Antarctica Trip - Argentina

Argentina | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Ultramarine

After almost two years since booking I finally was to begin my trip to Antarctica with my sister Julie. My flight was to leave early Christmas morning, but four hours before I was go I got a notice that my flight had been canceled. It wasn't a big surprise as much of the US had been hit by a big freeze over the past week and many flights were getting canceled. I couldn't reach the airline by phone or online so I went to the airport with hope of find a human to address the problem. Fortunately I did find someone and after seeing that I had an international connecting flight they by some miracle found a seat for me on another airline. I made it to Houston and then was able to reach my connecting flight to Buenos Aires. Once in Buenos Aires I waited an hour for my sister to arrive from her flight and then we were able to begin our adventure.

We spent two days at Buenos Aires before meeting up with the tour company. It was summer in Argentina so our time there was in the sun and heat. I didn't know much about Argentina other than Pope Francis was from there, a musical was written about a former first lady (Evita) and that they had won the World Cup just a week earlier. Julie dragged me around the city to see the sights, but there wasn't any striking landmarks to see. We mostly just walked the streets, along the water, through shopping districts and across parks. A couple areas of note were the Plaza de la Republica where 4 million people celebrated Argentina's World Cup victory and La Recoleta Cemetery where Evita was buried. Julie was desperate to find Tango dancing in the middle of the day, but with no luck. Fortunately we did watch a couple dance during dinner.

After two nights in the city we gathered with our tour group of 150 passengers and flew down to Ushuaia off the southern tip of South America. There the weather was cold and rainy which was a stark contrast to the previous day in Buenos Aires. We wandered a couple hours through the small town before boarding our ship the Ultramarine.

When we returned nine days later the weather had changed significantly. It was sunny and warm and we took a brief tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was a beautiful park, but it didn't compare to all that we had seen in Antarctica. Soon I was on a plane starting the long trip back home. Fortunately the return trip was without issue.