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!

Mar 3

This morning we sail around Cape Horn just for the fun of it!  The scenery has started to invade our senses and we spend the early morning on deck with our cameras.  A few hours later, we arrive back in Ushuaia where this excursion began.  What started out with high stress has turned into a vacation of a lifetime.  We go to breakfast for the last time on the ship and they give us our disembarkation instructions.

We are not in the first groups to disembark for those are reserved for those who need to get to the airport for early flights.  We are scheduled to spend the night in Ushuaia and travel on to Buenos Aires tomorrow.  So we watch Flightless Timber Ducks in the water and other sights while we wait.

So, a few hours later we find ourselves back in Ushuaia with our luggage and we check into our new hotel for a day.  We store our luggage and grab a taxi to the National Park where we buy tickets to ride the Historic Prisoner Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo) through the park.  It turns out we end up spending an 5 extra dollars each and get our own train car, complete with wine and lunch!  What a deal!

The train takes us through the countryside and stops at a hike to a waterfall.  We only have time to hike up, take a few photos, and hike back down to the train.  Then we ride to the end of the line where we get off and check out the area.

The ride back is scenic and uneventful and we are relaxed and enjoying ourselves, a bit of a different mindset than the last time we were here.  We check out the museum at the train station and grab a taxi back to town.

Walking around town this time is more relaxed and laid back that before. We find some interesting street art on many walls and buildings. Not graffiti, mind you, but talented art!  We find dinner and see the town one more time.

Mar 1, 2

We sleep in a little this morning as we know there is not much to see.  We are underway back across the Drake Passage.  It is so smooth the Passage is being nicknamed, “Drake Lake”.  I have never in my life seen such smooth water on the wide open seas where huge waves belong!

We have had such good weather crossing the Drake again that we will arrive in Argentina tomorrow morning and aren’t due to land until the following morning.  So we will cruise around Cape Horn tomorrow and maybe have another excursion

Day 16 – Drake Lake, Part 2

Today we sail the remainder of the way across the Drake, once again on “Drake Lake”.  Not much happens except we converse and visit with other passengers and party in the bar and lounge. We are instructed to put our boots in the hall for pickup. It is interesting that they supply us with our jackets but our boots are redistributed for future excursions. If I were king, I would redistribute the jackets and let you take home your boots, LOL.  We turn in early to have the energy for the rest of our trip!

Sights across Drake Lake keep us mesmerized as we return home!

Kodak Gap, Agfa Alley, Fuji Funnel, it’s all the same!

Feb 28

Sunrise finds us up and excited for this morning’s newest adventure.  The sky is ablaze and on fire with hues of yellows, oranges, reds, golds & splashes of blue!  Of all sunrises I have ever seen, this is the ultimate best.  It doesn’t matter that I only went to bed a few hours ago, I am wide awake!  The below freezing temperatures, daunting as they may be, don’t even phase me.  Appropriately bundled up as we have been conditioned to do every day, my cameras have died and arrived in camera heaven!

We are going to sail through the most photogenic place in the Antarctic Peninsula!  This morning we’re going through the “Lemaire Channel”, also known as Kodak Gap, Fuji Funnel and Agfa Alley all at the same time!  This place is no less than eye candy for the soul.  If you can’t see the amazing beauty of this place, then you must not be alive!

Sunrise on mountain peaks, perfectly calm water like a glassy lake, reflections everywhere you look, a virtual paradise for a photographer!  The crew lets us onto the front bow of the ship, a place that so far has been off limits to passengers.  We all happily mill around the bow and find our own best photo spots and camera shutters are all working overtime!  Sunrise continues for hours as we marvel at the landscape.

The ship set anchor in Port Charcot and Pleneau Bay and we suit up for another excursion.  I opt for the zodiacs today and Elee joins her usual group in the kayaks.  Armed with my big rig cameras, this iceberg gallery full of large tabular icebergs and older, sculpted glacial icebergs have run aground.  We see some remnants of an expedition from 1904 that created the name of this place.

Both Gentoo Penguins and Chinstraps abide here.  We cruise around in this magical, smooth water bay with reflections that create astounding photos.  We eventually land on the island and walk among the penguins and I find a spot to sit on a rock and I wait only a short time before a couple of Gentoos waddle over and get curious about me.  They pose for my cameras and we have a wonderful time visiting with each other.  After a bit of a visit, I walk off and find a rock hill where I see the only Adelie Penguin that our entire expedition sees this entire trip.  It is amazing that this Adelie Penguin proceeds to attack a Scua, a bird that feeds on Penguins.  The Adelie successfully scares off the Scua and life is good.

Much too soon, our excursion is over and we climb back in the zodiacs and head back to the ship.  It is still morning and it seems we have been active all day!

We hear the announcement that there will be a BBQ out on deck for lunch today.  It is cold, but not uncomfortable in our excursion jackets and hats.  The weather is actually balmy and the crew is setting up with BBQ’s, hot trays and a spread of food that amazes!  We even see Antarctic Pig!  A joke that has gone around since the beginning of our trip amid stories of pigs that some explorer brought here a hundred years ago but they didn’t survive.  But all the excursions that come down here, somehow have it for at least one meal.

An afternoon trip back through the Lemaire Channel gives us a different perspective during the heart of the day and we revel again in how still the water here is.

We realize our trip is waning but we are happy.  Our trip has been a grand success so far even with our evacuation delay.  We all party on the ship as it gets underway to head home.  The crew entertains us in the lounge with stories and skits and regales us with their own private memories.  A version of Antarctic Jeopardy takes place in the lounge and a good time is had by all.  Hours later, we retire for the evening.

Yes, Folks, people really do this!!!

Feb 27

The animals in Antarctica have absolutely no fear of humans, mostly unlike animals in the rest of the world!  How amazing is that?  This place has been so protected and cherished over the centuries that animals no longer remember humans who slaughtered them for the fun of it!  We have been shown videos of Whaler Ships that devastated the whales here back in the day and harvested their carcasses for the Blubber and other attributes.  This practice was stopped almost a century ago and the whales no longer fear us.

This morning we sail through ice flows and watch as our captain expertly avoids danger.  We can only imagine that some of these flows could cause massive and possible catastrophic damage to our ship, but the crew guides us through without so much as a hiccup.  This is where we are impressed with the “Open Bridge” of the ship as all the passengers are invited to visit the bridge at our leisure to witness the navigation abilities of the crew.  All that is asked of us is that we stay quiet and behind the crew as they do their work and perform their magic!

Everywhere in front of us are ice flows and bergs of all different sizes and the crew makes it look like child’s play as they navigate through them.  Our cameras snap happily away and we spot several seals and other wildlife among the flows and bergs.

On a fun note, we find the only area on the ship where smoking is allowed!  Please look close at the photos!

As we walk around the ship, we come across the party deck where the crew readies us for a celebration with Mimosas!  We cross the Antarctic Circle today!  Elee’s first day of Official Retirement! Let the fun and celebrations begin!  Mimosa’s for all as we complete a lifetime landmark.

Next, we watch crazy passengers take the “Polar Plunge”.  Passengers get to put on their bathing suits and jump into the Southern Ocean South of the Antarctic Circle!  A bit crazy, but a landmark for some!  Elee and I ‘Opted Out’ of the Plunge, which we were told was Minus 1 Degree Celcius or 30 Degrees Farenheit!.  So many of the “Plungers” couldn’t get out of the water fast enough! Others tried to swim away, but the crew ‘tethered’ each jumper so they could retrieve them quickly. The ones that wanted to swim away were the most crazy!

So on we go on this great adventure called life as we begin this new chapter called, ‘Retirement’!

Next for the afternoon, the ship sets anchor and we suit up in our dry suits for a kayak adventure.  We kayak in perfect conditions South of the Antarctic Circle!  We find ourselves paddling through actual brash ice and ice flows which becomes a bit of a challenge but fun nevertheless.  While kayaking below the Antarctic Circle today, Zodiac boats came out to greet us and we were instructed to come together and “Raft Up”, side by side, holding each others kayak and, lo and behold,  we were passed coffee cups filled with Hot Cocoa and Bailey’s Irish Cream! Such a treat while floating among the ice floes, sea ice and icebergs in the Antarctic Ocean!

Back on the ship, satiated from the days adventures, the bar and lounge are aglow with exciting conversations and libations.  There is not a dull conversation to be had as we wind down and finally turn in for the evening.