1-29 Ushau8ak n

1-29 Day 24 Ushuaia, Argentina

THE END OF THE WORLD

The alarm was set for 6:30, but when I happened to wake up at 5:30 and saw that it was already light outside and that snow capped mountains were passing by our cabin window, I was up in a flash. Raced to get ready to go watch the most beautiful scenery go by. It was overcast, but still beautiful. During the night, we had wound our way around tiny little islands in channels of all sizes until we arrived into the Beagle Channel. Because most of it is relatively narrow, you could see tall snow capped mountains on both sides of the ship – some with their tops covered by clouds.

Before we were to arrive in Ushuaia, we were going to pass four glaciers on the port side of the ship. With cameras and binoculars in hand, we were ready. During this passage it rained some and was always overcast. The first glacier we passed was called Alemania. It was receding, but was still large, and the amazing thing was the huge waterfall coming down in a torrent into the canal. It was pretty spectacular. You could see a bluish color in parts of the glacier itself, but the waterfall was an ashy white. The contrast was interesting to see.

The second glacier was not nearly as impressive and was called Francia. It truly was receding and was pretty far back from the water. No waterfalls. The only amazing thing we saw was the distinct line in the channel that separated the channel water from the glacier water. The glacial waters from the previous glacier was putting so much water into the channel, it was changing the color of a whole section of it. The four glaciers are very close to each other.

The third glacier was the largest one and called Italia. It was a huge mass of ice coming right down into the water. There was evidence of recent calving (parts of the glacier breaking off) as hunks of ice floated in the water around it. It too had a bluish cast to it . It was the most impressive in size.

The fourth and last was the Holanda glacier. It too was very much receding and no where near the water – even though it was fairly large.

As we passed the last glacier, we also passed the large Gordon island which had been on our starboard side the whole time. After we passed the end of that island, you could see where other waters met and joined the Beagle Channel. It was also after the glaciers that we passed from Chilean waters into Argentinian waters. Our ship's travel guide had been commenting on what we were passing during the hour or so and explaining to us about the different glaciers. When her presentation was over, we went to get some breakfast.

Before we arrived in Ushuaia, the Antarctic Ice Pilot who had just joined our ship gave a presentation about what to expect and what we will see in Antarctica. Capt. Pat Toomey is very experienced with ships and the sea as he made it his lifetime career. It was after he retired that he decided to be the ice pilot for cruise ships. He has been to Antarctica 31 times, and our ship's captain has been there a number of times, so we have experienced leaders in the helm!

The main point of his talk was to tell us that while they have a plan of travel, it can change minute by minute and is determined by the ice and the weather. What you might see one day wouldn't be possible the next if the ice moved or the weather worsened. So, at the end of our three long days in the southernmost point of the world, the ship will give us a map marking where we ended up going in that area. He also said that there would be only a few hours of dark each day, so we will be spending a lot of time outside (or by windows) watching all there is to see – and there is a lot apparently. It sounds so exciting, but very tiring. We will need some sea days afterwards to rest up.

By the time his presentation ended we were arriving in Ushuaia. We had been here before and really liked it a lot. In the winter it is a ski resort, so it is surrounded by mountains. Even in summer, the mountains all have snow on top. It is the most southern city in the world, thus it is called the End of the World. And there are tons of souvenirs with that printed on them!

We had arranged to spend our time here with another couple we had met, and so off we went to explore, shop, and have lunch in this town. The last time we were here, we had seen restaurants that had open pit fires at the front (near the window so you could see) with chickens, beef, and lamb cooking on racks. So, this time we decided we would try it out for lunch. Well, it was OK. The food was not as good as it smelled. I had lamb, which looked like BBQ ribs with not much meat on them, but a lot of fat. The meat had a great flavor, but there wasn't that much of it. The beef Doug had was tough, but the chicken was moist and good. They also had a buffet so you could get potatoes, veggies, and salad too. It was an experience. We'll leave it at that.

After that we shopped around the town for all kinds of things. It was fun, but it got colder and started to rain off and on. We got back to the ship about 5 p.m. so decided there was no way we wanted to make the 5:30 dinner, so we are having dinner up in the Italian restaurant again with another couple from our normal group of 8 whom we enjoy.

After that we may take in the ship's movie or entertainment – not sure yet. We know we have to start stockpiling lots of sleep for the days ahead. We sail off from Ushuaia around 7 p.m. and head for Cape Horn. There has not been too much talk about how rough or smooth this will be. It can go either way. So, tomorrow is our day at sea on the way to Antarctica. It only takes a day by ship to get there.