Day 1: COVID Testing; Ushuaia Bound?

 Yesterday was a travel day, from Detroit to Miami. We’ll call it day zero, which is appropriate since nothing noteworthy happened. Nevertheless, Keith managed to find interesting photo opportunities, which you can view on Facebook. 

I found time for a quick 1,500-yard swim in the Sheraton hotel pool, overlooking Melreese Country Club, trying to maintain my 70.3 Ironman triathlon training. But that’s a subject for a different blog (those are Keith's legs below!).

Today is Day 1 of 13, just another travel day, making our way to Ushuaia, Argentina. We started the day at breakfast, meeting some of our fellow Antarctic passengers, including Mark and Abbie from central Florida. They’ve never lived in a cold climate, so they shared their experience buying winter clothes online for this Antarctic expedition. Highs in Antarctica should be 30-40F this time of year, with 20+ hours of daylight each day.

Next on the agenda was our second of three COVID tests before we are cleared to embark on the actual expedition. This was the unpleasant deep-nasal or “nasopharyngeal swab” test. Assuming we passed (negative), the remainder of the daily COVID tests will be the simple saliva variety. 

We leave for the airport shortly, flying Eastern Airlines on a charter flight to Ushuaia, with a refueling stop in Montevideo, Uruguay. Remember Eastern Airlines, a major American airline until 1991? They’re back, now serving as a non-stop budget and charter airline to select destinations in South America.

My next post will be from Ushuaia, unless we failed the COVID test, in which case I will post from home in Michigan ☹