Ushuaia is the Argentine town at the "end of the world".
Population about 25,000 except when cruise ships arrive.
Many of the buildings are brightly colored. Good idea since they
say it gets quite dreary in the deep of winter. Because of the proximity
to the water it does not get very cold or warm here. Records are about
20 and 80. It was in the low 70s during our visit.
Ushuaia is one of the gateways to Antarctica. Cruises to the icy continent
often start here to go the last 600 miles.
Note that it is 1600 to Tasmania (south of Australia) ,
1300 miles to the south end of New Zealand, and
2500 miles to the south end of Africa. Ushuaia is much further south
than any of them.
Notice how the Zenith seems to dominate the city. The city has a
modern airport. The Concorde has flown here twice on private charters.
See the Zenith on the previous cruise on the Tierra del Fuego webcam .
The Beagle Channel is a narrow, protected natural waterway that
connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Tierra del Fuego
is the land at the southern end of South America
Along the Beagle Channel are a number of glaciers, some of
which terminate in the water. We got up at 4 AM and took this picture
out of our stateroom window as we passed
Later we went past Cape Horn in the background. The weather
here is notoriously violent and many mariners never came home
after attempting the passage. Note the blue sky and calm ocean.
On this last day of spring it was about 55 and sunny with a light breeze.
One of the shipboard rituals is to swim in the ship pool while the
ship goes around Cape Horn. Here is Bob on his way into the pool.
The salt water is right out of the ocean and 46 degrees warm.
The quick penguin dip is really refreshing. Both Joyce and I,
along with 37 others took the plunge just to get a certificate.
Later we sat in the hot tub on the stern of the ship. It was 104 degrees
and much more sensible. Bob did go back several more times for
other plunges in the icy pool while others jogged in ski coats on the deck.