Wednesday was Penguin day. Having been given the luxury of a 9.30 start (at least an hour later than any other day so far on this trip!) we headed down to Punta Arenas, another gateway town to the beautiful national parks in the region. From Punta Arenas it was a short and bumpy journey across the peninsula to Otway Sound, which feeds into the Magellan Strait. The wind was bitterly cold, and not many penguins came out to play, but we still got to see a few, and they were awesome.
The next day was a very long travel day to get back to Argentina, but with scenery as incredible as that in Southern Patagonia, the 11 hours passed very quickly. Passing through the province of Tierra del Fuego on our way to Ushuaia the mountains seemed to grow with every passing mile.
Ushuaia is the southernmost city on earth, although there are settlements further south - they are few and far between, and very small. It is the closest city to Antarctica, and full of people preparing for their Antarctic adventures on the cruise ships. Once we realised just how close we were to Antarctica (relatively speaking!), we and several others were quite tempted to change our plans. Part of what stopped us all is the knowledge that by not visiting Antarctica this time, we'll have to visit again another time, a perfect excuse!
Famed for its king crab and seafood, Ushuaia was not a culinary experience I was particularly looking forward to, but as everywhere else in Argentina, the food was incredible - we've never eaten so much good steak and drunk so much lovely red wine in such a short space of time. The January detox seems like a very long time ago :)
Too tired to write anymore, Ushuaia was pretty full on... Next time we will mostly be telling you about the importance of Beagles vs Corgis, and what not to do with your camera lens...!!!
This is a bad idea (me reading your blogs), it is going to make me a permanent nomad!! Looks like your having an incredible time xx
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