City of Fair Winds – Buenos Aires

Flight from the windy city to the city of fair winds went really well. It was a nice and quiet 10 hour trip, and it was so unwinding. The last couple of months I have to admit were hectic with busy work schedule, travels, Mission Antarctica related activities, and all the niceties involved in trying to organize my intended move from Chicago to Amsterdam (scheduled for April). By this point, things are slowly starting to set in and I am starting to fully realize the ramifications and uniqueness of the Antarctica expedition. The latest information and blog messages from the advanced team (already in Antarctica) about the hurdles they are running into does grab your full attention. When Robert Swan, who has been traveling to Antarctica year after year for the last twenty years, describes the near-failure-difficulties they are facing due to the harsh weather down there I am reminded again that this trip is not even vaguely similar to any other trips I have made before, I should respect the environment I am planning to spend the next couple of weeks, and all the best laid plans can change in an instant.

I found Buenos Aires great. First of all, the weather was perfect with autumn temperature and clear blue skies. The people seem extremely relaxed and friendly. I got to the city from the airport just in time for a nice lunch, which I enjoyed over a nice glass of aged grape juice (when in Rome, …..). I was also happy over the fact that my luggage made to Buenos Aires without any issues.

Together with another fellow Akzo Nobel explorer I scouted out the city and found some nice terrace cafes and some great restaurants by a nice river walk. By this point more and more of the team was arriving, each with their own unique travel story. Eric from China arrived exhausted after the 36 hour journey from Beijing. Delando from Canada walked into the customs to find out that he needs to pay $3500 for the 12 Gore-Tex™ rain jackets he brought over for the entire team. His story was fabulous in the way he negotiated it down to $300. I am taking him with me to buy my next car. James brought with him 30 pounds of beef jerky that he is going to take with him on the expedition. I am going to be his new best friend. The contingent from Europe came together as a big group and ran into a group of taxi drivers who wanted to charge each pair of them $120 for the trip from the Airport to the hotel, while the metered fare would have been less than $30. Imagine the surprise of the gang of taxi drivers to run into a negotiating team that was twelve strong.

When all said and done, it was nice to be finally together as a full team. The spirit is high and we were busy for a long while tonight catching up on all of our stories over the last two months. Tomorrow at dawn we will be heading back to the airport together for our 4 hour flight to Ushuaia. I have about 4 hours of sleeping time left before I need to be ready at the hotel lobby. Ciao.