll head to the other side of the landmass to check out the sea lions.

Of course, this is all weather-dependent, so keep your fingers crossed.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to log-in from Antarctica.  And if not, I’ll check in on Friday… Kara

P.S. I had a serious craving for potato chips yesterday, so I went grocery shopping — something that’s much more interesting when you have a video camera.  I completed my mission by finding what I thought was a flavor that was unavailable in the U.S. However, I now realize that may not be the case.  Oh well.  It provided some momentary excitement.