Too Small to See

Early this morning we left the sun-baked shores of Santiago crossed the Andes again and found ourselves a short four hours later at Fin del Mundo (the end of the Earth) in the picturesque but cold and windy town of Ushuaia. The flight was rough - updrafts, downdrafts and general turbulence, and a pretty stiff crosswind and judging by the level of braking – not a lot of concrete. The runway at Ushuaia is surrounded by water on three sides as you land very close to in the Beagle Channel. The Channel links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and serves as North-South boundary between Chile and Argentina. We later learned that the old airport was much trickier and after two planes went into the water in the 80's they decided to build this one.



From the airport we took a tour of the Tierra del Fuego national park. Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world and the port closest to Antarctica (slightly more than 1,000 km away). We literally got to the end of the road – the southern end of road 3. If you go north on road 3 it connects with the Pan American highway which you can take to Alaska (if you really want to do a thing like that).





Everything there is the southernmost something, so Catherine seized the opportunity to use the world’s southernmost ladies room.

It was a combination of breathtaking vistas and unusual flora. There is a bright orange moss that grows in the bogs that looks like flame and another plant with small red flowers called a fire bush. Interestingly enough neither has anything to do with why the region was named the land of fire. Tierra del Fuego got its name originally from explorers who saw smoke billowing from across the region and named it after the smoke. The smoke was from native people who built fires to stay warm. Coincidence aside, it is stunning to see an area covered with such brilliantly colored and unusual plant life.

We learned some interesting things about Ushuaia – first that the government of Argentina was following the British Australia model to help settle the area by building a prison there. Prisoners were used to cut down trees for lumber and the stumps from their work are clearly visible throughout the park. Later, to spark development it was designated a tax-free area and has since grown to a population of over 65,000. When we visited there were several ships in port – two large cruise ships, one NCL and one Celebrity, the National Geographic Endeavor and a cargo ship (in addition to the MV Fram waiting for us). Our little ship was dwarfed by the cruise behemoths and we even overheard our seatmate say to his wife “Yes our ship is there, it’s just too small to see.”

We had a few minutes to walk around the city before boarding the ship for the primary leg of our Antarctic Adventure! The ship is a nice expedition ship and not like the big fancy cruise lines in the Caribbean. No casino, no disco, no rock climbing wall or business like that, but instead we have a half a dozen lecturers and guides to help us make the most of this adventure. We also have 3 times as much lifeboat capacity as we have souls on board and apparently some sort of thrusters that can make the ship go sideways if needed to navigate the rough waters.

Catherine and I hosted a champagne sail away and made new friends in the process. Like I said this is an expedition ship, no reggae band playing a steel drum as we sail away so we had to make our own festivities and you know we did! We left Ushuaia with a pop of a champagne cork, cheers with a group of fellow adventurers and a beautiful blue sky over the channel.

We ended the day with a safety briefing and lifeboat drill. The Expedition Leader got everyone’s attention when he said. “I have been asked if what happened to the Explorer which sank last week could happen here – ABSOLUTELY. It could happen to any ship in Antarctica. No one is immune, the Explorer was a strong ship with the most experienced crew in the region.” He went on to give a talk about seasickness and encouraged everyone even if they have never been seasick to start taking medicine now. Then it was out on deck for a demonstration of donning the survival suit just in case we have to leave the ship. I couldn’t get a better picture because the crowd was focused intently on the demonstration and I could barely see between some heads.

We should be entering the Drake Passage any minute now and Catherine is very disappointed that the forecast waves are not high enough. She has never gotten seasick before and wants this to be Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. We have to lay low with our excitement about the passage because most passengers are hoping it will be as calm as possible and like someone coming up to a craps table and betting the “don’t pass” line, no one wants to hear us keeping our fingers crossed for increasingly rough seas.

Tomorrow we get our briefings on the landings – we will be in Antarctica in a day and a half. Oh yeah, for Mike, here is a picture of our breakfast on the plane.