Tierra del Fuego National Park

We arrived in Ushuaia quite late and were transferred to the Hotel del Glacier way up the hill, so didn't see much of the city that night but we could tell the view was going to be good next morning if it was fine, which it wasn't, with just a bit of rain.

The weather in this area is changeable by the minute so we were prepared for anything as we set off for a trip round the National Park.

The trip was essentially a bus ride with 4 disembarkations, which looks like it is the standard tour of the area.

1. View to Isla Redonda across the Beagle Channel: This stop was really the opportunity to buy a postcard and have it stamped as being posted at the end of the world (Fin del Mundo)
2. Lago Roca: This location gave a splendid view across the lake to various picturesque snow sprinkled peaks, as well as providing an introduction to some of the local wildlife such as Ibis, terns, gulls, caracara and an upland goose or two. This place also had a cafe and gift shop (and toilets).
3. A Beaver dam - no beavers in sight, though there was a heron lurking around.
4. Bahia Lapatina: Again overlooking the Beagle Channel and providing a view, albeit pretty distant, of our first penguin, in this case a few Magellanic penguins.

There was a further stop, overlooking Green Lake - viewed from the confines of the bus we observed a Great Grebe on its nest. After which we returned to Ushuaia and lunch, after which we were expecting a couple of hours free time, but the service was so slow we ended up with about an hour to look around Ushuaia. Time only to walk down the main street looking in the shops.

We met at the appropriate time for going to the ship, but the embarkation time was delayed due to an unexpected illness of the Maitre D' (heart attack!), so preparing the ship had been delayed slightly, consequently we had an unscheduled visit to the local Museum.

We finally boarded the MS Andrea at about 4.15 to begin our adventure.

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