Buenos Aires to Ushuaia: Back We Go to the Tip of Argentina

Sunday, 4 January 2015
Ushuaia, Argentina
Temps:Hi 82F (28C) in Buenos Aires / Lo 40F (4C) in Ushuaia

Darn … seems like most of my photos from today have gone into a black hole somewhere.
Luckily I have photos from our visit in December 2006 to supplement the few images I still have from today.

Starting this post at Aeroparque Jorge Newberry — where we’re killing time before a late-afternoon flight on Argentina’s national carrier will whisk us from Buenos Aires back down to the tip of the country … where we were cruising not that long ago.  If all goes well, I’ll finish writing this blog entry tonight!

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After 31 sleeps, the time was at hand to gather our bags and vacate stateroom 7203 aboard Celebrity Infinity.  The cruise was great … we enjoyed all of our ports of call; explored some great places; saw captivating landscapes and wildlife.  But it was now time to move on to another phase of our long months of southern hemisphere travels.

Since we had a late flight, we had asked for and been given the latest disembarkation time from the ship — 9:30a.  One last breakfast at the Oceanview Café.  Farewells said to new friends.  We then headed to the SS United States, the specialty restaurant that was designated as the waiting area for the Captain’s Club elite and above passengers.  Alexandra greeted us at the door and encouraged us to disembark immediately since the gangway was clear — “no need to wait for your number to be called; there is another ship in port and the terminal will be a zoo,” she said.  So, off we went at 8:30a, waving our farewells to the crew that had taken such good care of us for a month.

Our cruise adventure at an end, we fly down to the tip of Argentina to begin another adventure.

A short shuttle ride later, we were at the passenger terminal, searching for our luggage amongst the thousands of bags neatly organized by disembarkation number.  It didn’t take us long to find what we were looking for.  Five minutes later, we were through customs — nonexistent — and negotiating with the dispatcher for a cab to Aeroparque Jorge Newberry, the domestic airport.  No more than a 10-minute drive … and we were soon at the departures terminal.

Hoping we’d get a different answer to our request to switch to an earlier flight, Mui headed to customer service.  Alas, no can do — all of the flights were sold out.  Since we had checked in online and already had boarding passes, next we looked for the internet check-in counter to drop off our bags.  A helpful agent told us that they no longer have the special counters.  Alrighty then; onward to the domestic check-in counter … only to be told that we couldn’t check our bags until three hours before our scheduled departure time.

By now, it was 10:00a and our flight wasn’t until 4:00p.  We had planned to go for a walk along the river after dropping off our bags.  Obviously, that wasn’t going to work now.  In for a long wait, we looked around and decided to do what so many others were doing — make ourselves comfortable … luggage and all … at Expresso.  A beverage order or two, and later … a light lunch, netted us the internet password in return.

Whiling away the time until check-in.

And now, 1:00p is upon us.  Time to gather up our belongings and join the other passengers queuing up to get checked in.  More after we’re in the air …

Aboard AR1890 …

We’re in the air!  So far, all’s going well after an on-time departure from BsAs — certainly a better experience than the time in December 2006 when our flight out of Jorge Newberry was delayed hours and hours due to work-stoppage in the control tower.

So, let’s catch up from when we queued up at the counter to drop off our bags.

Amongst the first to line up at the counter, it wasn’t long before we were in front of an agent.  Before she could tag our bags, however, we had to pay the overweight baggage fee.  Aerolineas Argentinas allows 15kg (33 pounds) per person on domestic economy tickets — not much when your trip includes varied modes of transport, locales, and climates.  The agent weighed our luggage, did some calculations, scribbled some notes on a print-out, and sent us to a different window.  The line there was a little longer, but once we made payment we could cut-in to the line at the first counter.  When we were given the final tally, we were surprised the charge came out to just under $50 — on a US carrier that would have been more like $200.

Sans bags, we headed upstairs to the departure gates.  So much of the airport looked familiar from 2006, yet there were some changes, too.  New eateries in the general waiting area; gate areas beyond security sectioned off into smaller lounges; seats with arms — making it impossible to lie down for a nap as I had during our long airport wait eight years ago.  Not that I needed to snooze today.  Not only were we coming off a cruise ship in BsAs and not a red-eye from the US, but boarding for AR1890 was called on time.

Symphony of blue!

We were able to change our seats to the exit row when we checked our bags, so we’re quite comfortable on the Boeing 737-700/800 that is whisking us 1,475 air miles [2,370+ km) south to Ushuaia.  In another hour or so, we should be on the ground at Fin del Mundo [end of the world] … again!

P.S. The writing on the wall in the picture above has changed … as we noticed when Infinity stopped in Ushuaia eight days ago.  The wall, now proclaims Ushuaia as the capital of Las Malvinas [Falkland Islands], with a reference to it being so for 50 years.

Well, caught up for now.  I think I’ll get a head start on reading Captain Scott’s journal — the one he wrote during the fateful journey to the South Pole in 1911-1912.  More later …

Wrapping up the day at Casa Los Tulipanes …

Three hours and 20 minutes after taking off from BsAs, AR1890 landed at the airport in Ushuaia.  An on-time departure; an on-time arrival; and none of our bags lost en route — that’s a good travel day!

When we were here in 2006, we stayed at a hotel outside the city — a quiet location, walking distance … by our standards, at least — Los Ñires was a good multi-night base for us.  It had the added advantage of being the place where our expedition operator was putting us up the night before embarkation.

This time, there was no pre-expedition stay included in our package.  So, for our five-night stay we turned to AirBNB instead of booking a hotel.  A room at Casa Los Tulipanes [House of Tulips], a log cabin overlooking the Beagle Channel in the forested Bosque del Faldeo neighborhood outside the busy downtown area, looked like a cozy little place.  The reviews of the property and its hosts convinced us to click the reserve button.  Only our second booking with AirBNB; we are not disappointed this time either.

It was 8:30p when we arrived at Casa Los Tulipanes.  Jack, originally from Holland, but living in Ushuaia after he and Marta married four years ago, was on hand to cheerfully greet us and show us to our room — the larger of the two they rent out.

Welcome to Casa Los Tulipanes!

A simply furnished, spacious room … Private facilities; shared shower.
perfect for our needs for a short stay.

We didn’t dally long after settling into our room.  Although the light was bright and it felt more like 5:00p than 9:00p, we wanted to get some dinner before calling it a day.  Jack gave us the number to call a taxi, but wanting to stretch our legs, we decided to walk down the hill instead — about a 20-25 minute walk at a fairly slow, but steady pace.  It felt good to be using our legs after sitting around so much all day.

Glimpse of the Beagle Channel from our room.

We were tired and hungry, so instead of checking out a new place for dinner, we went to Tante Sara — a tried and true standby for us.  We ordered a steak salad and a flatbread pizza to share … as we have come to expect from this casual eatery, the food was good.  Tummies sated, we had one more errand to run, and that was to buy some fruit from La Anonima, the local supermarket.  It sure is nice to be in a place where we’re familiar with the layout of the place and know where to go to get what we want.

Flatbread pizza and a steak salad for dinner — yummy!

It took just one look at the skies after we finished up at the supermarket to decide that we’d better take a cab back to Casa Los Tulipanes.  Turned out to be a good decision.  No sooner were we in our room that it started raining; and has kept up at a steady pace for the past hour.  We surely would have been soaked had we walked back.  The pitter-patter of the rain on the tin roof is reminiscent of rain falling on the roof of our motorhome; we feel right at home.

It’s almost 11:30p, and though it is not as dark as it would be further north, we definitely won’t be having 24-hour days while we are here — that’s to come later.  Mui’s fast asleep; I will follow soon.

No real plans for tomorrow — other than breakfast at 8:00a … compliments of our hosts.  Afterwards … well, we’ll see how the day shakes out.

Ushuaia, Argentina: Fin del Mundo

Saturday, 27 December 2014
the Beagle Channel
Temps: Hi 48F (9C) / Lo 39F (4C)
Distance to Cape Horn, Chile: 139 NM (327 miles / 526 km)

The port of call in Ushuaia, Argentina — which bills itself as Fin del Mundo [end of the world] — was a day of errands for us … for two reasons.

First, because it was a familiar place … we spent a few days in this city at the tip of Argentina prior to embarking our Falkland Islands/South Georgia/Antarctic Peninsula Voyage eight years ago.  Second, because we will be returning to Ushuaia for a few days in about a week’s time and will have plenty of time to do some sightseeing then.

Before I get to our day in Ushuaia, however, let me share some photos from the Canal Beagle [Beagle Channel], which is named for the HMS Beagle, the ship on which Charles Darwin circumnavigated the globe.  It was on that voyage (1831-1836) that Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands … which inspired his The Origin of Species.  Shared by Argentina and Chile, the eastern end of the 150-mile (240 km) long channel serves as the border between the two countries.

Love the thick, billowing clouds coming over the mountain.

We were still several hours from arriving in port when we stepped out on the veranda at 6:30a … just in time to see the glaciated peaks of the Andes Mountains.  In 2006, we’d cruised the easternmost part of the channel, but the section approaching Ushuaia from the west was all new to us.  Worth braving the chilly morning to sit on the veranda and watch the scenery while we nibbled on breakfast from the buffet.

Land ahoy!  Ushuaia on the horizon.

Left: Yes, it’s cold; but the scenery is worth the discomfort.
Right: El Faro [the lighthouse], symbol of Ushuaia … and home to a breeding colony of shags.

When the ship looped around the lighthouse to begin its approach to Ushuaia, we collected our luggage and headed to guest relations on deck 3.  What?  Disembarking Infinity in Ushuaia?  No; but we were hoping to drop off our bags at the accommodations we had booked for when we come back in January.  Why?  Because it would be easier to fly back to Ushuaia without checked bags after we disembark the ship in Buenos Aires.

We’d been consulting with the ship’s documentation officer, Celebrity’s local agent in Ushuaia, and even the local agent for the expedition company with which we’ll be traveling to the Antarctic.  All we had for our troubles was conflicting information saying “yes, you can take your bags off the ship,” in one breath; and “no, you can’t,” in the next breath.  After many conversations, we were told to be in the foyer with our bags and we’d see what the final say would be.  It was an emphatic “no, it is illegal to do so in Argentina if you are re-embarking the ship to continue the cruise.”  Oh well — we tried.  There is a silver lining ... packing to disembark in Buenos Aires will be a cinch now since almost everything is in the bags already ;-)

Heading to our berth, I’m surprised to see that there are no Antarctic expedition vessels in port.

The city looks like it has spread out quite a bit since we were last here.

While some things have obviously remained the same — like the city hall …

… others have changed.  This wall, for example, used to read: “Ushuaia … end of the world;
beginning of everything.”  Now the wall proclaims Ushuaia as the capital of Las Malvinas
(or the Falklands, the name by which the rest of the world knows the islands).

When the ship was cleared at 10:00a, we were amongst the first to disembark and make the long walk down the pier to the small passenger terminal.  Our first stop was the visitor information center — a larger facility; moved from the main drag to across the street from the port since our last visit to Ushuaia.  Though we didn’t need it, we picked up a map, and then queued up to ask where we might find a barber and a camera shop.  As expected, we were directed to Avenida San Martin, just a short 5-minute walk from the port.

Looking back from City Hall, we see that Seabourn’s Quest has joined Infinity in port.
We like her size better; but Quest is a little too rich for our wallet.

A good number of the shops on San Martin were closed — which is when we realized that it was Saturday.  Now that we’re retired, we tend to lose track of what day it is … the problem is compounded when we’re on vacation ;-)  We managed to get our haircuts.  But we were unable to pick up a sim card for our mi-fi; and the few camera shops that were open didn’t have the battery charger Mui was hoping to pick up for his GoPro.  Better luck in Buenos Aires — we hope.

These life-size figures decorate the exterior of a museum that highlights
the history of the area, including the town’s foundation as a penal colony.
The museum has good reviews on TripAdvisor, but we’re skipping it this time.

A mural on the wall of the post office depicts the Yamana people,
who lived here before the arrival of Europeans, and …

… the prisoners who were brought here when Ushuaia was founded as a penal colony.

Our plans for the day included having lunch at one of our favorite local eateries, so we slowly strolled the length of San Martin until we reached El Turco [the Turk].  From what I understand, the restaurant was named after one of several Argentinean soccer players known by this nickname.  Off the beaten-path of the town’s tourist center, and patronized mostly by locals, the place serves good food — the most important factor in selecting an eatery.

Lunch at one of our favorite eateries in Ushuaia.

We ordered what we did eight years ago — a salad completo … consisting of green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, onions, and a boiled egg; and a couple of jamón y queso [ham and cheese] and carne [beef] empanadas.  We washed it all down with a liter-bottle (34 oz) of Quilmes, a domestic beer.

We skipped dessert at El Turco, and went to another favorite haunt from our first visit to Ushuaia — Laguna Negra … an artesanal chocolatier.  The shop has grown some, and now sells other specialty items in addition to handmade chocolates.  The chocolate-drizzled crêpes we enjoyed back in 2006 wasn’t on the menu anymore, but the hot chocolate was … not the watered-down version you get in most places; this stuff is just short of being liquid chocolate.  Yummy!

Lunch	Dessert

Our day also included some meanderings to reacquaint ourselves with Ushuaia — we verified the location of the supermarket where we will do some provisioning when we return; took a peek at the above-ground crypts at the municipal cemetery; walked along Avenida Maipú to the Malvinas Monument; checked out several murals  … and more.

Eventually, we ended up at Tante Sara, a café where, in exchange for a cup of coffee and a Sprite, we were given the wi-fi password.  The speed was actually quite good until the tour-goers from the ships in town returned from their shore excursions.  Time to stroll about a bit more — this time along the waterfront, where the only birds we saw were kelp and dolphin gulls.

Kelp Gull — widespread along the coasts and on the islands of the Southern Hemisphere.

Dolphin Gull — native to southern Chile and Argentina, we saw our first one in the Falklands.

Infinity has had no problem arriving on time at the ports of call on this cruise.  Even early, on occasion.  Departures, on the other hand, have been another matter entirely, with delays ranging from 30-60 minutes not being uncommon.  Didn’t really question the delays — until today.  When the ship was still in port two hours after the scheduled departure of 7:00p, we started wondering why.  As though he heard our mental inquiries, Captain Michael came on the P/A system to advise us that we were waiting for clearance due to a medical emergency requiring the disembarkation of a passenger.  Hmmm … methinks there’s a bit more than that involved, but whether we get to hear the real story remains to be seen.

The tide has fallen so much since Infinity arrived at its berth this morning
that we have to duck really low to re-embark the ship.

The upside to the departure delay — we got to enjoy sailaway from our veranda since we were finished with dinner by the time the bowlines were let go.  We said a colorful farewell to Ushuaia, with the late-setting sun bathing the scenery in a golden hue.

Mt Olivia (left) and Cinco Hermanos [Five Brothers] are two of the landmark mountains of Ushuaia.

Until next time … and there will be a next time sooner rather than later.

We are now heading towards the mouth of the Beagle Channel.  Infinity is hugging the portside shoreline to stay in Argentinean waters.  At some point, however, the ship will switch sides to arrive in Puerto Williams, Chile.  This small town bills itself as “Beyond the End of the World” — it’s all part of the eternal rivalry between Chile and Argentina.  Puerto Williams is just a service call where we will drop off the Argentinean pilot and pick up the Chilean one — territorial waters and all that ... and the price we have to pay to be able to do what’s planned for tomorrow.