Getting to South America - Windows on the World

 

Sunrise over the Andes Mountains, Chile

Sunday, October 29, 2023   -   Traveling to South America

Saturday was a full day of travel.  We wanted to arrive on Sunday (October 29) to be a day early in case any flights got messed up, etc.  We travel enough that we've learned this little extra cushion just gives us "peace of mind" and keeps us relaxed and enjoying the journey.

We started at 8 AM in Michigan's UP and drove for six hours to get to Milwaukee.  Can't remember why we chose Milwaukee, other than it's not Chicago - we've been avoiding flying through O'Hare after our recent less than ideal experiences.  This trip, we flew on United - not my favorite for international travel, but the best option. Other than their food, it's a good choice.  The IAH to EZE flight crew was fantastic - so nice and helpful.  They even found me an extra pillow and offered me grilled cheese and tomato soup in the middle of the night when they noticed I was awake.  (No thanks, but appreciate the offer....)

Leaving Milwaukee, the beginning of our air travel

Great snacks on the Milwaukee to Houston flight - cheese and beef jerkey seems very Midwestern, doesn't it?

Arriving in Houston around 6:30 PM - nice sunset!

You could almost see downtown Houston through the clouds and haze.

We parked in Milwaukee - $14 a night - less than half what it costs at O'Hare.  I took a photo of our location in the parking garage.  It's hard enough to remember where you parked - much less after more than 3 weeks away!  The flight from Milwaukee to Houston is about 3 hours.  We went from 35 degrees and little snow flurries to 88 degrees as an evening temperature in Texas. Whew!

Not much of a layover, and we were boarding our flight to Buenos Aires.  I sat in seat 7A and Michael was behind me in 8A.  These configurations remind me of little mini-rooms - you're surrounded by a cocoon of plastic moulding on all sides.  I love to look out the window - fortunately, you don't disturb your neighbors too much if you don't lift the window cover too high.

I had to pop up and look over to talk to Michael, as I was sitting in front of him.

Michael looks ready to go, don't you think?

On our way! Heading out over Houston toward the Gulf of Mexico

Crossing over Galveston and the barrier islands

We departed at 8:15 PM and were scheduled to land in Buenos Aires at 8:15 AM.  It's actually a 10 hour flight, as there is a 2 hour time difference.  I'm always surprised when I look at the map of North and South America to see how far east the whole continent of South America is located, compared to the USA.

United served our meal quickly - and it took me almost no time to finish, as most of it was not really appealing.  I did enjoy the ice cream with dulce de leche for dessert - in part because my flight attendant put about six cherries on top!  I listened to podcasts and audiobooks until I was ready to sleep at 10:30 PM.  I listened to so many Antarctica disaster books this past month - the Endurance, The Race to the Pole about Scott and Amundson, Madhouse at the End of the Earth about the Belgica Expedition.  I decided to re-listen to Endurance tonight, just to keep me in the mood of what could go wrong on this trip!

I woke up about 4 AM (6 AM Argentine time).  I checked the actual time with the flight attendants.  (That's when they kindly offered me the midnight snack of grilled cheese and tomato soup!).  I worked on photos and listened to podcasts until it was time for breakfast.  I enjoyed watching the sunrise - first, just streaks of orange in the sky, with a large planet shining on the eastern horizon - maybe Venus?  Then, as the sun started to peek up further, you could see the peaks of the Andes Mountains below.  Spectacular, and so glad I was awake for it.

First light over South America - is that Venus up above?

Interesting flight plan - no crossing over Venzuela, Equador or Peru - only Panama and Chile

Sunrise over the Andes Mountains

We landed, as promised, at about 8:15, but in a pouring rainstorm, with pretty tough air turbulence for the final 20 minutes.  Good thing Captain Wendy was up to the task and provided us with a smooth landing (Go Girl!).  We skedaddled quickly through immigration and passport control (this isn't Chicago, after all!) and picked up our luggage about 30 minutes later. 

Nat Geo had arranged a transfer from the airport to our hotel, so we were quickly on our way.  Our driver didn't really speak English, so I got to practice a bit of my rusty high school Spanish.  I'm always adding Italian words when I don't think carefully about it.  And just like that, we were on our way to our hotel!

Luggage ready, fortunately it stopped raining after we arrived

EZE is a nice airport, easy to negotiate

A little gift from my daughter Elizabeth that I'm carrying in my pocket on this trip.