Glaciers and Steaks

Before

Back on the blogging train and of course we are way behind again!

After our amazing time hiking in Chile, we were excited to see another part of Patagonia but after our last bus travel nightmare we weren't excited for the travel day.  Luckily for us (and specifically for Julie's sanity) everything worked out just fine.  We caught our taxi to the bus station, the bus people actually had our reservation, and the immigration/customs process was a breeze.  The bus ride was long though and it was after 2:00 when we pulled into El Clafate.

After a huge piece fell

To itinerary told us that the afternoon was ours to enjoy, but the guy handling our transfer from the bus station to the hotel informed us that we would be heading out to see Perito Moreno glacier at 3:00.  We hadn't eaten yet and were a little tired from the bus ride but we. Dropped off our stuff, found a sandwich shop, and headed out again.  As we drove to the glacier our guide told us about the history of the area and the national park.  When we arrived at the first viewpoint things got much more exciting since we could see the massive glacier and we were getting less and less frustrated with the busy day.  Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the world that is not currently receding and therefore it is very common to see the glacier cav large chunks of ice into the lake beneath its face.  When we got to the main viewing area we realized how much better it was to be there lane in the day as most of the other tourists were gone for the day.  We actually got to share the place (which receives around 2,000 visitors a day) with only about 50 other people, and as large as it is we felt like we had it to ourselves most of the time.  We could constantly hear ice breaking and falling into the water as we walked around and got to see two different chunks over 100ft tall and 60 - 90 ft wide crash into the water.  

The drive back into town was uneventful but our guide suggested a place close to the hotel for dinner called La Tableta.  Since Argentinians eat late we were some of the first patrons when we sauntered in, starving, at 8:00 and were quickly seated.  The place was a kind of steak house with a good selection of meats and also a great wine list to go along with alacarte sides.  We ordered a combination platter for two which included a rump steak, a tenderloin, and several pieces of Argentinian lamb which is cooked on a spit over an open fire.  We chose a Malbec to go with our meal since that is the wine the region is known for and were not disappointed by it or the quality of our meal.  This was one of the first "nice" meals we had treated ourselves to since we left the states and we were extremely pleased with our choice.  We waddled back to the hotel and went to bed early knowing that we would leave again the next day for three nights of camping and four days of hiking in the northern part of the national park.

Torres del Paine, Chile

Minus the extremely long day getting from Ushuaia to Puerto Natales, our first 3 days in Patagonia proved to be absolutely amazing.  We were met by our guide Sandra at the bus station and after the transfer to our hotel she filled us in on the plan for our time in Chile, which was of hiking.  We were very excited about that, and as an unexpected bonus we found our group would just be Julie, me and the guide.  Sandra showed us where we could get some dinner, which we did before re-packing all of our crap so we could leave a bunch of things at the hotel.

We left town at 8:00 am headed to Torres del Paine National Park with plans to day hike most of the W track over the course of the next three days.  Our first hike was was up to the towers of granite that the park is named after.  We dropped our things at the Refugio (similar to a hostel) where we would be spending the night and headed out with our day packs.  The trail was 9.5 kilometers one way and climbed steadily to the viewpoint with a very steep section to finish it off. We had amazing weather, with just a few clouds moving around the towers giving us intermittent views of our goal from the trail.  Just before we got to the top, the clouds lifted and we were able to take in the full glory of three huge rock pillars.  We ate lunch at the top before heading back down the same way.  We got showers and dinner at the Refugio before heading to bed.  We were glad to finally be doing some real hiking but 7 hours definately wore us out!

The next day started with a boat ride across a lake which took us to the next Refugio we would stay at as well as the starting point for the next two hikes.  We once again dropped off our things and headed out.  Today we were hiking the French Valley which would be the longest of the three days.  It took two and a half hours to get to the camp where we turned north and actually started up the valley.  From there we could see several large hanging glaciers on one side and the horns (another geographical feature of the park) on the other.  We made it to the first viewpoint and had to make a decision to continue to the second or stay there.  If we were to continue we had to leave right away - we had already been hiking for 3.5 hours and it would be at least one more to get to the next point.  We decided to push for it and weren't disappointed.  Our guide was going very fast so that we wouldn't have to turn around right away, and that meant we spent a half hour soaking in the scenery and the sunshine.  Four and a half long hours later we had retraced our steps, completing 30 km, and were back to the Refugio.  We were all starving so we grabbed dinner before showering and then had a quick beer before going to bed.  I went to bed before anybody else staying in the room (6 total) and fell asleep with the lights still on!

Surprisingly Julie and I both awoke the next morning without any soreness in our legs.  This would be our final hike in the park and it would take us to a point overlooking glacier grey.  The hike was 11 kilometers each way and we had to be back to catch the boat across the lake before 6:30 pm.  We decided to leave at 8:30 to give ourselves plenty of time and had the trail pretty much to ourselves for the first hour or so.  We were walking on the west side of the largest mountain in the park so we had shade the entire way up, which actually made it very chilly - there was still frost on some of the plants at 11:00. Although our legs weren't sore, they were tired so we didn't walk quite as fast.  We still made it to the end with plenty of time to spare so we ate a leisurely lunch while staring at the huge glacier across the lake.  Even after we left the viewpoint we weren't in a hurry so we stopped for a coffee and a hot chocolate at one of the newer lodges in the park and sat outside soaking up the sunshine.  

We got back with plenty of time to spare before the boat and eventually rolled back in to Puerto Natales at about 9:45.  We didn't have any information waiting for us, and Sandra didn't know anything about our transfer the next morning, so to be sure we got to the bus station she asked the hotel folks if they would call us a taxi.  This made us feel a little better but we were still dreading the travel day after our last experience.  We went to dinner and then to bed hoping for the best.

I don't think I explained just how outstanding the weather was during our three days of hiking.  We had sunshine, little to no cloud cover, and no wind - which is supposedly unheard of this time of year in Patagonia, I'm sure our pictures won't do it justice.  It felt good to be doing something active again and I was reminded how much I really enjoy hiking.  Depending on which map you believe we hiked either 65 or 71 kilometers in 3 days and enjoyed every minute of it.

Check out all of our pictures here

Bumps in the Road

 Maybe cheapest isn't always easiest.  You would think I would know that by now.  Prior to coming to Argentina I booked our entire Patagonia travels with a company.  They were by far cheaper then some of the big tours out there and they were able to customize our trip to include trekking, fishing and wine tours.  I knew going into it that it probably wouldn't be totally smooth with all the transfers that we would have to make, and knowing that we wouldn't be with one group the whole time. Prior to our Antarctic trip we had 2 days arranged and they went off without a hitch, maybe we would get lucky.  Today I'm questioning that.....

It started last night, at 7:30pm when our guide called and said our bus ticket couldn't be prepaid from Ushuaia to rio grande , so we needed to go by 8:30 to pay so they would pick us up at the hotel in the morning (at 5:30, not 7 like our itinerary said).  Ok, no big deal.  We walked down to pay for our tickets and were told that the 6am bus wasn't an option.....hmmm that is the one we were supposed to be booked on.  With our lacking spanish we were unable to communicate and ended up with a ticket at 8:30 am.  Back at the hotel we struggled to get a hold of our travel agent, but were eventually able to thanks to google voice and us leaving a message on some French answering machine.  The agent called the bus company and got everything straightened out...crisis avertered, we think!

While we were packing our bags we realized that we had left both of our duffles on the Antarctica ship...they are probably enjoying more icebergs as I type this.  We had to buy some extra gear and were planning on carrying it all in a duffle....now we had to mash it into our already stuffed bags and wear our huge snowboots on the bus travel tomorrow.  Once we finished getting everything in our backpacks, a minor miracle in itself, we headed across the street to eat ice cream for dinner.  Adam then used a knife to open our bottle of wine because there was NO room left to take it with us.  We enjoyed the bottle and set the alarms for much to early in the morning.  

Much to my surprise the bus actually came and picked us up at 5:30.  We bid adou to Ushuaia and drove 3 hours to the rio grande bus station.  There we were supposed to pick up our tickets from a bigger bus company.  We went inside and found their booth to be unattended.  After waiting around for about 30 mins we pieced together enough spanish to ask when they opened and when the next bus to Puerto Natales was.  Boy were we shocked when the answer to both was tomorrow!  Ummm my itinerary says I go today, not tomorrow!!!  We asked for a phone but they didn't have one we could use, luckily they did have some Internet they were willing to give us the password to.  Just as I was loading up google voice to hopefully once again save the day a guy walks in the door. He has a scrap of paper with our names and asks something in Spanish and then says Puerto Arenas.  We assume this means he is driving us to Puerto Arenas, which was one of the stops that our bus (which apparently leaves tomorrow) was supposed to make.  So here I sit in the back of a random pickup, much more somfortable then those in Nepal, hoping to end up somewhere in Chile and meet someone else that knows how we can get to Puerto Natales tonight.  This might be a little more adventure then I bargained for. 

So the pickup worked out great.  We got to puert arenas about two hours faster then we would have by bus.  Once there it took a little while for the driver to find the right bus station, but eventually he did.  He even went inside to double check it was were the buses to Puerto Natales leave from.  We said chow and headed inside with our bags.  While looking at the schedule the ladies at the counter pointed to the back room and started laughing....they also said something in Spanish but we have no idea what.  We hung out in the back room for a few minutes and then went back out front to check the schedule and get our tickets, that were supposed to be prepaid.  We had about 90 minutes until the next bus and of course they said they have no record of our tickets.  I tried to log onto the wifi there but the girls in the front said they didn't he any...yes they did i could see the network, I just don't think they cared to help me any.  About that a time a guy from Virginia started talking to us.  He said he was having issues too.  We felt mildly better after learning that he spoke Spanish and still couldn't get a ticket.  I decided to venture out inseach of Internet while Adam stayed behind to guard our bags.  I found a unlocked wifi and was able to send an email, but soon lost signal. I roamed around town some more in search of an ATM and Internet.  When I saw a Best Western hotel I thought it might work out since the name was in English.  Luckily the guy at the counter was extremely helpful.  He let me use the hotel computers, they didn't have wifi.  With about 40 minutes remaining until the bus departure I gave up on contacting our travel agent and set off for the ATM that the guy told me about.  I made it back to the bus station fully prepared to buy new tickets if we needed.  I handed the lady ate the desk our passports, which they had refused to take earlier and she said " ok, seats 33 and 34". She then handed back our passports and a scrap of paper with 33,34 written on it.  We boarded the bus with our "ticket" and headed out of town.  About 20 minutes into the ride a guy comes down the aisle collecting tickets.  We look at each other and Ali, then hand him our scrap of paper.  He looks concerned for a second and then says, ok and moves on to the next person.  Right now we have two hopes: that we are on the correct bus (they never announced a destination), and secondly that when/if we arrive there is someone there to meet us and that they know what the heck we are doing the net 4 days.  That's not too much to ask for right?!?!

Swimming with Icebergs and other cool stuff

We enjoyed our cruise over to Paradise Cove for two reasons - 1. we weren't soaking wet and cold, 2. we found a humpback whale with a calf that swam around the boat for over an hour. Several times the whales swam right under the boat and then surfaced along side it. Here we were able to set foot on the actual continent (not just an island) for the first time. It was nice to stretch our legs and hike to the top of a little hill. The views were ok, with only light snow and wind. On the way down the hill someone had spotted a luge like shoot which we could slide down instead of hiking. It was fun to watch everyone tumble and twist down the luge.

That night the weather held out enough to be able to camp. Around 8:30 we got off the ship and headed on to a tiny island to set up our bivy bags. Of course it started snowing as soon as we landed. We managed to get our bags set up in the snow as the wind picked up a little bit. We decided to take advantage of all the snow the past few days and build a snow wind-wall to protect our heads. As it was dark we didn't have much else to do but crawl into our bags. We slept surprisingly well, maybe all the camping we have done this year paid off. The fresh snow made the ground much nicer to lay on. During the night the snow and wind came and went but we ended up having the best weather night for camping. The next morning we woke early and headed back to the boat.

The ship headed towards Neeko Harbor, with the potential for a polar plunge! The point we wanted to land on was covered in an ice flow, but luckily our zodiacs were able to find a place to land. Right after we landed the wind and snow really picked up. We were grateful for the wind since Neeko Harbor smelled a lot like 500 full porta-potties all lined up. As we hiked the ridge the snow turned into a blizzard and we started wishing for our ski goggles. At the top we didn't have much of a view but it didn't smell like penguin poo, so we weren't too disappointed. After a few minutes we ventured back down to the penguin smell and calmer weather. The ice surrounding the point had moved a ton in the hour we were onshore. You could look out and see it flowing like a river. Luckily the ice left a little pool of water alone and we still had a chance to take the polar plunge. We quickly stripped down to our swimsuits and took off running, gopro in hand. The water was icy cold (including mini icebergs grounded in the pool) but that wasn't the worst part. Once we got out of the water and into the wind and snow we were sooo much colder. We threw back on some clothes as quickly as possible but our hands and feet still went numb. After watching a few more people make the plunge we jumped in the first zodiac back to the boat for a warm shower and dry clothes! The place we got to plunge was great because we were surrounded by icebergs and snow, you can definitely tell it was COLD!

After lunch we had the option to take a zodiac tour around the ice. We were still wet and cold from the plunge, and it was windy and sleeting outside so we questioned whether or not to go. Adam decided to stay behind and I ventured out alone, just incase anything epic happened. We cruised through the brash ice, bergy bits (small icebergs) and huge icebergs. I saw my first crabeater seal and also a couple leopard seals laid out on the ice. The zodiacs allowed us to get quite close to the seals. After an hour or 2 we were all freezing and headed back to the boat for dinner. The boat lifted anchor and headed north.

Because of the terrible weather that forced us to turn north early we actually gained a day of unexpected activities. Kelvin, the expedition leader, arranged for us to visit Deception Island and Hanna Point. Both of these are north of Antarctica in the Shetland Islands. We awoke the next morning just as Deception Island came into view. We also saw our first sun since the first landing day. Deception Island is an active volcano, with a flooded caldera, so it is shaped like a big C. We entered through Neptune's Bellows, the entrance to the bay within the island. This was a completely unexpected look for Antarctica. It reminded me of the moon or the Tongariro Crossing in New Zealand. After a hike up to a lookout and exploring the remains of a whaling station and research station (which was destroyed in the 1980's by the last eruption), we watched a few people take the polar plunge again. There was no ice in this water, but it was still freezing (2 deg C warmer then the previous day). With the sun shining people seemed to enjoy their dip (and digging a hole in the sand to reach the thermal waters below). We left Deception Island and ate lunch enroute to Hanna Point.

At Hanna Point the weather was still in our favor, allowing us to make an amazing landing. Our leaders said they can only land about a quarter of the times they try, if that. Hanna Point was covered in animals! We saw Chinstrap and Macaroni Penguins for the first time. About halfway through our island walk we see what looked like a giant mud puddle. It was actually elephant seals. We spent quit a bit of time watching these giant belching animals. You definitely can't call them cute, but they were entertaining! We ended up spending about 3 hrs on the island. As the sun began setting we boarded the zodiacs for the last time and said goodbye to Antarctica.

The Plancius motored north back into the Drake Passage and towards Ushuaia. Everyone was nervous for the Drake, which had taken its toll on everyone at the beginning of our trip. Miraculously the weather gods decided we had earned some calm days, with winds less than 5 knots all the way back to Ushuaia. We were all excited to experience the “Drake Lake”, a very uncommon occurrence! With calm seas and no wind we had amazing animal viewing conditions. From the time we woke up in the morning until it got dark we seemed to be surrounded by whales and dolphins. You could see the whale blows just hang in the air all around us.

Blue Whale Tail

 Over the next couple days our lucky streak continued and we saw something I NEVER thought I would see.....not one but TWO BLUE WHALES!! When Kelvin spotted them he was ecstatic, he told us he had only seem 3 in all of his Antarctic trips, two of those being the ones we saw. Since the weather was so good we had time to follow them with the boat. They got within 70 meters of the boat at one point. They are HUGE, you see a head, and then a blow and about 4 seconds later a tiny little fin. One of the Blue Whales even showed us his tail!! I was in awe, you always here about how Blue Whales are big but seeing them in person was stunning. While the Blue Whales were a highlight we also saw Finn Whales (the 2^nd largest whales), Southern Wright Whales, and Pigmy Minky Whales. I'll take the bad weather in Antarctica in exchange for the Drake Lake and whale spotting we had on the way home. Antarctica was amazing, and beyond any expectations I had. If you ever have a chance to go you need to, definitely worth every penny.

Check out the rest of our Antarctica pics here

(Thanks to straight and mostly smooth roads in Chile and Argentina for allowing me to get us caught up!)

Penguins, Icebergs and Whales

The next morning I looked out the window and saw about 4 inches of snow covering the boat.  It was perfect snow for playing in, so I went on deck and made a snowman sitting on the bench (of course I forgot to take a picture).  We stayed at Dorian Bay, so we were able to go ashore and get our first snowshoe hike in.  It was nice to get out and hike after sitting in a boat eating tons of food for the last several days.  The views from the top of the hike were spectacular.

After lunch on the ship we got to participate in our second activity, mountaineering.  This was the activity I was most looking forward to. The zodiac dropped us off at the base of a very steep climb up to where we had snowshoes earlier.  Everyone put on harnesses and crampons (although I'm not sure we needed the crampons).  At the top of that hill we roped up and headed up towards a saddle that was about 350 meters high.  Our guides kept a steady pace all the way to the top, without any breaks.  It was nice to get the blood pumping.  Once we reached the top the clouds briefly lifted and we had great views on the surrounding bays and glaciers.  After a few pictures and a drink of water we headed back down (which I thought was harder then going up).  Both of us managed to avoid cramponing our pants which was good since we each only have 1 waterproof pair.  On our way down the clouds rolled in again and the snow continued falling.  For being a dessert we sure are getting a lot of snow!  After dinner a second group of campers headed out, again we were glad it wasn't us because it was drizzling outside.  

After gather the campers the next morning we headed through the Lemaire Channel.  Luckily the channel is really narrow because the clouds has socked us in so visibility was really poor.  Even in poor conditions the channel was beautiful and we started seeing our first really big icebergs, they were everywhere!  This was also the first time we got good views of whales.  Minky whales seemed to be popping up everywhere and the captain spotted a sleeping humpback that we were able to sail towards.  The captain maneuvered us through an iceberg graveyard and we made our next landing at Port Charcot.  We spent the morning wondering around in the rain and penguin poo.  Adam made friends with a penguin who thought his boots was delicous and I almost walked into a seal, who not so quietly told me to back off.  The wildlife was everywhere.  We hiked up to a carin built by Charcot when he landed here over 100 years ago.  His party was iced in and forced to be the first group to winter in Antarctica.  From there we had amazing views of the iceberg graveyard that stretch on forever.  On our way back to the boat we took a zodiac cruise through the icebergs, it was really cool to get up clost to them.  You really got a sense of just how massive they are.  During lunch we sailed back through the Lemaire Channel to our next stop Petermann Island.  I could have stayed at Port Charcot forever.  

After lunch we debated going back outside.  We were still looking a bit like drowned rats from our morning excursion and the wind had picked up.  We decided we were only in Antarctica for a couple days so we better suck it up and get out there.  At Petermann Island we saw a ton more penguins, but this time there were 2 different kinds.  We had only seen gentoo penguins so far, and here we were able to spot 3 Adelai penguins.  It was kind of like where's Waldo, with the Adelais hiding between the hundreds of gentoos.  After about an hour we were both really cold and had explores the island so we loaded up in a zodiac and headed back towards the boat.  We were supposed to camp tonight but with ten rain still coming down and wind howling it was thankfully canceled.  Since the weather was so bad the captain did a little tour around the bay because everyone was back onboard early.  He managed to find us a pod of Orcas and follow them for about 30 minutes.  It was neat to see the range in size of the animals.  There were 2 huge males and a tiny little baby too.  Our little point and shoot did alright, although we could have used a little more zoom!

The next morning we awoke to the same crappy weather, the wind was blowing even harder and the seas had a good swell to it.  The leaders decided to abandon our attempted landing and change the course of the boat and head back north because the weather was only supposed to get worse the farther south we went.  For being a desert we sure saw a lot of moisture the last few days.  We spent the morning on the ship sailing towards Paradise Cove.

Check out the rest of our pictures here

7 for 7 - Setting foot on Antarctica!

Four days into our Antarctica voyage and we are just now finding time to write a recap.  We boarded the MV Plancius at 4PM on Feb 26, and after a brief delay (the dive guide's luggage didn't make the flight) we sailed out through the Beagle Channel and headed south.  The first few days were spent in the Drake Passage, which is known for its terrible seas.  With the winds gusting more than 20 knots the ship rocked and rolled its way south.  We both managed to avoid the sea sickness that seemed to attack about half of the people on board.  During meals we were amazed at the staff carrying multiple plates and pouring coffee while we struggled to walk.  A couple of times we bundled up and headed out to the top deck in search of wildlife.  We managed to see tons of birds and a group of hourglass dolphins.  Sometime in the middle of the second night we crossed the Antarctic convergence, a place where the water temp suddenly drops and is typically home to tons of wildlife.  The howling winds prevented us from seeing much though (very different story on the way back, but you have to wait to read about that!).

On day four we awoke, surrounded by glaciers.  We woke up early because we heard the sunrises were spectacular.  It was amazing to see our first glimpses of the white continent.  The sunrise didn't disappoint and produced some of our best pictures from the trip. I am glad we rolled out of bed early, because that would prove to be the last sunrise we saw until we sailed back into the Drake on the way home.

After breakfast we reached our first landing, Port Lockroy which is a British station.  We bundled up and loaded into the zodiacs.  Ashore we were greated by 100s of penguins (and their terrible smell).  You can be thankful smell-o-vision hasn't been created yet!  After tramping threw penguin poo in our awesome rubber boots, and taking about 100 pictures, we headed over to the buildings at Port Lockroy.  We made it just in time because it was the last day the station would be manned, and the last mail boat was coming that afternoon (which means the postcards we sent should make it home before us instead of the 10 months it normally takes).  We also got the official Antarctica stamp in our passports.  After our vist we headed back to the boat for lunch (you aren't allowed to eat onshore) and the boat moved around the corner to Dorian Bay.  

At Dorian Bay we participated in our first activity, kayaking.  We opted for a double since we had such good luck in New Zealand.  After loading the kayaks behind a zodiac and getting kitted up we headed out.  About 5 mins in I lost control of the rudder and couldn't get it back (we learned later that the string broke).  Steering a double kayak without one is practically impossible.  I froze using my paddle as a rudder and Adam sweated his butt off paddling us around.  Even with our technical issue we had a great time and got up close to several icebergs (and bergy bits).  At the end we paddled around the Plancius, talk about feeling really small.  After our 3 hour paddle we were both cold and ready to head inside to warm up.  At dinner we looked out the window and realized it was snowing (big fluffy flakes, my favorite).  A third of the boat headed out for camping, we were happy to stay onboard.

Check out the rest of our pictures here

6 Continents, 1 to go!

We left Africa behind and returned to the Western Hemisphere for the first time in 5 months.  It's strange to me how it can feel like we've been gone for so long, yet when I write it down it looks like just a short period of time.  We are truly blessed to have been able to see and do all of the things we have done this far, and although we have a lot left on the agenda before returning home, I know it will fly by.

Our first class flight from Nairobi to Buenos Aires was amazing. Like our friend Matt saids...”you know why first class is so expensive, because it is worth it!” We couldn't agree more. Having seats that lay completely flat, and a nice pillow and blanket made the 11 hr plane ride mostly enjoyable. I say mostly because there was about 8 straight hours of turbulence, and even flying first class can't make me like turbulence! Of course the only way we got first class tickets was using points, and only because it was fewer points to fly first class then coach, go figure! We arrived in Buenos Aires with just enough time to grab dinner, fall asleep and then catch a cab back to the airport at 6:30 the next morning. There we caught our flight to Ushuaia (the end of the world). It was the first time we didn't have tickets next to each other, not bad for as much traveling as we have done lately.

Upon arriving in Ushuaia we were met by our tour company and brought to our hotel. We spent the afternoon wandering around town looking for a laundry mat. All we could find was a drop off place, and since it was Saturday she said the clothes won't be ready hoy (today) or manana (tomorrow), she said Martes, which we assumed ment Monday. When we got back to the hotel we discovered Martes is really Tuesday, so we had 3 days to kill with 1 pair of pants and 1 pair of underwear....at least it would all be clean by the time we boarded our ship to Antarctica!

On Sunday we took a canoe/hiking trip through the Beagle Channel to Gabel Island an island full of penguins. The weather was amazing with no wind and lots of sunshine. The guides all say they only get 4-5 days a year like that in Ushuaia. We were pretty convinced we could move here (once we practice up on our Spanish skills a little more).

On Monday we headed off to Tierra Del Fugo for some more hiking and canoeing. This morning began with us socked in by fog (our guide said he had never seen that happen here) and as we began our hike the fog slowly lifted revealing the beautiful Beagle Channel and surrounding peaks. It turned out to be another beautiful windless day. Our canoe trip ended at the end of the PanAmerica Highway, which leads from Ushuaia all the way to Alaska. It is the southern most point that you can drive a car to in the world! Now we just need a picture from the Alaska side (or maybe I have one from my family trip up there 5 years ago).

Tuesday we spent the day picking up odds and ends for our Antarctica cruise. At home we both have plenty of warm clothes and gear for the trip, but of course we didn't bring much with us (a good rain jacket, extra gloves, neck gators). We also each bought a pair of heavy duty boots that will hopefully fit crampons and allow us to go mountaineering in Antarctica. At 4 PM we hauled all of our gear down to the dock and loaded up on MV Plancius. By 7 PM we were headed down the Beagle Channel on our way to the Drake Passage and then Antarctica!

You can check out more of our Ushuaia adventures here