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Published: June 29th 2017
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Geo: -54.79, -68.31
Today we arrived at the most southern city on the planet. Ushuaia is found at the bottom of an island, south of the tip of the South American continent. Its part of Argentina. The small city offers a most spectacular backdrop; Colossal, towering mountains, the end of the Andes. Its where a lot of expeditions to Antarctica set off. Alas, that would have to wait for another time. Time and cost meant we'd have to wait to get to our final unvisited continent. Not withstanding, we were still in for memorable day sailing through the beagle channel, animal spotting and exploring the Tierra del Feugo National Park and forest.
We were up before the sun this morning. Disembarking one ship and boarding another (much smaller) one to sail through the Beagle Channel. Just four days ago I was substantially sunburned and roasting in 30C in Uruguay. Today, its freezing. It snowed overnight and this morning it was 0-2C. You couldn't see much inside the small ship/ Catamaran due to the fog and frost so we decided to brave the cold and sit up on the roof deck. There was a 1 minute time limit taking photos before my hands started
to frost over but it was worth it. What magnificent views we were treated to through the channel; Whitecap mountains, dozens of islands, a lighthouse, glaciers, circling albatrosses, flocks of cormorants, fur seals and sea lions aplenty. We were so lucky with the weather. It remained cold, but rains held off and we even enjoyed some sunshine.
Eventually the Catamaran made its way to a small pier in the Tierra del Feugo National Park where EVENTUALLY (some huge delay) we were able to disembark and board a bus to further explore the forest. We made a few nice stops at lakes and lookouts and even squeezed in a mini hike along a coastal track through the woods. I was amazed at how few of the people on the bus opted not to get off at various scenic opportunities, instead staying onboard out of fear of the cold. For some, only the motivation to pass waste appears sufficient to venture out of their comfort zones. Such a waste.
From there we drove through the city of Ushuaia and were dropped off at the pier. We still had time to explore the city ourselves on foot for a couple hours and grab lunch before
the ship left. We enjoyed some of the brightly coloured buildings, a strange little tent city on the streets, more amazing views and lunch at a little cafe called Tante Sara. I enjoyed a delicious cheese steak and pint of Cape Horn beer. Not bad. We returned to the ship for a 3.30pm departure and as I write this were decked out by the window of the wind sheltered indoor pool, in the sun, in jackets, watching beautiful huge whitecap mountains roll by right on the coastline.
It wasn't long before mountains became glaciers.. and how spectacular they were to behold. We've been to some spectacular glaciers, in Norway, Svalbard and New Zealand, but these were just as, if not more impressive, the largest and most prominent being the Talia Glacier. Next stop, Punta Arenas.
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