Buenas tardes from the almost the bottom of the world. Today we anchored in Ushuaia, Argentina – the lowest point in South America. We were supposed to have docked early this morning, but wind conditions prevented that from happening.
Speaking of which, the Captain’s Announcement just came through to the entire ship literally this minute! Change in plans – when we depart Ushuaia later early this evening, we will not pass by Cape Horn on our way to Antarctica as originally planned. The reason? The pilot boats refuse to get off the ship there due to the bad weather forecast that has been predicted! Instead we will head directly towards Antarctica. (Remember my last post about “the Drake Lake” vs. “the Drake Shake”? Looks like we’re going to get the latter.) The seas should turn rough around midnight. Winds up to 30 MPH and wave heights up to 14 feet. Let the games begin!!
Ahem – as I was saying – we had a marvelous day traveling to the Tierra del Fuego National Park, which I described in my last post. Let me share with you some of the photos I took today:
Sunrise in Ushuaia at 6:00 AM today as seen from our cabin
AAC CPA on deck a few minutes later – it’s cold out there!
Portside view
The beautiful Crystal Symphony as seen from the pier
1st stop inside the park: the world’s southern-most post office
Postcards for sale at the post office
Panoramic photo lakeside
AAC CPA at the Alakush Visitor’s Center
Another lakeside view – note the beautiful snowcapped mountains
AAC CPA with Condor Hill in the background
Lapataia Bay – AAC CPA is at the lowest point at the end of Route 3
Lapataia Bay
That’s all for now, kids. Time for us to batten down the hatches and get ready for our roller coast ride to Antarctica.
Remember: we’ll probably be out of internet range for the next 4 days or so. When I return, I hope to have lots of adventures to share with you.
theculturedtraveler 
Wow. Good luck with the next few days. Enjoy the high seas. It could be fun if you don’t feel sick. And if you do – just keep popping the pills.
Love to our four friends on board. Sail safely. xx
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Hey Lynne!! So far, so good. See my reply to Ashley below. There’s a lot of motion, but we just laugh at it and shake our fist! They’re not going to get us down, nor will we miss any meals. After all, we’ve already paid for it, so what’s 30 mph winds and 14 foot waves???? HAH!!
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The photos are great, thanks for adding so many of them to your blog entry. Best of luck with the crossing. I feel confident you will have a good time regardless of wave size. It will be a good story if it is rockin’ and rollin’. We look forward to your next update in 3-4 days from now and hopefully some wonderful Antarctica iceberg photos. Travel well xxx
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Well, it’s about 7:30 AM on Monday morning and we’re in the thick of it now (and still have Internet service!!!). Had a great night’s sleep – nothing like being rocked to sleep. The motion is strange. It’ll be pitching, rocking and rolling for awhile, and then it will calm down before starting up again. Compared to our notorious Dover – New York crossing in 2012, this isn’t much – so far….. We’ll see how the day develops. And by this time tomorrow: ANTARCTICA!!!
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