We make it to, and away from, Patagonia… oh, and eat some more meat….

Today was the day we have really been waiting for!  Time to leave hot and humid Buenos Aires, and go to Ushaia, the Southern-most city in the word.  It is about a 3 ½ hours flight, and we got up early (4:45am) so as to catch an early flight.  Unfortunately, a morning thunderstorm grounded traffic at the airport, and we ended up having to wait for a couple of hours in an unconditioned room.  Then, just as we were finally boarding the buses that bring us to the plane, one of the buses rammed another, creating quite a bit of confusion, and slightly hurting one of our guides…  For a while there, as security was called, we feared being stuck in this hot waiting room forever, slowly re-playing Jean-Paul Sartre's "no exit"….  But, it all ended well, and we took off, about 2 hours late- we were so happy to be on our way by then that we did not care.
The flight afforded us some grand views of the pampas:

We arrived in Ushuaia, where it was 42 degrees – remember- it is the middle of summer here.  I can’t imagine what winter is like….. it is located very south – as I think this map of the region shows…. 

Actually, I have starred at this map for a while, and I have no idea what it says…maybe a reader could enlighten me?

We had stopped by for lunch which was, of course, meat:  in this case, a typical Patagonian barbecue- again, really good.  









 

We also got to admire all the lupine flowers that are blooming right now .

we only had very little time around Ushuaia, which is too bad, because I really like this area:  it the on the largest island that form the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and has grand and magical scenery. 

 We only got a very small taste of it, taking short bus tour through the Tiera Del Fuego National park to the bay, where we got to walk around 
for a while. 

 This is the Beagle channel , not named after Annabelle nor Charlie (although I think they deserve their own channel), but after the boat that first found it (that same boat was later used by Darwin when he investigated the Galapagos.

 This really feels like “the end of the word”, as this post office suggests, located on a dock jutting out in the Beagle channel (the sign says "post office of the end of the world).

  

Just enough time to walk down the trail for 25minutes, and admire the pretty flowers.... and gaze at the scenery some more....

But we were late already,...  We may have to come back and “do Patagonia” at some point…. We’ll just have to add that to our already very long list of places to go….

Then, it was time at last to join our ship! “le Boreal”.  We drove past the pretty harbor in Ushuaia,

climbed on board to discover our new home for the next 10 days.  It is a exceptional place!  Our cabins (although the cheapest and least luxurious ones on the boat) are very spacious, and comfortable.

 And then Suzanne and I ran around the boat, discovering all the different decks and lounges, and for a while misplacing both of our spouses in the process (it is a large boat)!

Joe spotted us from the 6^th deck as we were enjoying the 5^th (Emily:  I know that my hair looks crazy!  in fact, i look pretty demented myself.....)

 At last! We leave for Antarctica – leaving Ushuai behind, and a wake in the water. 

The sun sets later here, around 10:15pm – it will be even later as we move ever more south.

We had a very nice dinner in the main dining room (will take pictures of that later- it is NICE!).

Which is good, because since we are in the Beagle channel, the sea is very flat.  In about 100 miles, we’ll enter the Drake passage- the roughest sea on earth, and I’m not sure I’ll be eat much for a while…….