Ushuaia and Australis Night 1

Nov. 7th: We arrived in Ushuaia early evening on Nov. 7th. Ushuaia, located at the southern reaches of Argentina on the island of Tierra del Fuego, is often referred to as The End of the World. The town is surrounded by the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel. It’s the gateway to Antarctica and Chilean Fjord cruises and the key access point to skiing at Cerro Castor and Glaciar Martial.

We stayed at the Ushuaia Drake Apartments which worked out well as we were right on the main street. It was an easy walk to restaurants and stores (mostly outdoor sports stores).

Nov. 8th: since our boarding was not until 6:00 p.m. we arranged a 4 hour tour through Tours by Locals – our guide Paula was informative and fun. We spent most of our time exploring the Tierra del Fuego National park.

Nov. 8th: At 6:00 p.m. we boarded the Ventus Australis for our five-day, four-night journey from Ushuaia (Argentina) to Punta Arenas (Chile). Ventus is an expedition ship, with a shallow draft for navigating the tidal fjords. Although the ship holds 200 passengers, there were only 98 passengers on board (from 8 different countries – we were the only Canadians). We really enjoyed the Ventus – friendly staff, enthusiastic expedition team and Sussan, our server, was great.

Now an overview of our journey. Leaving Ushuaia behind, we will visit Cape Horn (weather permitting) before cruising down the Beagle Channel. Continuing through the maze of islands, we’ll visit a number of glaciers that guard the southern flank of the Fuegian Archipelago, before entering the legendary Strait of Magellan. Last stop is the Isla Magdalena (again weather permitting) and its Patagonian penguin colony before docking at Punta Arenas.