This page is available to subscribers. Click here to signin or get access. It’s a long way from Manhattan Island to King George Island—actually, it’s an epic trip from anywhere to Antarctica—and the wise traveler needs to make a stop, preferably at an interesting halfway point. In my case, that stop was in Santiago, the capital of Chile. A little over five thousand miles from New York, Santiago is actually two-thirds of the way to Antarctica, but only an overnight flight from JFK airport.