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Ushuaia, Argentina |
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Our Antarctic journey began in Ushuaia, the southern tip of Argentina.
There were several flights each day leaving from Buenos Aires on a few
different carriers. We arrived at around noon, but due to a massive,
multi-day screwup, my luggage arrived at 5:00p. I was so happy to see my
large backpack filled with all of my warm-weather gear that I jumped for joy
in the airport. I hadn't seen the backpack for 3 solid days since I
checked it in in my hometown of Phoenix, AZ. I had been living off the
same clothes for 3 days.
Mick's Travel Tip: Always plan for your
luggage to be lost. Allow several days in each city for it to catch up
with you. Always pack a change of clothes in your carry-on bag.
Ushuaia was a lovely little town of about 40,000 people. The airport was
was brand new and had a tiny parking lot where nobody was parked. Cab
service was easy to get. The downtown had plenty of shops including an
internet cafe and a Patagonia store where I was prepared to repurchase
all of my gear if my bags never would have come. Some of the stores got
clever with their mannequins. The weather was chilly, especially for it
being their dead-of-summer. It snowed on us during an afternoon mountain
hike near their small, (seasonally?) abandoned ski resort.
The town sat nestled between the cold mountains and even colder sea. Stunning
scenery wherever you looked. We wished that we had some more time to
explore their mountains, but not really if it was gonna be that cold in
the summertime. The tour company set us up in a 5-star hotel that overlooked
the town. The next day we had all day to play until we boarded our ship
at 4:00p.
Our ship was a Russian research vessel called the Professor Multinovskiy.
See the Antarctic FAQ for more information on the
ship. We got on board and unpacked our things and waited anxiously to
set out for the sea. It was interesting to watch such a large ship pull
away from the dock (an hour late due to paperwork trouble) -- they untied
the rear of the ship and pointed the engines so that the aft swung out
away from the pier. Then they untied the front and just backed it up and
spun it around. We were soon on our way. Dinner was served when the view
of the town was out of sight. After dinner and exploring the ship we went
to bed.
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