Often
referred to as ‘the southernmost city in the world’, and the capital of the
Provincia de Terra Del Fuego, breathtaking Ushuaia, Argentina is nestled at the
foot of the snowcapped Martial Mountains, where colder temperatures suggest you
should bundle up before heading ashore.
Our ship moved along the Beagle Canal under pilotage. The eastern part of the Canal acts as the
border between Argentina and Chile, with the dividing line in the middle of the
canal!
Ushuaia
is a major naval town with a large base and air station situated to the
south. Today’s weather forecast: High 9 celsius, Low 5 celsius. Sunrise at 5.16am, Sunset 10.05pm. The town experiences a subpolar oceanic
climate due to its high southern latitude.
For this reason, Antarctica plays a role in changing the daily weather
patterns. January is the warmest month,
where average temperatures creep up to around 50 degrees F.
After berthing in the beautiful town of
Ushuaia, we immediately boarded our catamaran for a 2.5hr tour of the Beagle
Canal bay area. The weather was mainly
fine with some sunny patches, but extremely cold. We went into the bay to see a flock of
cormorants, a herd of Sea Lions and the Lighthouse, which was built by convicts
in the late 19th century and has a light which can be seen 7
nautical miles out to sea.
Finishing the cruise, we walked easily into
town and walked the main street. Lots of
people, shops, workmen – it really is a busy place. Many Antarctic ships and crews about, Ushuaia
is a major port for the support of the ‘white continent’ and as it is summer,
it is a busy time.
We found a parrilla to have another
Argentine style lunch. It was a fairly
classy restaurant, it was full of people and the food was delicious. I ordered an ‘Ojo de bife’ (eye fillet) done ‘a
punto’ (medium – but in Argentina, medium usually means medium-well, which is
how I like it). David ordered ‘bife de
lomo’ which is a tenderloin. All
completed with a Quilmes Stout beer for David and a glass of Malbec (red) for
me. Totally full!!!
A spot of shopping completed out day. Port departure was 3pm. We ended up in the Skywalkers lounge on deck
17 after sailaway because we cruised further into the Beagle Channel and into
the Chilean fjords – massive glaciers to be seen. There are at least 7 all named after European
countries. They look blue because they
are so compact and devoid of oxygen.
Very pretty and we were able to get a great view from both deck 17 and
our starboard cabin right into the evening as the sun didn’t set until
10pm. What a fabulous day!
Big male Sea Lion!
Chilean fjord taken from our balcony on ship...
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