Day 18 – Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse!

By travelerdon on July 21, 2019

Mar 4

We wake in our new hotel room and pack our bags of our next leg of our journey.  Heading into the breakfast restaurant on the fourth floor, we dine with a view of the town and the harbor.  We can see our ship as they are likely cleaning it and getting ready for the last voyage it will make this season before heading north for other endeavors.

We have time before we go to the airport, so we book a trip out to the famous lighthouse here.  A small boat carrying about 10 people takes us out and we watch all kinds of birds and creatures on the way.  We even see the Ocean Diamond as it leaves out of the Beagle Channel with a new group of passengers on its last sailing to the Antarctic for the season.  Fur Seals abound on the rocks of these islands and the boat brings us in for close and personal views.

The boat barely holds the 10 passengers and we all have to squeeze around each other to get around.  I can’t help but start singing in my head, “A 3 Hour Tour”, the theme song from Gilligan’s Island!

The boat first takes us to an island where we get off the boat and take a guided hike around to see wildlife up close and personal.  It is great weather with partly cloudy skies that give depth to our camera lenses and all are happy!  We get back on the boat, which is a challenge in itself as we have to navigate somewhat off a cliff and rocks to step onto the boat.

The Lighthouse is on its own island which we are not allowed to walk on, but we get quite the photogenic views as we cruise around it.  Penguins, Seals and lots of birds fill the landscape.

On the way back to town, the weather has grown cold and wet.  We huddle inside the boat where we sip on hot cocoa and enjoy South America’s version of a Malomar that has caramel inside!

Back in Ushuaia now, it’s time for lunch and we find pizza in a sports bar and watch an Argentinean Soccer Match.

We walk around a bit before we are due at the airport, which is only a 5 minute taxi ride away. So we get our last sightseeing in as we relax.

In the airport, we have pleasant conversation with other tourists and converse about our past trip to Cuba and our travel woes on this trip about our lost luggage.  We chat amicably about our Argentinian Peso supply and the need to get more for Buenos Aires.  We also talk about how different countries currencies are easier to convert than others.  We chat with a French man that was on our ship and compare life stories.  It turns out he is an amateur astronomer and we chat about my passion for Milky Way photography.

More conversations with other passengers ensue as we wait for our delayed flight.  But at least this time, we don’t have to change planes so our luggage should arrive when we do.  We do have 2 stops on the route, but the same plane and we are not concerned.  Just for ‘shits n giggles’, we did check for our lost luggage but it is not here.  So at least we don’t have to haul 4 bags around the airport!

Security here is not like it is elsewhere and I get to walk out of the airport and take some photos.  The wind is quite vicious outside and I have to wonder if that has anything to do with our delayed flight!

Okay, our plane has arrived and we go through security and board.  We have a 2 hour and 30 minute flight to Bahia Blanco which I find interesting that it translates to “White Bay” but this place is very much inland in Argentina!  We are only delayed 45 minutes at this point.  Our flight was scheduled to take off at 2:45 PM and it is 3:30 and we are taking off.  6:00 PM and we land in Bahia Blanco and are on the ground for about 40 minutes before taking off again to our next stop.

Our next leg lasts about an hour and soon we are landing in Mar Del Plata to unload and board a few people. The plane is quite empty by the time we take off and we are able to stretch out and get comfortable for the final leg into Buenos Aires (“BA” as it is known) and everything is uneventful. During our stop, both Elee and I use the restroom in the back of the plane where the door is open. So we take the opportunity to take a selphie looking at ourselves standing in the doorway, something most airlines would never allow!

Arrival in BA, Argentina

An interesting and entertaining note, the entertainment screens on the plane seem to be non working.  But every time we land the systems turn on and say, “Bravo, Bravo, we’ve Landed!”

Once in Buenos Aires (BA), we have been told our lost luggage might be here, but we locate lost luggage and it is closed so we still don’t know the whereabouts.  So we find a taxi and 38 minutes later we arrive at our hotel.  Our room is kind of like a mini suite.

We go across the street and get a meal at Del Toro Burgers and Beer where I indulge in a ‘Montana Burger’ with 160 grams of Carne Bicuna which we believe is beef but it’s possible it’s Vicuna, a South American animal like Alpaca. It came with bacon pancheta and Arugula.  Elee indulged in a burger with mushrooms and Arugula.  So we have our red meat fix for the evening although we are already planning to find a good Argentinean Steak tomorrow night!

At dinner we watch some Argentinean Soccer and all is good.  I found it interesting that I asked for a taste of an IPA and they brought a 6 ounce glass as a taste.  When the beer came it arrived in a 24 ounce glass.  All for $3 American!  It’s time to go back to our hotel and it’s only a 30 second walk to the front of our hotel so we are doing just fine. Goodnight and we’ll see you in the morning!