Had a lovely day with the volunteers at CP5.  Our checkpoint was placed next to a church just in case we had to repent for any sins (I don't have any, of course). There were llama and goat spottings, and even a family of foxes crossed our path.  The runners were in good spirits when they passed, and all were seemingly healthy (psychologic status aside....). Our basecamp is set between 2 salt lakes that apparently have very high concentrations of lithium and salt. A few of the competitors have gone floating... oops, gotta run. Patients to see....
 
Signing off.
Dr. Marla

Greetings from the first basecamp. Today was check-in day, where the competitors had their equipment checked, bags weighed, and medical history reviewed. We then loaded up the buses and trucks and caravanned into the desert. We are awaiting our last meal before we we spend a week sustaining ourselves on freeze-dried meals that require the addition of water, and all seem to look and taste the same despite their clever names. 
     
Dr. Alice and I have discovered that we have quite a bit in common-- can't share all the ways as they will remain secrets of the Atacama, but I was relieved to find out that I was not the only dumb American tourist that fell prey to Chilean customs. I am embarrassed to admit that upon my arrival to Santiago, I had an incident at customs. When my plane landed, I had to beg for a new flight to Calama, a hotel room so I could shower and catch a few minutes of zzz's,  and transport to the hotel.  Then, I had to pay US$131 just to enter the country (apparently because the US charges Chileans to enter the country). Well, I finally arrived in customs, after not sleeping for a couple of days, and had completely forgotten about the dried fruit in my luggage. Needless to say, the agent found it, and confiscated it. I thought (erroneously) that would be it. Not the case. I had to wait to speak to a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture. And wait. And wait. Finally I entered the office all ready to bring on the tears. Much to my chagrin, there was a young woman at the desk, and clearly. tears were not going to work. Ultimately (over an hour later), I paid the fine and ran as fast as I could out of the airport!  Apparently, Dr. Alice had the same experience! Sorry, Alice, but I'm glad I wasnt the only one!
     
Signing off!
Dr. Marla

 

So my trip to San Pedro de Atacama wasn't quite as smooth as I had hoped for, but after 2 extra overnight stops (in Dallas and in Santiago), I finally arrived in San Pedro de Atacama yesterday morning. This is a gorgeous place and I can't wait to see the desert.  Plus, the empanadas are delicious!

We spent today getting the medical team arranged-- I'm really looking forward to working with Drs. Grant, Alice and Jay. The competitor field is much smaller than Gobi 2008 - hopefully this means that our work hours won't be quite as long!  Ok, signing off! More later....