13th – The expedition begins

We were in no rush in the morning and despite of that I woke up at 0600 and could barely sleep anymore. We handed in our big bags at 0830, had breakfast, relaxed and checked out an hour later.

In an attempt to pass time until 1430 we went to the local prison museum which also had a bit of general and maritime history and a small art gallery. The museum parts were surprisingly interesting – we ended up spending close to 2½ hours there before we came back outside.

One of the prison blocks.

A building at the main street had been pimped with a prisoner escape.

From there we found a place for lunch (where we spotted two G people, likely two of our guides) and returned to the hotel to hang out until we were to go to the meeting point where we would be picked up to go to the ship. We arrived, boarded the bus and drove for 5 minutes to the ship. It would have been faster and easier to walk directly to the ship from the hotel but due to it being a secured port it was easier for all parties that we got taken through in bus loads and not individually.

At the end of the world and getting the first glimpse of the ship.

From there we finally boarded. It felt good to be back. I even got recognized by a few guides who had also been on the ship in Svalbard and by the hotel manager. As I said: It felt good to be back!

We had the necessary welcome briefings, introductions and safety instructions and when the latter was completed the ship took off from the port and dinner was served at 1900 as always and it easily lived up to my memory.

Ushuaia seen from the ship.

The hotel manager Josi Silva welcoming us on board.

Our expedition leader, Jonathan R. Green, welcoming us and introducing the staff.

They are expecting 2-4 meter waves when crossing the Drake, highest mid-day tomorrow. Not bad conditions at all considering how the Drake can be at times. They don’t expect it to get worse and if that turns out to be true it will indeed be an easy crossing.