December 26th
Ushuaia, Argentina
Ushuaia, Argentina is a relatively small city, located about as far south as one can go without swimming or living on Antartica. This is the southernmost city in the world and the capital of Tierra del Fuego. Known as “The End of the World”, it sits on a U-shaped harbor in the Beagle Channel, where many an arctic explorer has departed from. Originally populated as a penal colony, today the town is home to over 70,000 full-time residents.
I’m including a few maps to try to orient you to where we are. Tierra del Fuego is in black on the second map, all the way to the south of Argentina.
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- Map of South America
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- Chile on the left, and Argentina in yellow
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- Blow up of Tierra del Fuego section
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- Close to Antartica
Not docking today until noon, we were instructed to wait for our scheduled tour in the Princess Theater. Not quite as efficient as normal, it took us an hour before we managed to get off the ship and into our waiting bus for our half-day excursion entitled “Maritime Museum and Mountain Drive”. I was mainly interested in seeing more of the scenery, especially the gorgeous mountains, and this tour included the Tierra Mayor Valley, and views of Lago Escondido/Lago Fagnano.
I have found the excursions on this cruise to be especially expensive – even more than normal. But they do have us rather at their mercy, as having traveled this far, we do not want to miss seeing some of the wonderful sights we have traveled so far to witness. This five-hour tour was $205.95 per person. Gulp!!!
Driving through town, I got a kick from how they managed to embrace their penal colony origins with fanciful characters hanging from the windows as if escaping from custody.
Escape!
Emerald Princess in the harbor
Another stop at a roadside cafe, where we spotted dozens of dogs, each chained to his/her own dog house. They were enthusiastically waiting their turn to be harnessed to pull an all terrain vehicle during the summer, or a sled during the winter.
Dogs used for sledding and pulling ATV’s
One of our first vista photo stops was at Valle Carbajal with the snow-capped mountain peaks in the background.
Tim and Joanne at Valle Carbajal
Panorama in the mountains
On to Lake Escondido, also called “Hidden Lake”, for both close up and hillside views.
Lago Escondido
View point for Lago Escondido
While at the overlook, one of the guides spotted two enormous condors soaring high overhead. These amazing birds have an impressive TEN FOOT wingspan. They appear so tiny in my picture, but I was still thrilled at having seen them in the wild.
Those black dots are the condors (use your imagination)
Moving on down the road, our guide spotted a local mushroom growing as a parasite and stopped to pick up three so that we could examine them. They are edible, but supposedly have no flavor.
Wild Mushroom
The red looking ground is a peat bog. They do not use the peat for burning or heat here as we witnessed in Ireland. Instead it is used to fertilize their gardens. Heat is provided by very inexpensive natural gas.
Red ground is a peat bog
Stopping once again at the same roadside cafe, Las Cotorras refuge (a winter sports area), where we had earlier seen the dogs, we were treated to a small feast of local beef empanadas, a mixture of sandwiches were offered, as well as a variety of sweet pastries. Wine, coffee (served from a 50-year old jug), juice or a mug of the BEST hot chocolate were also included.
Coffee pot used daily for 50 years!
The final stop on our tour was for a 45-minute wander through the museum. Four sections were available for us to explore. The first section told about the penal colony and how the prisoners were housed/fed/treated (or mistreated).
Inside each cell detailed what life was like for the prisoners
Section two was an art exhibition.
Art gallery section
Section three was the empty jail section which honestly gave me the creeps. The energy in there was oppressive, as if the ghosts of former prisoners still lingered, trapped in their agony. I could not get out of there fast enough.
Too many ghosts in here
Could not wait to get out of this section
Section four, included a gift shop, painted penguin statues plus an adorable five-minute looped video on penguins which certainly helped lighten the mood.
These guys were cute
Back on board, we enjoyed viewing the beauty of the harbor town from our balcony, relaxed a while in our cabin and ate a late dinner in the Horizon Court Buffet.
Another view of the harbor
View from our balcony
Panorama from the pool deck
Tomorrow will be a day at sea, with us passing by Cape Horn in the morning.
FUN FACT: Charles Darwin spent five years exploring the tip of South America in his ship, “HMS Beagle” and the Beagle Channel was named as a tribute to his vessel.
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that we got to get outside of the city and see more of the stunning countryside, lakes and snow-capped Andes mountains.
A Note From Abroad 
Nice post. Beautiful pictures. It was great to see a part of the world I will probably never get a chance to see. Thank you for sharing. Best wishes for your further adventures.
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Thank you so much! So happy to have you join us, and WELCOME!
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Happy New Year! Thank you for sharing this wonderful trip with us!
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And best wishes to you as well!
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Thanks. Brings back memories of a visit several years ago.
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As always, loving your photos and commentary! I do want to see a photo of you wearing that gorgeous necklace Tim bought you in Morocco! Happy New Year!!
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Trish, I don’t usually travel with it, but will have to figure out a way to fit it into a post sometime in the future. It really is a special and unique piece. Happy New Year!
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Have been following your blog for several months now and it’s one of the only ones I always open and read! We love to travel and have spent the last three summers on cruises in Northern Europe, the Med and the British Isles, respectively so your posts are always like being on the adventure with you guys!
Now… I must know. What of the elusive mystery dinner companions?? 🙂
Happy new year!!
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Claire, what a lovely comment! Thank you ❤️ We never did get two more guests at our table, but the head waiter ended up moving the four of us to join three others.
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You and Tim might have to take up busking before you’re through travelling. Any good with a banjo? Or The Time Step? Yet more dramatic photos to add to your collection. Can imagine the prison was creepy…(like the Coliseum in Rome – couldn’t wait to leave that…) Wishing you both the healthiest and happiest New Year.
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HaHa, both the banjo and Time Step are out, but maybe I can volunteer to take photos of people in front of monuments, lol. Happy New Year!
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Hopefully ‘the Horn’ let you pass without too much trouble. 😀
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The heavy seas even cooperated!
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We booked for the same tour but only paid $A129.95 per person. I can’t understand why you had to pay so much more. We booked our excursions about 3 months ahead. I don’t know if that makes a difference. Anyway, it all sounds good and we are looking forward to following in your footsteps!
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Jill, I wonder if the tours were perhaps more expensive due to it being the holidays???
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Well, that’s a thought I guess, although I was speaking to Princess yesterday and the lady said she didn’t know why there was such a price difference. She could only comment on what we paid. It doesn’t leave you much choice unfortunately. Anyway, it seems a lovely trip so I hope you enjoy it, and I’m very excited to get on board.
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Beautiful scenery. I’d love to climb those mountains. I understand how you felt about the prisons, I felt the same way about those on Alcatraz. There’s something oppressive there and in the back of your mind, you know that what lingers, you don’t want to really know about. I understand why some prisoners would want to end their lives.
Glad you’re having a great trip. As you can tell by previous comments, we all live vicariously through you. I can hardly wait for my husbands retirement!
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We highly recommend retirement! How much longer before he can retire? In the meantime, I’m so glad we can have you travel along with us.
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He’s still got about 6 years. (sigh)
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That seems like forever when you are counting it down, but somehow time is flying by for us these days. It seems like every time I turn around, it is Christmas again.
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Beautiful scenery! I do think that is a little over the top expensive for a 5 hour tour. Geeze! Not sure I would want to drink that coffee, unless I could make sure the inside looked a whole lot better than the outside did. LOL I would have been tempted to taste test that beautiful mushroom. The penguin statues are very cute. The empty cell area did look very creepy. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
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I’m hoping that the inside of the pot was cleaner as well. Tim said it was good, but really strong. He thought it had been laced with some kind of alcohol. I too was tempted to try the mushroom 😁
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We visited Antarctica in 2011 with National Geographic, boarding and disembarking in Ushuaia. It was fun seeing that lovely little city again.
Hope you have a smooth passage through “The Drake”.
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I think going to Antarctica with National Geographic would be awesome! The oceans were rough, but not horrible. I understand this route can get really bad at times so feel fortunate it was not too bad for us.
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I don’t think my earlier comment came through… but not sure so trying again just in case as it made me login since I don’t comment much.
I’ve been following your blog for a few months and it’s one of the only emails I always open and read. We love to travel and you guys inspire me! We spent our last three summers with our boys enjoying cruises in Northern Europe, the Med and the British Isles, respectively. I love reading your posts because I feel like I am on the journey with you both and it gives us a lot of insight for future trips!
Now, we must know. What became of the elusive dinner companions?? The suspense looms large… 🙂
Happy New Year to you both!!
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I did get your first message, and just had a chance to respond due to poor internet service while on the cruise -BUT, I enjoyed your message so much, that I was delighted to get it twice. It sounds like you too have had some wonderful trips. How fortunate for your boys that they are being introduced to traveling and getting to see the world. Experiencing other cultures, is such a fabulous learning experience. Thank you for being a part of our journey.
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Oops – ok well I am glad it came through in the end! I know how tricky the internet can be at sea, not to mention a little pricey too! 🙂
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Oh my gosh, what a beautiful place! Your photos are amazing. That is one place on my “bucket list”. Now I really must go. Thanks for the wonderful post. Happy travels.
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Tim, I’m so glad that we could encourage you to travel to this area. 👍
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Happy New Year to you all, and may 2018 bring you blogging success and happiness.
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Penguins in a prison, what a contrast. Wonderful photos!
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Strange combination, wasn’t it!
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So what’s next, Antarctica? Have fun
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Not on this trip Terry, but eventually we will get there. For now, we will go from Buenos Aires on to Iguazu Falls and Rio de Janeiro.
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Fun, try the tango.
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Breathtaking scenery. And to see two condors, WOW!
The tour does sound pricey and yet I can only imagine how amazing it would be to spend a few hours in such a beautiful place and the memories one is left with.
Thank you for chronicling your journey in such detail. I so enjoy seeing your photographs and reading your descriptions.
Wishing you a wonderful year of more adventures.
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Thank you so much. Yes, seeing the condors, even from a distance was a thrill.
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Your photos of the scenery are fabulous, as always! The art in the prison gallery was positively haunting, so I can understand your feelings in the prison portion. I now know four people who have been to Ushuaia…
A fun story from our RV trip last spring: We were in Santa Fe and had ridden our motorcycles from our RV campground into downtown for dinner. We parked on the main square and dined on a terrace. During dinner, we saw a couple on the same exact motorcycle I own pull into the square, park by our bikes, and walk off. After dinner, we lingered around the bikes, hoping to meet the couple. A few minutes later, they came back, and we enjoyed getting to know Claudio and Cris, a young couple from Brazil who were both on a years’ sabbatical from their jobs. Despite Claudio only speaking Portuguese, Cris made up for it by translating using perfect English! They were riding two-up on a motorcycle from their home in Brazil, had already been south to Ushuaia, and were on their way to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and then back home again via the East Coast. We were in AWE! We kept up with their journey via Facebook and Instagram, and they are now home safely, with a lifetime of memories to cherish. 🙂
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Wow! What an amazing trip that must have been from tip to tip. And how nice that you got to meet them and visit and then continue to follow them. We have met so many wonderful people through our travels and also through this blog – just like you! Thank you for always faithfully following along and offering your kind comments and sharing bits and pieces from your own life as well.
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Thank you for so thoroughly and consistently reporting your amazing travels! I know how tough it is to make the time to blog in a timely manner, and must admit to not being able to do it. But you are right, we too have met so many wonderful people through the virtual world, and it makes the travel experiences we have even richer. And we get to see even more fabulous places! 😀
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