Sunday, February 16th, 2014
Today we started the trip south. Our destination was the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia. It is the capital of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) and is the port that many ships to Antarctica sail from. We arrived at the Buenos Aires domestic airport just after 0400 (it is a very short 10 minute taxi ride from Jeff's place), to find a very long winding line for check-in. Lucky for us, Jeff carries a diplomatic passport and got us priority check-in......too bad we didn't also get an upgrade. The flight was about 3.5 hours long. Not a bad flight.....and the early morning guaranteed I slept for most of it.
A first look at the southern most point of Argentina. Mountains and snow. Kind of like home.
Just a little airport. Very environmentally friendly. Like many remote areas, they have very strict import rules to protect the local eco-system. They were checking for all types of raw food (nuts, fruits, vegetables) and loose dirt etc. Not to worry however, my peanut M&Ms made it through safely.
Our early departure from Buenos Aires meant that when we arrived we pretty much had the entire day. We were able to check into our hotel rooms, drop off our bags and then get Jeff some much needed coffee. First think I had to learn on this trip, do not let the day get too late before letting Jeff have a coffee and a cigarette. We took the opportunity to take a quick look around the town. Ushuaia is a duty free zone so shopping is a lot more affordable here than in other areas of Argentina. Jeff and I planned to do some of that a bit later. The stores however, were closed until 1700 (5pm) so it would have to wait.
Down on the water front. No, we are not taking a sailboat to Antarctica.
Outside the navy base.
Yes, it was a little chilly, but the flowers were still in bloom.
As we still had some time before the stores opened and we already had lunch, Jeff and I decided to do some sight-seeing. We took a taxi to go visit the southern most ski life in the world located at Glacier El Martial. I won't lie, you will hear that a lot (southern most.......) in the coming blog posts. It is in a skiing area but this time of year it is all about the ride/hike up.
Riding the ski lift up.
Once at the top we continued our hike for another 1.5km. It was pretty beautiful.
Walking up towards the glacier.
Not a walking trail.
The view. Looking down at Ushuaia.
That's Jeff and I.
On the way back down, it was decided that we had to do some sliding. Jeff is a good old fashioned Canadian boy and loves his winter activities (he grew up in British Columbia). He was already well prepared for it and had apparently read somewhere this is a great spot for sliding. I think I mentioned before, Jeff is pretty organised and likes to be prepared before visiting anywhere.
Jeff sliding down the hill.
I got talked into it....but was a little bit more cautious.....but can't lie it was pretty fun.
Eventually we made our way back into town and did that shopping. I think I bought a pair of pants, and Jeff was looking at coats and bags and all kinds of things. Like I said, cheaper than other parts of Argentina (although still more expensive than other places) so Jeff was excited.
Looks like our ship has come in.
Later that evening we were actually able to watch our ship arrive. At this point it was still about 24 hours until we would get to board but the excitement was certainly building.
Julie
