Valdosta to Atlanta to Santiago to Punta Arenas

First of all, it is amazing that I can leave Valdosta, Georgia, on a Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. and arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile at 5:30 p.m. the following day! If you don't know where Punta Arenas is, click on this link to see where Valdosta and Punta Arenas: Valdosta to Punta Arenas 

 So, if you ever have the option of flying Delta or American Airlines to Santiago, Chile, I would choose Delta.  I admit that I was lucky that my flight wasn't full, and I had the luxury of having 2 seats to myself!  But, on my plane I could watch movies, and so I chose to watch "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" and "Dinner for Schmucks", not great masterpieces, but when you are trying to get through a 10 hour flight, these movies helped pass the time.  I was the only one of the research team (who I will introduce later) that flew on Delta; everyone else flew American.  They apparently watched some movie that had both the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus in it (or something like that), and while Delta gave passengers water (or other drinks) ~8 times during the night, American airlines gave their passengers water only 2x!

Once in Santiago I was met by "Jimmy" who works with the contractor who gets all people and supplies to Palmer Station.  After a few words to the customs agents who look for illegal things, fruits, vegetables, etc. I was magically waived through, and they didn't search my bags.

In Santiago, I met up with the other members of the research team, and we all got on a plane to Punta Arenas, which is where we caught the boat to Palmer.  The airport in Santiago is very similar to other airports with this mainstay of coffee places....

Starbucks in the airport in Santiago, Chile.

The flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas takes 4 hours with a stop in Puerto Montt.  In 1997 when Kristin and I went to Palmer Station, we got off at Puerto Montt and traveled around this are of Chile for a few days.  Anyway, the flight to Punta Arenas was uneventful and I spent most of my time talking with a nice couple who were going to backpack and camp in Chile.  Anyway, here is the gratuitous image out of the plane one the way to Punta Arenas after our stop in Puerto Montt.

I was on the right side of the plane so I didn't get a good view of mountains in Torres Del Paine, but the view was still pretty impressive. And, once in Punta Arenas we were met in the airport and taken to our hotel, which was called Jose Nogueira.  I will post more about that tomorrow, but right now I have a game of ping pong to play.