Antarctic Cruise Day 28 / 40 - Ushuaia, Argentina - A soft trek and we sail for the last continent
Trip day: 28 / 40
Port days: 10
Sea days: 17
Countries: 5
Continents: 3
Ports/Landings: 6
I didn't mention our wonderful view yesterday. On the other side of the doc, perhaps 150 feet away, was a container ship. What do they do with container ships in port? Unload and load them. What do you hear when that happens? *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* When do they do this? 24 hours a day. Needless to say, I'm a little tired today. At least it was gone when we got back to the ship today, so we have a few hours of a nicer view.
Getting off the ship was interesting today. New crew members, specifically members of the science and expedition teams were embarking. It will be interesting to meet the new players in our adventure. Sadly, we said farewell to Christopher, our ornithologist, and Chris, a marine biologist, as well as Asep, our wonderful restaurant manager, and Xavier, our staff captain. Chris is going to the Octantis and the other three will enjoy a well-deserved break.
Interestingly enough, our captain, Olivier, will go on holiday after we return to Ushuaia. Usually, the new captain will come on a port or two before to execute a handoff over a couple of days. Since the next port after Ushuaia is...Ushuaia on November 3, the new captain is already on the ship and will be here for the entire Antarctic voyage. We haven't met her yet, but we've already seen her around the ship.
On to today's adventure - a soft trek in the Tierra Del Fuego National Park. It was called that as it was a fairly easy excursion, with some walking over mildly uneven terrain. Between short walks, we rode a bus from point to point through the park.
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| Yes, Arlona is touching the water again |
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| The rocks had a rather distinctive green shade, almost like oxidized copper |
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| Little mussels were scattered all over the rocks |
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| A quaint postal station - it was closed as it was Sunday |
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| I can't imagine how long a postcard would take to get home |
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| The mailbox |
We continued on to the Alakush visitor center. We took a short walk along the water from there to where our bus was waiting to pick us up.
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| The Andes mountains are interesting as they are partly in Argentina and partly in Chile |
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| Upland geese |
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| Our guide said that if you wrap rocks in this lichen and strike it, you can start a fire |
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| Yellow-billed pintail |
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| Our motley tour group – feel free to download it if you’re in the photo! |
We made a final sightseeing stop in the park.
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| Argentina never completely got over the Falklands war |
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| Patagonian sierra |
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| Wild horses – we’re pretty sure the painted one is pregnant |
We next headed to lunch in one of these domes. The lunch was modest – a pumpkin soup, chicken stew, and an Argentinian dessert.
After lunch, we headed back to the ship, but not before making a stop at the Ushuaia sign for touristy photos.
As we were about to head to The Aula for the mandatory kayak briefing, the dreaded ALPHA ALPHA ALPHA alert came over the loudspeaker. That is the code for a medical emergency. According to what we’ve heard, a passenger attempted to step on stage as part of the submarine mobility test. They lost their balance, fell, and potentially broke their hip. They were taken off the ship by ambulance. Not a good start to the trip for them.
We attended the slightly delayed kayak briefing and then went for the sail-away in the Explorers’ Bar. Our 5PM departure was delayed until almost 7PM to resolve the medical issue and then we were off. We are heading east through the Beagle Channel for about four hours and then will head south. Current weather forecasts are showing relatively calm winds and seas for our transit through the Drake Passage, and everyone on the ship is happy about that.
We enjoyed dinner with friends in the World Café and then headed to the Explorers’ Bar to finish this blog. It was a treat to see our friend, Damian Sollesse – one of the four cruise directors we enjoyed from our world cruise. He is visiting Valbona – our expedition program coordinator, and again, one of our wonderful world cruise crew members.
So we’re off for Antarctica. The ship is much more full and we’ll have to adapt to that. I’ll try to get a passenger count tomorrow. On the schedule tomorrow is some kind of biosecurity test, and a kayak mobility test, getting us ready for the Antarctica adventure.
Garry, you mentioned your restaurant manager Asep who disembarked. By any chance do you know if he formerly worked for Holland America. We had a most wonderful dining room captain on the Amsterdam during six world cruises and his name was Asep, from Indonesia. He was superb. Best wishes for a smooth Drake Passage crossing --we have done it several times and every time it has been manageable!
ReplyDeleteI honestly can't remember if he mentioned that. He was a great guy to have on the ship. Thanks, and so far, we're pretty lake-like with little shake. It looks good all the way down. We'll see in nine days about the north passage. :-)
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