Ushuaia - the gateway to Antartica

Wow! Talk about a surprise! To wake up, throw back the curtains, look out your window and get to see this view! 

 

snapped from our balcony - and it's snowing!

We were so excited! We dressed and went up to breakfast and this was our view when we returned to our room.

According to our "Currents" Ushuaia has a population of nearly 80,000 and is located below the 54th parallel south latitude. It claims the title of the world's southernmost city. While 400+ cruise ships visited last year, 500 are expected this year. So the tourist industry is big business here.

As you will see in the photo below, we are coming into the city of Ushuaia (sounds like youz- waya ) - the gateway to Antartica. As mentioned, we both have excursions today - Ronnie's with the ship (a hiking expedition - 4 hours total) and mine - a city tour on a double decker bus. Needless to say, we're putting on all the clothes we brought with us today. Ronnie has already left and I will be leaving shortly.

 

city of Ushuaia, Argentina in distance

Ushuaia is considered a light industrial port as well as a tourist hub. It is located approximately 680 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula and is one of the 5 internationally recognized Antarctic gateway cities.

my double decker bus tour

mountain range of Martial Glacier (background)

ocean to the left (mountains to the right)

I'll confess it wasn't the most exciting tour I've ever taken. The bus was crowded, the presentation was canned (every other sentence in English, the other in Spanish). I was on the front of the upper deck (stairs on the back), it was cold, raining and even sleeting at times. The driver stopped for photo ops a couple of times but I only got off for once. You can see from the photos above how densely populated Ushuaia is.

There were probably 7-8 cruise ships in port with passengers doing what we were doing - taking tours, eating and shopping. The walk from the bus dropoff to the main pedestrian street was somewhat of a steep climb. But there were lots of nice shops to browse in. I bought a few small items but was disappointed not to find any Christmas ornaments that I liked.

I'll include some photos from Ronnie's 2 hour hike this afternoon.

 

 Ushuaia - Fin de Mundo (end of the world)

view from town toward port

he wasn't at all interested in posing with me

this is their SUMMER, so lots of flowers were in bloom