Finishing My Trip- Antarctica

FINISHING MY TRIP IN ANTARCTIC

Ushuaia, Argentina

December 2007

There was real melancholy as we sailed away from the continent and headed north to Argentina.  We all stood on the back deck and took pictures right up until the continent just became a big blur in the horizon.  And then we were back in drake’s passage again. We have two and ½ days until we reached our port in Argentina but we all felt a little sadness that night.  To compensate for this lost, most of us spent the last two nights in the bar until closing.  We just did not want to waste another minute of not being together.

We spent these days exchanging addresses and business cards and photos.  Great promises of getting together were made. Victoria made several announcements that she was starting an email list for anyone who wanted to be included.

There were still lectures during the day and we had a forum on the future of Antarctica.  We all approached the topic with a new sense of confidence on the subject matter now that we had explored the great white continent. And we all had opinions about tourism and its future limits.

Then, all of the sudden it was Tuesday morning at 630AM, departure day.  Susan woke us up over the PA system and immediately began to give instructions on how to disembark the ship.  And you could just feel the tension rise in everyone with every word she spoke.  There was heaviness in ending this wonderful trip and leaving all our new friends. 

We hurried to get our luggage out in the hallway for the porters.  Then there was an anxiety about getting on the right bus (either to the airport or to the luggage terminal).  There was a panic in making sure you got to the people you wanted to say your goodbyes to and this was complicated by not knowing if that person was on bus 1 to the airport, bus 2 to the airport or bus 3 to the luggage terminal.  Then there was the moment when you wanted to find the staff because you couldn’t leave the boat without letting them know how much you appreciated all of their knowledge and help. Then you had to make sure you found you luggage, on the dock, and got it on the right bus.  Regretfully, this last nerve racking assignment left everyone to forget about each other and just stay focused on the stupid luggage.

I was on bus #3.  My flight was not until 700PM so I had plenty of time.  So, as the first two busses rolled off, I begrudgingly watched them disappear forever. And as I inhaled the last bit of the carbon monoxide poisons from the tail pipes, that sunken feeling of sadness that I get at the end of every great trip just devoured me.  And I thought to myself:  There goes a group of people who so greatly enriched my life for such a short period of time and I will probably never see them again.