Around the Horn

Day 26: Ushuaia, Argentina: Fin de Munde (end of the World)

Late in the evening on Wednesday, we found ourselves stopped at the tiny town of Puerto Williams,Chile, whose claim is the southermost town in the world. Standing on our balcony, we were so close to town that we could not only clearly see lights from the houses and cars but also hear dogs barking and gulls crying. This stop was necessary to pick up the Harbour Pilot who would guide us down the Beagle Channel and into Ushuaia.

The next morning met us with partly cloudy skies, calm seas and little wind. We were up early to be ready for our excursion back into the Beagle Channel and on to the penguin rookery. A large catamaran picked us up directly from the ship and we headed out into the Channel.

Our first stop was to visit a colony of sea lions and cormorants on a small rock island. Next was an island nesting place of the 'blue-eyed cormorant', a seabird which closely resembles penguins in coloring.  On to a colony of rock cormorants, and then a 90 minute ride to the Grand Finale...the penguin rookery.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that we not only sailed close to the rookery, but actually put into shore so that the birds were directly off the bow of the catamaran. We spent probably 1/2 an hour filming and taking photos of the hundreds of penguins of 3 different species and laughing at their curiosity of the waves and our boat. A rainshower heralded the end of our adventure on the island and we headed back down the Channel to Ushuaia.

Back at the dock, we were allowed to disembark for some individual shopping in the port area of Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Many of the souvenirs are marked with the phrase "Fin de Munde" or "End of the World". The sun came out and the day turned warm as we headed back to the tender boats for a short ride back to the 'Mother Ship'.

Later that evening were treated to a fiest for the eyes and the soul and we sailed past three magnificent glaciers in the Beagle Channel on our way to the Pacific. Captain Johnny had promised us an "Ice Show" and he did not disappoint. We stayed on the balcony until 10:30 enjoying the incredible landscape and then retired after a most exciting day in the city at the End of the World.

Tomorrow : Cruising the Straits of Magellan.