Ushuaia

Before we start with Ushuaia there is one more picture from Rosario that we wanted to add to the last post but didn´t have time. Here we are with Mariana´s family and another one of Mariana´s friends eating dinner. We really miss sitting around the table with them talking about all kinds of things in a loud, Argentine type way and eating really good food (and getting LOTS of practice with our Spanish). Mariana is the one on the far right.

Well after Rosario we took a bus back to Buenos Aires that got there around 3 am. So in the middle of the night we took a taxi to a smaller airport in BA and caught our flight to Ushuaia. It was really nice to just get on a plane and in a few hours be half way across the continent instead of these 20 and 30 hr bus rides. Ushuaia is at the very bottom of Argentina. In fact, its the southern-most city in the entire world. It is a smallish- city right on the Beagel Channel and its the last stop for boats and cruise ships before Antarctica. So needless to say it was pretty chilly even though its still technically summer there. It was kind of a shock for us to suddenly be in such cold weather, but we were very ready for it!

Ushuaia- end of the world. We kept finding ourselves singing "its the end of the world as we know it..."

The Beagel Channel with Ushuaia to our backs

This is called the flag tree. Due to the extreme wind, lots of the trees grow sideways.

The scenery in Ushuaia was amazing. We were surrounded by snow-capped mountains. We splurged a little with our accomodations (it was hard not to since everything there is expensive) and stayed in a little cabin at a bed & breakfast. It was like having a little house to ourselves with a kitchen and everything. So we were able to save on food by going to the grocery store and cooking in the cabin. We had three nights there and it was our favorite place to stay so far.
There are all kinds of excursions to choose from that take you into the Beagel Channel. We chose one that takes you to a penguin colony that has been on the same island for 40 years. We had a bus ride to get to the boat, then a small boat took us out to the penguin island where we were able to get off and walk with them. It was like being inside a Discovery Channel documentary. We could see their little caves in the ground where they nest and we could also see them shedding their old feathers for new ones. We saw 2 different species of penguins that live there on the island and 1 lonely king penguin that happened to find his way to the island on his own. Our guide said we were lucky to see him because the king penguins aren´t usually there. We were impressed with how much noise they make when they call to one another. The weather was perfect that day for us. Down there the weather can change to rain and wind very quickly with no warning so we were very grateful.

 Seth and friend

 This is one lost king penguin

This may be the coolest picture I have ever taken on accident. After I took it I thought something must have been on the lens of the camera, but when I looked closer I saw it was a bird in midflight! Perfectly framed between the mountains with a penguin watching it!

Love birds 

Penguin in its nest

When we got back from the seeing the penguins we took a hike up to the glacier just above town called the Glaciar Martial. It was only about 3 hours round trip, but it was all uphill and very steep. The guy working down at the bottom said the last half is a 40 degree incline and we think it was more like 80. Haha. Anyway, it was well worth the effort because as you get closer to the glacier, you can see more and more of the Beagel Channel and Ushuaia down below. It rained on us a little but, but it wasn´t too bad. All in all it was an incredible day that we´ll never forget.

On our way up to the Martial Glacier

From the top looking down on Ushuaia and the Beagel Channel

Our last day in Ushuaia we spent walking around their cute downtown and visiting a few museums. We hated to leave because we really loved it there, but unfortunately to see everything we want to we have to press on...
From Ushuaia we took a bus ride to El Calafate, Argentina. On the way, we crossed into Chile and then back into Argentina a few hours later (yay for more passport stamps!). During the little part of Chile that we went through we loaded onto a ferry to cross the Strait of Magellan. Here is a pic from the ferry. More about El Calafate in the next post!

Strait of Magellan