Antarctica Update, Day 1 Ushuaia
It’s going to be a very busy couple of weeks as we sail to Antarctica, but we are going to try to give you micro updates each day to let you know how things are going.
We arrived in Ushuaia on a beautiful sunny afternoon at 6:30 pm. The sun goes down late here and as we left our hotel room for dinner, we were surprised to see that it was already 8:30 pm! The sun was still shining bright over the town.
View from our Hotel Room Window
The weather isn’t as cold as we imagined it to be. We were cozy and warm with our new Roots hoodies and stayed warm as we watched the ships come in on Beagle harbour. We even caught a helicopter flying overhead.
For Roots Clothing and Gear of your own, check out their online shopping.
It was already getting late so we ate at the first place we founds, a very touristy restaurant on the waterfront. It was filled with cruisers from all over the world. We watched ships come in from Antarctica and were excited to think that in 2 short days, we’d be on one of them
Prices aren’t cheap in Ushuaia.
Ushuaia is an isolated city at the bottom of South America and we assume that a lot of produce has to be shipped in. We are staying at a basic hotel but the cost is $115 per night. We hear that hostels start at about $60 but since we had some leftover Expedia coupons we decided to splurge on a nicer place. We have hot water, wifi internet and breakfast is included at the Hosteria Bella Vista. It’s really only worth about $40 to look at it, but here in Ushuaia, we’re paying $115.
It is 4 km from downtown so we have to take a taxi or grab a bus.
- The bus is frequent and close to our place though and it only costs about 50cents. (2.75 pesos)
- A taxi cost us 22.50 Pesos (about $5.50) – Note: Taxi’s are metered so you don’t have to worry about negotiating.
Dinner was expensive and comparable to Canadian prices. We were famished and impatient so we went to the first restaurant that we saw as we walked along the boardwalk of Beagle Channel. It was filled with tourists and probably overpriced, but it was a treat to look out over the water for the first night of our Antarctica adventure. We thought that the prices were inflated because we went to probably the most touristy restaurant in town, but as we looked at the menus of other places we saw that they all charge about the same amounts.
Dave had a steak with potatoes and mushroom gravy for 90 pesos ($20) and I had a chicken dinner for 55 pesos ($12) Wine is around 70 pesos per bottle.($15)
The Sun Still setting at 10:00 pm
We topped off the night at an Irish Pub (where we drank Argentinian wine instead of beer) and to our surprise travel blogger extraordinaire Gary Arndt came walking in. We knew he was in Antarctica but we didn’t expect him for another day. He had a smooth Drake Passage crossing on the way back so arrived in Ushuaia a day early. Seeing the excitement in his eyes as we looked at his photos from Antarctica made us even more excited to get on the boat. It’s a photographers playground and we can’t wait to share the experience with everyone.
So that’s what we’ve got for our so far. Food, drink and transportation and a night cap with a fellow traveling spirit, swapping stories and gaining excitement for the year ahead. Stay tuned for more micro updates from Antarctica!
Our Antarctica adventure is brought to you by Quark Expeditions
Check out Quark Expeditions for planning your own Antarctic Expedition. Mention ThePlanetD and receive 5% off your booking - 5% can be redeemed on any voyage and is be combinable with any of Quark’s promotions.
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Ahh, the mid trip airport switch is the worst. I’ve had to do it several times in DC and NYC and it always involves an expensive and rushed cab ride accross town.
I never want to do that again:) We were so stressed out. We overheard a guy talking yesterday and he actually missed his connection. He was saying that he was on standby for the last flight that would get him in to Ushuaia in time for his cruise and if he missed that, he was going to miss going to Antarctica. Now that is stressful and exactly the reason Dave and I flew in a couple of days early. One thing goes wrong and you miss the ship. There’s no catching it somewhere else. Yikes!
Sounds like a wicked trip…keep us posted!!
Mark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anetamark/sets/
We sure will Mark. WE’re hoping to give little micro blogs each day, if we can’t get a photo up (because Internet might be slow in Antartica) we will give updates as to what we’re doing. It’s a jam packed schedule. I can’t wait to camp on the continent.
This is going to be such an amazing trip I can’t wait to see all the photos!
We can’t wait to start taking photos! Thanks so much Maria. Stay tuned because we’re going to try to put up a photo every couple of days from Antarctica.
Antarctica was one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever taken. I’m looking forward to seeing your photos. Enjoy!
Thanks Ali, We head out today so I am very excited.
Enjoy guys. I’m envious and really looking forward to seeing your photos
Thanks Dean, we are hoping to be able to upload a photo every couple of days, Quark Expeditions has told us that we’ll have internet access (albiet slow) so hopefully we’ll be able to do some sneak previews.
How cool that you ran into Gary and got a sneak peak at his photos!
Antarctica! I want to experience being there.
We just got back from fantastic trip to Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctic on Sea Spirit (Exodus/Quark). We had a completely magical time and took some brilliant photographs of the wildlife and scenery. Hope you have a great time too….