2013-01-16 (Wednesday). The morning I am doing my last packing. I am a bit in panick because for an half hour I could no longer locate my small Rollei camera. I finally find it well hidden in the bagpack for camera gear. At the airport, I have another fear, because my hand bagage has apparently not the right dimensions for Iberia airline. However I was again panicking for nothing as the laptop may be removed and considered as a separate item. When the airplane is taking off, everything is snowy, shining under the sun. I had never seen Zaventem like that. From the air, the white Belgium, looks like on old paintings of Breughel. Above France the snow disappears. Above Spain it becomes cloudy and I land in Madrid in rainy conditions. I have to wait more than 6 hours at the terminal for intercontinental connections. I spends this time in the less bad snack of the terminal (there is no good one). Since this will be a cruise on a German ship, I have to impregnate me a little bit of German culture and I start the reading of the most iconic piece of German literature: Faust of Goethe.
Ready for the journey to the end of the world.
(Cedric)
17.01.2013 (Thursday). At 00:30, the airbus is taking off. Direction Santiago (Chile). More than 13h of flight. The airplane is moving in the same direction as earth rotation. So it is a very, very long night. I would like to sleep immediately, but we first have to eat airplane 'crap food'. The guy on my side (an Italian and obviously a very clever person) is reading a book about Bayesian statistics. Not the kind of things I would read before sleeping... I sleep a little bit, but very badly. Then I wake up because the ladies behind me had put the light on, before sleeping with the lamp... No concerns for the others! I have to turn off myself their own lamp. Later on, small screens start projecting a Walt Disney movie with a Frankenstein dog. Impossible to sleep with that stupidity. At the end of the night, when looking at me in the mirror of the toilet, I looks very very tired. Then we are flying above the Andes. Fantastic view of a mountain desert. At Zaventem, they told me that my luggage, would follow directly to Punta Arenas. This seems very strange to me since the controls for entrance in Chile are very strict. The people of the airplane confirms me that I have to pick up my suitcase at Santiago. In Santiago, my suitcase is one of the last one to arrive. I briefly met Julian Gutt who has just arrived by another plane. I have to declare the importation of 5 external hard disks. This is not a problem. I just have to indicate that on a form. Then I have to take my plane to Punta Arenas. Unfortunately, I have wasted time in waiting my suitcase and filling documents and my plane is already gone. I met other colleagues of the expedition who had the same problem. This is not a big issue. We will take the next plane if there is still place in it ...at the last moment. I eat a Chilean varied salad in the airport. This was the only decent food of the whole journey to Punta Arenas. I come back to the desk. There is still a place but I have just 10 minutes to run to the airplane. I get it in time. It makes a stop at Puerto Montt before Punta Arenas. At Puerto Montt the landscape looks Mediterranean, with shrubs of dry climate. Then we take off again and arrive at Punta Arenas with various colleagues. And then, shit happens. My suitcase has not arrived. My Spanish colleagues Pablo Lopez and Irene are in the same situation. For them, this is even worst as for me, as they haves very important gear for the mission in their suitcase (my stuff were expensive but less important). We have a very long discussion at the reclamation office. I am more than happy to have the friendly help of Pablo, because I do not speak Spanish and the guys of the airport speak almost no English (and of course no French at all). At first, they could not even locate the luggages in their computer system and it seems that the situation is hopeless. After long discussion by phone, the suitcases of Pablo and Irene are located, but not mine. They should arrive in Punta Arenas around 23:00. Pablo and Irene decide to wait at the airport (they will see if they get more information on my suitcase). I take a cab and go to my hotel, the Oro de Fuegino, which is a nice old-fashioned Chilean hotel. I go to the well-known restaurant 'La Luna', where I hoped to find colleagues, but I find one. I eat and try a local artisanal bear 'Luna'. Quite a good beer in my opinion. Back in my hotel, when I am already in bed, I get a first phone call from Pablo: my suitcase has arrived. A bit later, I get a second phone call telling me that he has brought me the suitcase. I jump out of my bed. The suitcase is in front of my door!!! Unfortunately, Pablo is already away and I cannot say him thank you (he has to wake up early the day after for an excursion far away). I can sleep quietly...
Above the Andes.
(Cedric)
No comments:
Post a Comment