adventures in *

so much happened during this trip, i had to keep a journal to remember it all. scroll down to 2/11 to see day one aboard the ship.

stayed overnight at hotel albatros, didn’t like it. the decor was old, doors were thin and only had a basic doorknob lock. elevators were classic, 2 doors that you needed to manually open and close.

checked out of the hotel and walked to the pier, saw the orlova docked, so we walked around to take pics. ended up going to the small airport and took a 1 hour flight above the city and surrounding area. flew right up to mt olivia, the cerros? ski resort, then over the beagle channel to estancia harbarton.

saw the lighthouse on the small island and a bunch of other islands along the coast.

went to tia elvira for lunch, had the centolla appetizer and black hake. the crab was ok, not as salty as alaskan crab, served with a ketchup mayo cocktail sauce. the black hake tasted similar to chilean sea bass, it was simmered in cream, butter, white asparagus, and toasted with parmesan cheese on top – very good.

after that, went to la anonima to buy wine, they didnt have contact solution, had to walk down to the ushuaia mini mall, found it for 48 pesos at optica sociale.

got to the parking area and boarded the bus just after 3:30

ship smells old and maybe even like white pepper. the crew is russian, i may have pissed one off by unscrewing the firehose cover. the graphic on the box looked like a sickle from the old ussr flag, so i wanted to see what was inside. also found drying fish hanging in the front section of the smokestack, not sure of thats for luck or if they actually eat it. not sure it’s edible, since all the diesel smoke would probably permeate into the meat.

the porthole was screwed down pretty tight, but i managed to use my leatherman for leverage to undo it, the cabin was too hot, the fresh air was nice.

had an introduction meeting, practiced the lifeboat drill. after the drill, one of the russian crew members went cabin to cabin to close the portholes. he didn’t seem too pleased to see ours open. said it had to be closed until after the drake passage. i told him he didn’t have to tighten it all the way down, but he either didn’t care or understand.

around 6:45p we left harbor, i shot a lot of video. the sun light through the broken
clouds was pretty amazing, crepuscular rays shined down into bahia de ushuaia.

after getting back to the cabin, i was reviewed images/vid, of the departure. moved the pics to my laptop and formatted the cf, which later became a problem because i couldn’t find the pictures or videos.

dinner was nice, the steak had a slice of orange, maraschino cherry and a garlic butter dollop. mashed potatoes on the side. sat next to joey from ottawa, she’s traveled most of the world and antarctica would be her 7th continent. also at the table were dave, tomas from spain, liram from israel and tamar also from israel.

leaving argentina, a chilean pilot is on the bridge since we’re sailing near chilean waters. at 11pm he takes a rope ladder off the ship onto a chilean ship. i wasn’t paying attention to the time, but right around 11, we heard a thunk outside the porthole, it was a ladder, they turned on some spot lights and we saw the pilot climb down past our porthole window. he got onto a little ship and veered away.

the day has finally come, we embark on the ship this afternoon. bags are repacked, somehow it gained 10 pounds over the past couple days. need to stop off at the grocery store to stock up on argentine wine, they sell for 10-20$ pesos or 3-6$ usd for a good Malbec.

no more pictures while i’m aboard the ship, it does have satellite email though, so i’ll try to post a couple text updates.

We hiked about 6 miles along the Beagle Channel, named after Charles Darwin’s ship the HMS Beagle, which explored this area and then went on to the Galapagos islands in the 1800′s. Our trek wasn’t as epic but we saw some geese and 30+ hawks. I also fell into the water after going off the trail and scrambling over a section of cliff that overhangs the channel. Nothing more but wet pants so that’s good, Goretex boots ++

No pictures today, bandwidth is limited, we’ve moved to Hotel Albatros for a night’s stay before leaving for Antarctica.

Here are some pictures of the hotel we’ve been staying at for the past few days. It’s located 2 blocks from the main street San Martin.

lunch at pizza & pasta 137

post lunch walk along the waterfront

The southernmost chinese buffet in the world. Right by the window is a fire pit with a couple of whole animals being grilled, lamb or goat I think. The usual chinese dishes were there along with empanadas, ravioli, and flan.

GPS log of our 8 mile trek today.

And the view after a short chairlift ride

hamburguesa compledo y papas fritas (burger, ham, egg, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and french fries) and a Beagle Red ale

A former military prison, located on the Argentine Naval Base, it’s now a museum showcasing the prison’s history, Antarctic wildlife, and all things maritime.

Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra Del Fuego, a province of Argentina. It’s also the southernmost city in the world.
In the picture is Bahia de Ushuaia with the glacier covered mountains of Chile in the background.

landed in buenos aires, on my way to ushuaia

Feb 6 Las Vegas -> Atlanta -> Buenos Aires, Argentina
Feb 7-11 Ushuaia, Argentina
Feb 12-21 Antarctica
Feb 22 Ushuaia -> Buenos Aires -> Atlanta -> Las Vegas

Here’s what I’m packing

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 40D
17-40 F4 L
70-200 F2.8 L IS
100-400 F4-5.6 L IS
Zenitar 16 fisheye
580EX II
Rode Videomic
Manfrotto 190MF3
Acratech ballhead
TC80N3 remote timer
Sandisk Extreme III/IV cards

Pentax Optio A10

2 stop soft ND grad
Circ polarisers
UV filters

Burton Zoom bag