January 16, 2000
Day 86 Drake Passage: We are on the ship to Antarctica
Today we will find out whether we go to Antarctica.
We organize our things as if we will be going. We pack for the trip in our waterproof dry bags and leave everything else in the hostel. We shop for warmer socks and Rachel buys a penguin sweatshirt to wear in Antartica and then give to her mom.
We wait in the hostel until close to 4pm, then set out for the tourist office. Karina, the agent, is there already and lets us in and says we have to wait. She attempts to show us a video of Antartica "in case you don't get to go" but is unable to make the machine work.
She hears from Juan from the ship. It is still uncertain, and it is 5pm, then it is 5:30pm. She gives us coffee. Scott, an Irish-Canadian living in Brazil is also waiting.
At 6pm, she says "it's ok, you are going." We pay for the voucher and head for the ship. It was supposed to sail by 5pm but had been waiting for 16 Japanese passengers to arrive. We are waiting by the dining room in the lobby and finally assigned a cabin. We didn't care if we had to sleep on the deck, we were on the boat!
The cabin is by the dining room and the lounge. There are bunkbeds, a sink, closet, couch and desk. The toilet is across the hallway. We are happy because we are together in the same cabin...that hadn't been a guarantee.
At dinnertime (8pm) we set sail. Dining is in one large room with tables that are secured to the floor and raised edges, to keep things from rolling off onto the floor. The chairs can be secured to the floor with a spring allowing some movement. Already we are preparing for a rough passage. Each cabin has a maid service, while at dinner she had turned down our beds.
Dramamine is taken and we feel that being horizontal is the safest and may keep us from being seasick. The ship is really rocking.
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