December 5th – Almost there…

We woke at 3AM and packed in preparation for the day.  Private cars were

once again waiting for us at 4AM to take us to the airport for our 5:45 AM

flight.  As we were prepaing the leave the hotel we discovered that Verena

and Rita overslept.  A loud taxi horn and phone call woke them and in five

minutes there were dressed and packed.  You’ll have to ask them for their

own stories later on…smile.  At the airport we got our boarding passes and

boarded LAN Airlines for our four hour flight to Ushuaia.  Once again we

were pleased to see an immaculate and beautiful pane with great service…and

much to our surprise less than half full.  I’m sure you guess at what was

running through out heads.

As we approached Ushuaia several of us remarked that from the air it looked

just like home – snow on the mountains and open patches of tundra and newly

thawed ponds.  We landed at 9:30 AM and were met at the gate by the cruise

staff. When we had not arrived the morning before they had taken it upon

themselves to check with the airline, learned of our delimema, and that we

were booked on today’s flight.  What a relief to be doing business with a

far greater organized business!

Our bags were checked and forwarded to the ship and we were dropped off in

the small city’s center for four hours of sightseeing.

The group broke up and headed in different directions.  Being Sunday, a few

gift shops were open.  The day was amazingly sunny and warm…we missed the

rain and last snowfall of the season by just two days!  At 1:00PM we

gathered for lunch at Ramos General Store.  The store and restaurant are

designed to look like an old general store from the 1800’s with antiques all

over the place.  The bakery made amazing pastries.  We all enjoyed a great

lunch of fish, paninis and homemade pasta.  Some local draft beer and great

herbal tea blends made the meal special.

At 3:30 PM we boarded the transfer bus to the pier and were introduced to

our ship.  The Academik Sergei Vavilof is an Antarctic Exploration vessel.

It carries a maximum of 132 passenger, thus only two lifeboats each holding

66 people.  We were checked into our rooms, enjoyed a welcome drink and

small introduction lecture in the bar topside, and then went out to the

decks to water the sailing out of Beagle Channel.  As night fell we were

given a fabulous dinner in the dining room before heading off to bed.

Pictures to come so stay tuned.