Ushuaia, Argentina

Monday, 02 Jan 2012 – Early this morning our ship docked at Ushuaia, Argentina, and when we awoke, we could see snow-covered mountains from our cabin.  By 8:00 we were at our group meeting place.   However, there was a disconnect between the tour company and our tour organizer, with the result that we stood waiting on the street for almost 1.5 hours until we were finally seated on a bus.  Eventually, a full-sized bus pulled up (with a tour guide), and the 14 of us had the big bus to ourselves.

Ushuaia, nestled at the foot of the mountains, is known as the southernmost city in the world, now with about 30,000 inhabitants.  The guide said that electronic assembly is now performed here, then sent to Rio for distribution; and an average house costs about 200,000 Argentine pesos or about $50,000.  The scenery is beautiful, rather like Alaska or the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.  Our bus soon took us to the Tierra del Fuego National Park.  (The name, meaning “Land of Fire,” was given by early sailors who saw many fires.  Our guide said the natives wore little or no clothing and used fire, even in the bottom of their boats, to keep warm.)  The Tierra del Fuego butts against the Chilean border; the mountains are the southern tip of the Andes.  This area is also called the “End of the World.”

Although it was chilly here, especially in the morning, the weather was mostly clear – except for a few tiny drops of rain that kept trying to bother us.  When our ship was ready to pull away from beautiful Ushuaia about 4:00, the captain had announced that we were ready to embark, as soon as the last two passengers were on board.  We watched those stragglers from our balcony as they ran for the ship.

While we were finishing dinner, we saw glaciers from the dining room window.  We ran to our cabin to get a better look.  After that, the ship continued to pass several glaciers, one of which also was producing a good-sized waterfall.  The ship’s narrator referred to it as the “melting” glacier.  The view was similar to the Inner Passage of Alaska, but some of these glaciers are closer to the water than is usual in Alaska.  Seeing glaciers was an added bonus to this trip that we had not anticipated.  The only problem is that there was a fine mist in the air, and clouds were hanging low on the mountains, making it difficult to discern snow from fog.  It was still magnificent scenery!

Due to the glacier viewing opportunities, we missed our dancing tonight.  Tomorrow is another excursion day, this time to Punta Arenas, Chile, and more penguin colonies.