Ushuaia: PED 4 ... Doctor's Visit & Dinner with Fellow-Expeditioners

Thursday, 8 January 2015
Ushuaia, Argentina
Hi 49F (9C) / Lo 37F (3C)

Our coldest day in Ushuaia yet. Mui said that the difference was quite noticeable from yesterday. I wouldn’t know as I stayed in all day. Why? Let me ‘splain.

I mentioned a few days ago that Mui was not feeling on top of his game. When he woke up this morning, his voice was hoarse; and when he swallowed, his ear ached. So, he decided to see a doctor and get some prescriptions if necessary to stave off what he suspected was an ear infection. After breakfast, Jack drove him into town and dropped him off at the private clinic Marta suggested he visit.

While he was out, I began reviewing my checklist for the things that needed to be taken care of before we head into the land of no internet … no communication — for the next 30+ days. That we will be incommunicado is not entirely true. There will be a connection to the outside world via satellite. But the cost will be prohibitive for all but emergencies.

By the time Mui and I talked next around 11:30a, I was well on my way to finishing up my paperwork. He said the doctor had confirmed the ear infection and prescribed ear drops and a course of antibiotics. All for the price of AR$650 (~ $48) for the doctor’s visit; and AR$307 (~ $23) for the prescription. Might have been cheaper had he gone to the hospital instead of a private clinic — but no time to waste sitting around waiting to be seen. Certainly no comparison to what the whole thing would have cost in the US … even had I used the official AR$8.50 rate for my calculations instead of the blue market exchange rate we got for the pesos we purchased in Buenos Aires.

In any event, after giving me the good news that what ailed him was nothing serious, Mui headed off to pick up some lunch to bring back with him. In the process of doing so, he ran into a couple of friends from the Quark expedition team — in Ushuaia on a turnaround day. He chatted with Dave and Nicola for a bit, and met Dmitri Banin, an expedition team member who will be on the Ortelius with us for the Ross Sea voyage.

Our afternoon was a quiet one, with Mui napping to gain his strength back before dinner. Around 7:00p, we headed off to have dinner with strangers! Strangers? Well, sort of. What is it they say about there being no strangers, just people you haven’t met yet.;-)

When I was researching the Ortelius and the Ross Sea itinerary, I posted a few questions in various forums. One of them prompted Judy and Mark, from Massachusetts, to send me an email saying they would be on the ship with us. A few more emails followed, and we agreed to have dinner the night before embarking the ship. To celebrate the beginning of our new Antarctic adventure, as we did the one in 2007, Mui and I already had plans for dinner at a lovely little restaurant called, Kaupé. We suggested they join us; they accepted. And then Judy and Mark found Suzanne, from Australia — also booked on our sailing. And thus our party of four became a party of five.

As per my reservation request, we had a window-side table — in this case, the one in the bay window visible in the picture below. The ambiance at Kaupé was as I remembered it from our first time dining there — elegant, but in a casual sort of way. Conversation flowed freely, first as we each gave a little spiel about ourselves, and later as we talked about past travels and other interests.

Our pre-expedition celebration at Kaupé — 30 December 2006.

The menu had not changed in the intervening years, so making selections was easy for us. I ordered the Caprese Salad and followed that with the Sea Bass with Lemon and Sage. As his starter, Mui had the Vitello Tonnato (thin slices of veal with a cold tuna sauce) and ordered the special — Grilled Octopus — as his main course. No question what Mui was going to have for dessert — Marquise, which consisted of wedges of chocolate mousse set in a pool of dulce de leche sauce. For me, a refreshing Lemon Sorbet with a Raspberry Coulis was the perfect end to the meal.

Sorry, no photos of our new friends or the food ... as you can tell from the two re-used photos above, I didn’t have my camera with me :-(

As we were eating, we noticed that one of the Antarctic-bound ships had remained at the pier after the others had left. From a distance, we couldn’t make out the name, but I ventured a guess that it just might be Ortelius. Even as we were debating the identity of the ship, another one was coming into port — this one easier to make out due to the signature yellow rectangle on the hull, designating it the National Geographic Explorer. We verified this with a short walk to the port after dinner, but alas the identity of the other ship remained a mystery since its bow was blocked from our view by the Explorer.

By this time, the night air had chilled considerably. So, we bid our dinner mates a temporary farewell, hailed a cab, and headed home to Casa Tulipanes … for one last sleep in our cozy room.