Leaving the vibrant, hot city of Buenos Aires, Argentina..............
..............Paula and I flew south to our next stop, the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia........."fin del mundo", the end of the world!
It was there our ship appeared that evening......where the sun sets much later, and the chill of the mountains surrounding the city and a strong wind with a few light showers, required some of the warmer layers we'd packed. Sailing in from its earlier voyage to Antarctica, we were excited knowing the following afternoon we'd be boarding the bright red-hulled, Danish built car ferry, used in Scandinavia in its former life! More on the ship coming later.
Ushuaia, pop. 40,000, sits on the shore of the Beagle Channel (named after the ship The Beagle which took Charles Darwin to this area), and means "bay facing westward" in the language of the original Yamana inhabitants. Once a penal colony for political prisoners as well as criminals, it was disbanded in the 1940's, it's now a tourist destination for both Antarctic cruising and a major ski resort for both alpine and cross-country skiers.
After checking into the Hotel Albatros, along with most of the other 134 passengers on our expedition, we were out on the waterfront (found a little craft market and bought some local jewelry) cameras in tow, and having lunch in a cafe before hitting the big selection of gift shops.
Surrounded by mountains-Hotel Albatros, Ushuaia, Argentina
Later we met up for dinner with Paula's American friends, Linda & Bob, and Diana & Mike, who were also cruising on our expedition and, as they are all retired US Navy, we learned a lot about sailing the seas from them!
Next post - our morning excursion to the Tierra del Fuego National Park before boarding the ship.
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