Made it to McMurdo!

After several hours of delays and an eight hour flight, I'm finally in McMurdo! I won a trivia contest that gave me the privilege of sitting on the flight deck (with the pilots) for the landing on the Ross Ice Shelf. On the final approach, we passed a pod of orcas whales and seals resting on the sea ice. The US Coast Guard's icebreaker was also visible in the pack ice; the icebreaker comes once a year to McMurdo to provide supplies for the winter.

Once arriving in McMurdo, we sat through yet another briefing, grabbed our linens, and picked up our luggage.

Our gear loaded onto a palette in the back of the DC-130

Seating arrangement on the DC-130

My first view of Antarctica!

More Antarctica

Getting off the plane onto the Ross Ice Shelf

Our ride from the "airport" to McMurdo

Looking down on the road out to the airport