Ushuaia (Ooo-shoo-AYE-a)




“The end of the world, beginning of everything.” That’s what the sign says, but I’m not sure what they mean.

This charming little city of 80,000 is the southernmost city in the world. Teddy says it reminds her of Banff, and I can see why. It lies at the foot of mountains still wrapped in their winter snow and its main street caters to tourists.

This is the jumping off spot for Antarctic expeditions. There’s nothing between here and the Antarctic continent expect frigid ocean.

But today, the sun was out, temperatures were at a pleasant 19 and the winds were light. Last time we were here the sun was also out, but the winds were fierce and I brought my fleece, windbreaker, scarf, gloves… and peeled all of them off as they weren’t needed on the day trip.

Hans took Teddy to the gates of the penal colony, which was active here until 1962. He left her at the door so she could look around on her own since we saw it last time. The prisoners built this town. But then, when Ushuaia was established as a penal colony in the early 1900’s, I guess there wasn’t much else for them to do.
Last night as we were preparing to enter into the channels leading us to Ushuaia, the captain said that the winds were picking up and also that the ship has some tight turns to make. “We’ll slow down so we don’t tip you out of your bunks.”

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