Father & Son
Rob & I left Dublin ahead of the rest of the Beyond Endurance team to
avail of the opportunity to visit The Iguazu Falls and
spend the week in Buenos Aries with some friends and distant relations.
We saw The Falls by helicopter from the Brazil side and on the many
levels of walkways on the Argentina side. It was the
most spectacular sight I have ever seen in my life (so far).
Some friends then brought us to the Tiger River where we tried water
skiing, Rob laughed his head off at my efforts to get
upright on the skies, but he made it on his 1st attempt. We also
visited the tomes of Admiral William Brown and Ava Peron,
an art gallery, the town of San Antonio and a farm on the outskirts of
Buenos Aries.
The rest of the Irish crew survived the 30+ hour journey since they
left home with only a few mishaps. Dublin – London,
London – San Paulo (1 hour stopover) and then to Buenos Aries. From
the International airport they were bussed to The City
Airport which is where we met up with them to catch the flight to
Ushuaia, allegedly the world’s most southern city. Only
one passenger was minus a bag when we checked into the hotel although
about 10 others had been opened by someone who showed
no regard for the little locks which are supposed to keep them out.
But we had been warned to carry all valuables on board
so no upsets reported.
We had two very pleasant nights in Ushuaia; we saw the annual parade
of the Gauchos with their highly decorated horses (many
in Silverware) and visited the maritime museum & goal.
On board The MV Ushuaia I was a bit worried when dinner was served,
I’ve seen more meat on a butchers pencil on a Good
Friday, but my worry was short lived as seconds were soon offered and
in fact the food has been so varied and so tasty that
I now fear I’ll be loosening my belt by a notch or two before the trip ends.
The seas were surprisingly calm on the 1st two days of our journey to
Antarctica, although several were seasick including
Rob who made a recovery but then had a 2nd bout and had to get a shot
from the doctor so he slept a lot. This was lucky for
him as he missed the worst of the boats rocking & rolling as we were
hit by a storm.
In South Georgia the traverse team made it off the ship and the 8 TY
students were just about to board the Zodiacs when the
weather suddenly turned ugly so the entire support team are now
stranded on board only able to look at icebergs, sea lions,
and penguins in King Hakkon Bay with binoculars and zoom lenses.
Dominic Lee

PS. have a look at the blog on www.beyondendurance.ie for updates.