The White Continent … Here We Come!

Friday, December 22, 2023

Yeehaw! The day has finally arrived for us to commence this once-in-a-lifetime experience (assuming we don’t win the lottery in the future). We’ll soon be cruising to Antartica, the coldest, windiest, driest, and highest of the seven continents! This fabulous adventure will be bookended by a pre-cruise trip to Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls (Argentina) and a post-cruise visit to Patagonia (Argentina & Chile). This will be our first out-of-country holiday season but we’re excited and feel fortunate to have this opportunity.

We’ve been preparing for this trip for quite awhile, getting doctor certifications, reading two books on Antartica, buying cold weather gear, acquiring appropriate adapters, selecting land excursions and dining schedules, taking our black cat, Zorro, to stay with his Aunt Lisa in SC, and raising sufficient funding via bank robberies. Jane’s been chomping at the bit like a thorough-bred mare and was packed two weeks ago. I procrastinated and slothily executed my preliminary pack two days ago.

This afternoon, we’re flying from Raleigh (RDU) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and from there, to Buenos Aires, arriving tomorrow (Saturday) morning. There, we’ll be transferred to our hotel and enjoy a pre-arranged program during the afternoon and evening. On Sunday, we’ll fly to Iguazu Falls for a three-night stay.

We’ve been monitoring the turbulent times in Argentina. The country recently elected a new president, Javier Milei, who promised to right Argentina’s woeful economy that currently has an inflation rate of 160%. Stores don’t mark items with prices anymore so they don’t have to update them the following week. President Milei has already devalued the currency, frozen public works, proposed large spending cuts, and fired government employees. Public protests against his austere actions have commenced. We hope this situation won’t have much of an affect on us tourists; we’ll soon find out.

We’ve made it to DFW relatively easy without the chaos often portrayed on TV, save a sniffler across the aisle from me on the plane. He prompted me to join Jane and wear a mask. Jane sat next to a young lady who carried a miniature dog onboard. It calmly stayed on the floor under the seat in front of her and was remarkably well-behaved. Another small dog aboard could be heard making yipping noises periodically, and the two alternated dog moanings.

From DFW, signing off for now. If all goes well, my next post will be from Argentina!