The Beagle channel lies before us and we are being boarded by our Argentian Pilot who will take us in to port, Ushuaia. We cruised slowly through the channel, Dusky Dolphins and Peale's Dolphins riding our bow waves, Magellanic Penguins swimming about (the 5th species we've seen this trip) and of course, the majestic Albatross seeing us in. Docking in Ushuaia was a little nerve racking, all of us hanging over the gunwales watching the captain back in and parallel park this big ship. We docked in the evening and were allowed to exit the ship for a night of pub crawling. We ventured into the small, active little town and I bought some of the crew drinks. Arlene was the last to stagger home down the dock in the wee hours. That shouldn't surprise any of us.
The next morning we were awakened bright and early by our expedition leader's voice for the last time. We were supposed to have been awake earlier but our alarm didn't go off. After boarding our buses we toured the Ushuaia prison, shopped in town for "end of the world" chocolate (which is very yummy and I didn't bring any home for any of you, just us), and then went up in the slopes of the Andes for a nice lunch (our last in Argentina). As we headed to the airport for our trip to Santiago I could see our ship in the distance. I was saddened to leave her and jealous of whomever was going to get our cabin. That was my cabin and I wasn't all that keen on giving it up.
The next 36 hours are somewhat of a haze. Dinner in Santiago at Azul Profundo (Deep Blue in spanish), overnighting at this crappy airport hotel Diego de Almagro, then two tortuous, long Copa Airline flights ending at 1:30 Monday morning. It's a shame the trip ended on such a low note with a surly flight crew and a two hour wait for the baggage.
The next morning we were awakened bright and early by our expedition leader's voice for the last time. We were supposed to have been awake earlier but our alarm didn't go off. After boarding our buses we toured the Ushuaia prison, shopped in town for "end of the world" chocolate (which is very yummy and I didn't bring any home for any of you, just us), and then went up in the slopes of the Andes for a nice lunch (our last in Argentina). As we headed to the airport for our trip to Santiago I could see our ship in the distance. I was saddened to leave her and jealous of whomever was going to get our cabin. That was my cabin and I wasn't all that keen on giving it up.
The next 36 hours are somewhat of a haze. Dinner in Santiago at Azul Profundo (Deep Blue in spanish), overnighting at this crappy airport hotel Diego de Almagro, then two tortuous, long Copa Airline flights ending at 1:30 Monday morning. It's a shame the trip ended on such a low note with a surly flight crew and a two hour wait for the baggage.
