December 18 Bound for Ushuaia

This the domestic airport - very busy 

It’s creeping on to midnight, the sun has set and we’ve not long finished a delicious dinner. What a day. When we arrived at the Buenos Aires airport for our final leg south to the end of the world, the whole airport was in an uproar as the World Cup Final kicked off.  Would you believe we were there lining up to check in throughout the entire game along with hundreds and hundreds of Argentinians, all flying off somewhere but glued to their iPhones or the TV screens scattered around the place. The atmosphere was electric, the noise deafening but the mood absolutely infectious. Like being at the MCG on Grand Final day. The excitement was palpable. Argentina won of course but it didn’t come easy. Airport staff, ground crew were all dancing around singing, even the pilots were waving flags out of cockpit windows of the planes waiting to load. 

Rio de la Plata

But finally we were off on the last leg of our trip to reach Ushuaia, gateway to the Antarctic Peninsula. As we climbed higher and higher we looked down on the muddy waters of Rio de la Plata; the estuary of the Parana and Uruguay Rivers that forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay. This continent seems to be a place of big rivers and mountains. And then we were above the clouds but still able to see the ground. Fascinating.  We seemed to be flying over a sea of floating meringues, a spotted tapestry of tiny fluffy white islands and my mind was humming one of Joni Mitchell’s songs : “I've looked at clouds from both sides now …. ice cream castles in the air ....” Fanciful but delightful - to see things for what they are yet still be able to choose illusion/romance over reality.

It was wonderful flying over the Andes into Ushuaia - mountain tops scoured bare by snow, too high, dry and cold for vegetation; hanging lakes suspended like shimmering turquoise amongst barren rock; licks of snow plastered higgledy piggledy like a patchwork quilt thrown haphazardly across the mountains. This whole area is a wee piece of heaven at the end of the world. More of that perhaps later but it was quite an experience - and we haven’t even started yet.

Ushuaia is nestled in the bay - Chile on one side and Argentina the other

Las Hayas Hotel

Once checked in we took things easy – had a little dose to catch up on sleep we missed last night and then took a wee walk. Our Hotel Las Hayas is very comfortable. We don’t have a view of the harbour but from our window we look at forests of tree and in the distance a glacier. We finished the day with a delicious meal overlooking a dark bay pinpricked by the lights of the town far below our eyrie hotel.  Simply, magnificently glorious.