Chapter 17 - Travel Arrangements
Here is my Telex to our agents at Agunsa in Santiago for my travel arrangements. Telex is quite an interesting beast to operate.
TLX
TO AGUNSA SANTIAGO CHILE
FM PALMER STATION ANTARCTICA
BT
ATTN: ORIANA CORTEZ
SUBJ: TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
DEAR ORIANA,
THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN YOUR TELEX DTD 02-20-90. IRT MY OPEN TICKET FROM SCL/MIA, THE TICKET WILL BE REQUESTED AT THE END OF THIS WEEK THROUGH COMAPA IN PUNTA ARENAS. IT WILL BE A LAN CHILE OPEN TICKET. IF YOU REQUIRE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING MY TICKETS, YOU MAY CONTACT SR. MARIO GALLARDO, THE ITT REPRESENTATIVE AT COMAPA IN PUNTA ARENAS. HE WILL BE HOLDING MY TICKET FOR MY ARRIVAL IN PUNTA ARENAS ON THE 17TH OF MARCH.
AT THIS POINT, I KNOW THAT I WOULD LIKE THE FOLLOWING RESERVATION GOING TO EASTER ISLAND.
21 MAR SCL/IPC (Santiago-Easter Island) LA 405 1755-1435
26 MAR IPC/SCL (Easter Island-Santiago) LA 034 0940-1610
THE ONLY OTHER PROBLEM I MAY FORESEE AT THIS TIME IS IF THE ARRIVAL OF THE SAAM FLIGHT (AMERICAN C-130) FROM MARSH BASE, KING GEORGE ISLAND TO PUNTA ARENAS IS DELAYED LATER THAN THE 19TH OF MARCH.
CONCERNING THE TRIP FROM SANTIAGO TO GUATEMALA CITY:
AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THE TICKET PRICE YOU GAVE OF USD 320.- IS FOR ROUND TRIP FARE, BUSINESS CLASS ON THE DATES BELOW. PLEASE CONFIRM THAT THIS FARE IS FOR A ROUND TRIP TICKET MIA/GUA-GUA/MIA. IF IT IS, PLEASE MAKE RESERVATIONS AS WRITTEN BELOW. I WILL SPEND THE NIGHT OF MARCH 27 IN MIAMI AND CONTINUE ON TO GUATEMALA ON THE 28TH OF MARCH.
26 MAR SCL/MIA (Santiago-Miami) LA 140 2200-0555 (ARRIVE 27 MAR)
28 MAR MIA/GUA (Miami-Guatemala City) PA 405 1755-1935
29 MAR GUA/FRS (Guatemala City-Flores) WILL PURCHASE TICKET UPON ARRIVAL
10 APR FRS/GUA (Flores-Guatemala City) WILL PURCHASE TICKET UPON ARRIVAL
11 APR GUA/MIA (Guatemala City-Miami) PA 404 0703-1100
11 APR MIA/ORD (Miami-Chicago O'Hare) FLY WITH OPEN TICKET I HAVE
PLEASE SAY HELLO TO JIMMY AND THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR ASSISTANCE. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU AGAIN SOON.
BT
NNNN
24 February 90
Well, today is our last tour ship visit, so I am going to send this one via regular mail. Don't know when the next time we will have any chance to send more mail.
You were asking about my itinerary once I leave Palmer. I thought I had given it to you, but it must have been in a letter I wrote to Mom. Oh well, here it is--as permanent as a schedule can be at this point!
Leave Palmer on the 16th of March via R/V Polar Duke enroute to Marsh Base (Chilean) on King George Island. Fly out of Marsh on the 17th of March on an American C-130. Now, given the odds of any C-130 flying out of Marsh on time, I don't know when I will arrive in P.A. If we are on time, I will arrive in Punta Arenas on the 17th. Fly out of P.A. on the 18th up to Puerto Montt. Spend a couple of days in Puerto Montt to finish some shopping, and then fly up to Santiago on the 20th. This will give me that evening and the next morning to make my lapis purchases at the jewelry shops in Santiago.
On the evening of the 21st, fly out to Easter Island. I will be flying out at the same time as another ANS guy. His wife is meeting him in Santiago. I leave to go to Santiago on the 26th and continue onto Miami arriving on the morning of the 27th. I am going to rest up after an overnight flight in Ft. Lauderdale and take off for Guatemala City from Miami on the afternoon of the 28th.
On the 29th fly up to Flores in northern Guatemala and then catch a bus that afternoon to Sayaxche. Hans is working on an island off the town of Sayaxche, so I will have to catch a canoe out to the hotel there. On the 10th of April I will leave Flores and fly to Guatemala City. On the 11th I will fly out of Guatemala City for Miami, then up to Chicago. I thought I had given you all that info, but I have written so many letters over the past couple of months that I don't remember anymore who knows what!
I'm glad that you and Dee dug into some of my stuff. I feel like I've lived in a vacuum over the past 1-1/2 years when I speak with you at home. At least now after watching the video tapes about what everything looks like and all. If you have a viewer, you could probably sit down with the slides and feed them thru the viewer. Don't mix them up too much though, I have them in chronological order right now. It will take some sorting out before I get them together into some kind of a slide show. I will also take a bunch to have pictures made for a photo album. I don't know anymore how many slides I've sent back, but I hope they look as good as the ones you saw in my boxes.
01 March 90
Things here are starting to wind down now for me. I leave here on the 15th. I can't believe that the time has gone by so fast. I will really miss so much here, but I think it is time to get back to real life again! But I won't be directly home, as I am planning to travel some on the trip north.
The weather here is starting to get a little cooler. We hit -1.1 C yesterday morning for the first time since December. Had some snow flurries last night too. Guess fall is almost here. The Adelie penguins have for the most part left as have most of the Elephant seals. Fur seals have already started to show up too. We still have had some beautiful days this last month. Hit 8.3 C and the glacier is still calving all the time. Got rumbled out of bed this morning at 6:30 when a side of the glacier gave way. It will be nice to leave, but I will miss the area.
02 March 90
I'm glad that you watched the video with all the clips from the station and activities and people. I forgot that it was in that box. Hope it wasn't too boring for you! When you said what you did about so many women on station; that was during the middle of winter when the scientists were on station. They were all gone by the beginning of August. I suppose the tape gives you a better idea of how things were down here and how we are. Pictures don't always do justice to things--including the crazy times.
I have a lot of reserved feelings about coming back home, more than I had thought. After being away for so long, all these ideas start racing through my head. "What if... what if... what if". I'll just have to sort things out once I get home.
The Erebus comes in tomorrow morning from P.A. Hope I have some mail on it. I don't expect it since I have told most to not write here anymore. I sense a party in the air since this is the last night before the big-wigs get here tomorrow. We'll see....
10 March 90
Things are winding down here and I am outta here on Thursday morning already. So I thought I would pound out one more messages to you from here before I go. The winter-over Comms Coordinator is out on a jaunt south for a little R&R, so I will be in the radio room pretty often over the next four days. It's nice to feel needed sometimes, even if it is close to my departure date. Getting a little jittery about going back to the world, but I'll take it as it comes.
The new contractor has had two people here over the past week interviewing people and getting a feel for Palmer in general. Speaking with them has kinda sparked my interest in thinking about coming back. Guess I'll wait until I get back home and have time to consider my options and life more.
Summer here seems to be at a close already. The winter weather has been quickly closing in on us. We have been having a lot of crumby weather--snow and wind, etc, but nothing I haven't dealt before! Actually, I kind of like the most of the weather here since it doesn't include biting insects! That is among the things I haven't missed. Going to Guatemala is probably the worst way to get adjusted to bugs and insects again!
Most of the penguins have already headed north as have the elephant seals. The fur seals have come back over the last month. Soon the skuas and gulls will be gone too. Don't expect too many more whale sightings this late in the season either.
TLX
TO AGUNSA SANTIAGO CHILE
FM PALMER STATION ANTARCTICA
BT
ATTN: ORIANA CORTEZ
SUBJ: TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
DEAR ORIANA,
THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN YOUR TELEX DTD 02-20-90. IRT MY OPEN TICKET FROM SCL/MIA, THE TICKET WILL BE REQUESTED AT THE END OF THIS WEEK THROUGH COMAPA IN PUNTA ARENAS. IT WILL BE A LAN CHILE OPEN TICKET. IF YOU REQUIRE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING MY TICKETS, YOU MAY CONTACT SR. MARIO GALLARDO, THE ITT REPRESENTATIVE AT COMAPA IN PUNTA ARENAS. HE WILL BE HOLDING MY TICKET FOR MY ARRIVAL IN PUNTA ARENAS ON THE 17TH OF MARCH.
AT THIS POINT, I KNOW THAT I WOULD LIKE THE FOLLOWING RESERVATION GOING TO EASTER ISLAND.
21 MAR SCL/IPC (Santiago-Easter Island) LA 405 1755-1435
26 MAR IPC/SCL (Easter Island-Santiago) LA 034 0940-1610
THE ONLY OTHER PROBLEM I MAY FORESEE AT THIS TIME IS IF THE ARRIVAL OF THE SAAM FLIGHT (AMERICAN C-130) FROM MARSH BASE, KING GEORGE ISLAND TO PUNTA ARENAS IS DELAYED LATER THAN THE 19TH OF MARCH.
CONCERNING THE TRIP FROM SANTIAGO TO GUATEMALA CITY:
AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THE TICKET PRICE YOU GAVE OF USD 320.- IS FOR ROUND TRIP FARE, BUSINESS CLASS ON THE DATES BELOW. PLEASE CONFIRM THAT THIS FARE IS FOR A ROUND TRIP TICKET MIA/GUA-GUA/MIA. IF IT IS, PLEASE MAKE RESERVATIONS AS WRITTEN BELOW. I WILL SPEND THE NIGHT OF MARCH 27 IN MIAMI AND CONTINUE ON TO GUATEMALA ON THE 28TH OF MARCH.
26 MAR SCL/MIA (Santiago-Miami) LA 140 2200-0555 (ARRIVE 27 MAR)
28 MAR MIA/GUA (Miami-Guatemala City) PA 405 1755-1935
29 MAR GUA/FRS (Guatemala City-Flores) WILL PURCHASE TICKET UPON ARRIVAL
10 APR FRS/GUA (Flores-Guatemala City) WILL PURCHASE TICKET UPON ARRIVAL
11 APR GUA/MIA (Guatemala City-Miami) PA 404 0703-1100
11 APR MIA/ORD (Miami-Chicago O'Hare) FLY WITH OPEN TICKET I HAVE
PLEASE SAY HELLO TO JIMMY AND THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR ASSISTANCE. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU AGAIN SOON.
BT
NNNN
24 February 90
Well, today is our last tour ship visit, so I am going to send this one via regular mail. Don't know when the next time we will have any chance to send more mail.
You were asking about my itinerary once I leave Palmer. I thought I had given it to you, but it must have been in a letter I wrote to Mom. Oh well, here it is--as permanent as a schedule can be at this point!
Leave Palmer on the 16th of March via R/V Polar Duke enroute to Marsh Base (Chilean) on King George Island. Fly out of Marsh on the 17th of March on an American C-130. Now, given the odds of any C-130 flying out of Marsh on time, I don't know when I will arrive in P.A. If we are on time, I will arrive in Punta Arenas on the 17th. Fly out of P.A. on the 18th up to Puerto Montt. Spend a couple of days in Puerto Montt to finish some shopping, and then fly up to Santiago on the 20th. This will give me that evening and the next morning to make my lapis purchases at the jewelry shops in Santiago.
On the evening of the 21st, fly out to Easter Island. I will be flying out at the same time as another ANS guy. His wife is meeting him in Santiago. I leave to go to Santiago on the 26th and continue onto Miami arriving on the morning of the 27th. I am going to rest up after an overnight flight in Ft. Lauderdale and take off for Guatemala City from Miami on the afternoon of the 28th.
On the 29th fly up to Flores in northern Guatemala and then catch a bus that afternoon to Sayaxche. Hans is working on an island off the town of Sayaxche, so I will have to catch a canoe out to the hotel there. On the 10th of April I will leave Flores and fly to Guatemala City. On the 11th I will fly out of Guatemala City for Miami, then up to Chicago. I thought I had given you all that info, but I have written so many letters over the past couple of months that I don't remember anymore who knows what!
I'm glad that you and Dee dug into some of my stuff. I feel like I've lived in a vacuum over the past 1-1/2 years when I speak with you at home. At least now after watching the video tapes about what everything looks like and all. If you have a viewer, you could probably sit down with the slides and feed them thru the viewer. Don't mix them up too much though, I have them in chronological order right now. It will take some sorting out before I get them together into some kind of a slide show. I will also take a bunch to have pictures made for a photo album. I don't know anymore how many slides I've sent back, but I hope they look as good as the ones you saw in my boxes.
01 March 90
Things here are starting to wind down now for me. I leave here on the 15th. I can't believe that the time has gone by so fast. I will really miss so much here, but I think it is time to get back to real life again! But I won't be directly home, as I am planning to travel some on the trip north.
The weather here is starting to get a little cooler. We hit -1.1 C yesterday morning for the first time since December. Had some snow flurries last night too. Guess fall is almost here. The Adelie penguins have for the most part left as have most of the Elephant seals. Fur seals have already started to show up too. We still have had some beautiful days this last month. Hit 8.3 C and the glacier is still calving all the time. Got rumbled out of bed this morning at 6:30 when a side of the glacier gave way. It will be nice to leave, but I will miss the area.
02 March 90
I'm glad that you watched the video with all the clips from the station and activities and people. I forgot that it was in that box. Hope it wasn't too boring for you! When you said what you did about so many women on station; that was during the middle of winter when the scientists were on station. They were all gone by the beginning of August. I suppose the tape gives you a better idea of how things were down here and how we are. Pictures don't always do justice to things--including the crazy times.
I have a lot of reserved feelings about coming back home, more than I had thought. After being away for so long, all these ideas start racing through my head. "What if... what if... what if". I'll just have to sort things out once I get home.
The Erebus comes in tomorrow morning from P.A. Hope I have some mail on it. I don't expect it since I have told most to not write here anymore. I sense a party in the air since this is the last night before the big-wigs get here tomorrow. We'll see....
10 March 90
Things are winding down here and I am outta here on Thursday morning already. So I thought I would pound out one more messages to you from here before I go. The winter-over Comms Coordinator is out on a jaunt south for a little R&R, so I will be in the radio room pretty often over the next four days. It's nice to feel needed sometimes, even if it is close to my departure date. Getting a little jittery about going back to the world, but I'll take it as it comes.
The new contractor has had two people here over the past week interviewing people and getting a feel for Palmer in general. Speaking with them has kinda sparked my interest in thinking about coming back. Guess I'll wait until I get back home and have time to consider my options and life more.
Summer here seems to be at a close already. The winter weather has been quickly closing in on us. We have been having a lot of crumby weather--snow and wind, etc, but nothing I haven't dealt before! Actually, I kind of like the most of the weather here since it doesn't include biting insects! That is among the things I haven't missed. Going to Guatemala is probably the worst way to get adjusted to bugs and insects again!
Most of the penguins have already headed north as have the elephant seals. The fur seals have come back over the last month. Soon the skuas and gulls will be gone too. Don't expect too many more whale sightings this late in the season either.
posted by Dave Gallas at 8:38 AM
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