Back in Punta Arenas

The ship arrived in Punta Arenas today before any of us woke up.  It feels odd to be back in a city after so much time away from people.  I spent most of the day cleaning out the lab, returning my cold weather gear, and preparing my samples and supplies to be shipped back to the US.  Luckily the people here are very helpful, so it’s nowhere near as stressful as shipping things down here from Georgia.

After lunch we were able to tour the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP), the LMG’s sister ship.  It’s massive…much bigger than the LMG.  We literally got lost after the tour was done and had to wait for the guide to realize he needed to direct us out of the ship.  Haha.  But it was pretty neat.  Below are some pictures from the bridge looking back at PA and at the LMG, and also of the exterior of the ship.  It even has a helipad and a mini boat!  And you can tell the ships were made in Louisiana...it's great.  :)

I headed into town after meeting with the MSTs to dispose of all my chemical waste.  I made it to an internet cafe, checked my hundreds (literally) of emails, got some pesos, and did some souvenir shopping.  It was nice to be back in town.  And despite it being freezing cold outside, I went and got ice cream.  It was mucho delicious.  We'd only had it once on the cruise, so I thought it was necessary to have.

It was our MPC Stian's birthday while we were coming back from Antarctica, and since the LMG is a dry ship, we decided to celebrate again in Punta Arenas.  We went to the hotel all the people from Raytheon (the Polar Services Company) stay at to the Shackleton Bar - named after the Antarctic explorer.  Had a few beers made by Cerveza Austral - native to Punta Arenas and the southernmost brewery in the world.  After drinks, we went to dinner at La Luna, where I've had lunch at before.  It was an enjoyable evening overall, and definitely easy to get to sleep after we were done!