Returning to the southern Argentinean town of Ushuaia felt very familiar to Julie and I.  We walked up to the familiar Avenida San Martin and picked up our hire car from the same company we used before the cruise (same car as last time but with a new windshield crack!) and headed out for a couple of days of exploring southern Argentina before catching our flight to Buenos Aires and home.  We wanted to make this holiday last forever.

We were headed for historic Estancia Haberton, a remote spot east of Ushuaia along the Beagle Channel.  The initial drive was beautiful, a winding road up thru the mountains away from the ocean with a high cloud cover.  But as we climbed the drizzle turned to slushy snow/rain and at the 41 km mark we turned onto the dirt road heading to the Estancia.  We only travelled 3-4 km along this rough muddy dirt road when the slush started building up as snow on the windscreen and the dirt road became quite messy.  Without a four wheel drive or chains we decided to turn around and swap this side trip for tomorrow.  Man, what a beautiful summer day!

Back to the paved road and we headed north over the stunning Garibaldi Pass in a strongish snow storm, bizarre in summer but normal down here, and down the other side heading toward the small town of Tolhuin.  We passed through stately forests of tall skinny beeches with old mans’ beard mosses swinging in the breeze.  The scenery was beautiful but the visibility was hanging low over our heads.  We found and checked into our little cabin at the gloriously positioned Hosteria Kaiken on the shore of Lake Fragnano with fantastic views of the lake from our room, modern and beautiful, a surprising treat.

We explored further north and eventually veered west along dirt roads and past remote estancias.  What a beautiful land, peat meadows, grazing fields, beech forests draped in moss, lakes, almost no one in sight!  Best of all, guanacos!

The guanaco is in the camelid family similar to llamas and alpacas but are unique to these southern stretches.  They run wild and we saw them in pairs and large groups, practically at every turn. We must have had 20 sightings of these skitty shy animals, mainly shades of tan with long legs and necks and dark faces. They were a total surprise to us, not expecting them at all, absolutely great.  It was a fabulous afternoon of exploration and discovery in a beautiful land that caught us completely by surprise.

After a cosy night at our hosteria we enjoyed another day of guanaco hunting and then returning to Ushuaia.

We went into the small town to visit La Panderia, the only thriving business in town.  This was a great spot, full of locals – mainly with those clear Indian features – having coffee and breakfasts, filling up their thermos for their Mati, socialising.  We had coffee and then drove north about 36 km before turning east on another dirt road, destination – the South Atlantic Ocean.

Like yesterday, this was a beautiful drive on a decent dirt road up and down hills and valleys, thru endless Beech forests with their dense fallen dead wood and green grass and mosses everywhere.  The frequent meadows and fields were usually dotted with guanacos, many times in large herds.  We stopped for endless photos, really enjoying their uniqueness.  They are shy animals and might not flinch at a passing car but when one stops and strange people get out they make their unique noise like a sick dog’s meek high pitched bark and scamper off.

We also drove past many impressive estancias until we hit a rise at the coast and stopped for beautiful views of the coast line and the South Atlantic Ocean.  The South Atlantic Ocean is not a commonly spotted beast if you live in California or Australia and it was Julie’s first time.  We eventually drove back past Lake Fagnano but the difference today was no fog or rain and only high wispy clouds.  The scenery was fantastic, not just the big lake but the high jagged mountains all around, some topped with yesterday’s fresh snow, absolutely beautiful.

As we reached the end of Lake Fagnano and passed Lake Escondido the road climbed up the Garibaldi Pass and we stopped a few times for magnificent views of the mountains and valley, none of it visible yesterday.  Then it was down the steep southern side, revealing more jagged snowy mountains where yesterday I battled a moderate snow storm and tricky driving conditions.

With better weather conditions we were able to drive back to Estancia Haberton, where we had been thwarted the day before due to a strong summer snow storm.  This was a beautiful drive, initially along a river, then up and down thru beech forests, across small one lane bridges, past some free camping spots, terrific stuff.

The Estancia is the key place to see Magellenic penguins but we didn’t take a tour, instead we use our limited time to explore the grounds, visit the whale and fish bone museum, before driving further up the Beagle Channel coastline enjoying the scenery, the absolute remoteness of the place (think about where we are on the map) and the beaut drive.

We returned to Ushuaia after spotting a Patagonian gray fox and some severe concern about running out of petrol! That night we enjoyed a great Argentinean Parilla dinner (basically, meat, meat and more meat) and non-Argentinean Guinness beer.  As you do.

The next morning we caught a taxi to the ski lift up to Martial Glacier which offered good views of the snow capped mountains and glacier ahead of us.  We were very lucky this was a clear day, mostly blue skies in Ushuaia and very high clouds up in the mountains.  Possibly our best weather day in this area.

From the top of the chair lift we followed the trail by the creek with a few other people, climbing above the tree line and enjoying the amazing array of mosses and lichens that covered the ground.

On we climbed up the moraine, getting steeper and steeper and then getting very steep straight up the slippery, almost dangerous moraine.  Many people called it quits, especially those with poor shoes or no jackets, but we kept going, the magnificent view upward and backward getting better and better.  There were clear full views of the city below, the Beagle channel and islands.  Above were high jagged peaks, snow, waterfalls and the glacier.

Eventually, and thankfully, we crested the last of the rock and moraine before snow became permanent and the foot of the Martial Glacier loomed ahead of us.  More photos and a deep sense of accomplishment – only 1 km in the hour but all of it straight up.  Phew!

We retraced our steps to the taxi and back to Ushuaia before catching our chaotic domestic flight on Aerolinas Argentinas to Buenos Aires.  The only nice thing I can say about Aerolinas Argentinas after five domestic flights is they had the same number of landings as take offs.

Ah, Buenos Aries, civilisation, tall buildings, hustle and bustle, warm climate, a very western feel.  Our last night featured Chorizo for dinner, Quilmes beer and Gintonic plus of course a healthy dose of helado (ice cream).

The next morning we went to the specialist Havaiana shop which Julie had great fun buying seven pairs of thongs.  I had never even heard of the brand until the day before and here I was in full swing.  Then it was a taxi to the airport, an upgrade to Business Class, and a comfortable 14 hour flight home.

Antarctica, one of our lives’ biggest and boldest dreams, mission accomplished!  The trip was an overwhelming success in many ways without any major problems at all.  We got to see and appreciate Argentina in a way we didn’t expect, a great bonus.  We were absolutely blown away by the magnificence of Iguaçu Falls and had the rather bizarre but totally enjoyable experience of seeing my parents in Buenos Aires, including a great New Year’s Eve with Tango dancing and dinner.

But of course the highlight was Antarctica, an extraordinary experience of a life time.  I had made a mental note that there were a few things I wanted to make sure we did on this trip, including crossing the Antarctic Circle, stepping on the mainland, camping in the snow and of course kayaking.  We did all those things plus the whales, the penguins, the seals, the birds, the absolutely stunning glaciers and ice bergs.

We had a great ship, perfect for our needs, a super leader and crew who looked after us and in particular went to great length to maximise our experience (no short cuts) and we met some interesting and fun people, some like us, some completely different but we are richer for having met all of them.

We took a couple thousand photos, shot some good video before that infamous splash, learned a lot about the sea, the environment, the history of Antarctica and the people who explored it.  We endured heavy seas without embarrassing ourselves and we finished every day socialising in the bar with our newfound friends.  The weather was kind, the price was a bargain and the memories are permanent.  What more could you ask for?