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SIMBA Antarctic Sea Ice

Sarah, At least it sounds positive for continuing! We are all hoping for good news and a resumption of the expedition soonLaughing

So tell us about Punta Arenas, what is it like? Had some good local food? Have you done any shopping?Temperature sounds great compared to the continuing heat in Texas! We just dodged another hurricane here in Houston last week. It was a strange storm- developed from a depression to a tropical storm to a hurricane (Cat. 1) in about 14 hours!! It turned  slightly north and missed us altogether. Unfortunately, parts of E. Texas and Louisiana that already had too much rain were drenched.

So you will be a seasoned Drake Passage traveler by the time this is over! Glad to hear it has been a good experience. Any tips you want to share about the crossing??

All for now, take care and keep in touch when you can.

Lollie

Wed, 09/19/2007 - 10:53

Sarah Anderson

Hi Lollie - great to hear from you again. We're headed out again tomorrow - we've lost twenty days, but still have 6 weeks to work...so all in all, not too bad, considering. We heard about the hurricane, what a strange couple of years for hurricanes - hit hard two years ago, then not much since, except lots of rain. Punta Arenas is an interesting town - yesterday was their Independence Day, there was a parade in town. Today is some kind of military day - today's parade apparently featured tanks! Food is good - lots of seafood, beef, and lamb. The older students all wear uniforms to school, but during their off-hours they look just like kids in the US! The stores seem to have the same kind of goods we have, and prices seem similar. There are a number of street dogs that roam town - apparently the city cares for them - they all look quite healthy. They are very friendly and follow you around, though they don't seem that interested in food!
The weather has been great - sunny all week while we've been in port - clouding up today, and word is that there are some low pressure systems in the Drake Passage - so that might mean a bumpier crossing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Email should be fixed on the ship soon, so hopefully I can send more info frequently. Looking forward to sending back lots of info on sea ice, life on the ship, etc.
Talk to you soon,
Sarah