November 14-15
Ushuaia is an incredibly beautiful town. I’m going to have to start coming up with better adjectives for this trip. “Incredible” “beautiful” “amazing”…. how can I communicate that something is special if I use the same words for everything? Hopefully my pictures help to explain.
Ushuaia looks like a Swiss mountain town with a cutesy downtown area, souvineer shops and restaurants. Mountains surround all sides of the town, making it quite picturesque. We checked into our AirBNB upon arrival and after dropping our stuff we walked into town to have dinner. Michael’s parents were long overdue for some legitimate sleep in a real bed, so we were going to take a quick meal and then straight to bed.
While walking in town, trying to find something to eat, we came across a travel agent shop that had a sign on the door advertising discounted prices for a cruise leaving on the 15th. It was in our price range and in our time range, so we popped in to get more details. The travel agency closed at 9pm and we entered a few minutes before that. Despite the fact they were closed, they stayed open with us for nearly an hour as we tried to work out the details. Ultimately, they were able to get reservations for 3 of us. Michael’s reservation would not go through and as the ship’s office was closed, we had to wait until morning to fight through the details. I had always said it would be fine if we didn’t end up on a ship – that was the risk we were taking by not reserving in advance. But truthfully, I was bummed. I was bummed and Michael was not being optimistic. The travel agent also let us know that she didn’t see any other ships with openings for another week and by that time we may not be able to make it work with Mom B and Dad B’s flight back home.
(Above: there is a very interesting history with the Falkland Islands aka Malvinas… Argentina still claims the islands even though it is considered a British overseas territory. Argentina occupied the islands for a few months in 1982. Most residents want to remain a UK territory. With just 2,841 residents, only 3 of them voted “no” in a 2013 referendum to remain a UK territory. But Argentina still insists the land is theirs.
Below: some street art that I came across. Michael and I have been reading a handful of books that speak to some indigenous people in South America who have a strong mythology surrounding the mountains. My best guess is that the below is depicting something of that nature.)
The next morning, we arrived at the travel agent’s office a little after 9am and finally got some more information: there were 2 rooms (triples) that were open. We had one reserved. The other one was being saved for a different group who had a medical emergency last week and had to miss the last ship. They were trying to make this boat, but were not sure if they would be able. We were told the other group had until 1pm to make a decision. So we went back to the waiting game… but with a few local beers this time to help with some of the anxiety.
We got a message a few minutes before 1pm that Michael was good to go! We went back to the travel agent, filled out all our documents and rushed back to the Airbnb to collect our stuff. We had to meet the boat at 3:30. Not much time for error!
The above is not our boat. But with those awesome cats… I wish it was.
We ended up on the Ocean Endeavor (run by Quark Expeditions) – a boat with 199 passengers and another 140 or so crew members. It’s the perfect size for us – big enough that the boat should be a little more steady in the Drake Passage, but small enough that you have flexibility to do a lot of activities and recognize some new friends that you’ve met. Taking this ship also meant that we got to meet up with an old friend – Fr. Tom, a friend of one of my closest family friends. Tom and I had met only a handful of times before – possibly 2, possibly 3 times – but it is still so much fun to reconnect in Antarctica! It didn’t take us long to meet up (1 point Tom – but remember I get 3 points for getting on the ship in the first place). Definitely looking forward to spending some more time together over the next 10 days.
The room situation ended up great – we had a triple and then Michael was in a separate triple with two random dudes. But when we got into our room, there were 4 beds! So we collected Michael and now we’re rooming pretty tight with all four of us breathing the same air… which is great. We’re only in the room to sleep, so it’s nice to have a central meeting point.
We’re still trying to get orientated, but we’re starting to look into additional excursions and trips for the week. But let me tell you – I’m completely pumped!!!!
Also not our boat but a super cool ship in the harbor:
