Argentina adventure - Day 6 - Good bye Calafate, Hello End of the World

On our last day in Calafate, we had no tours booked so we decided to take it easy after a busy few days. We had a late breakfast and then took a long walk around the town.

First we walked down to the lake and watched them setting up for the winter ice festival. They had big blocks of ice ready for what we assume to be an ice carving competition. Then we went onto the lake and tried some non-skating. (ie walking on the snow covered ice without falling on our butts). We returned to the town for something warm to drink and were served what seemed like a triple espresso. (we ordered "dos cafe")

After two hours of walking we couldn't feel our ears or noses so we returned to the hotel lounge to relax and catch up on the times. We weren't much in the mood for spending more money.

Our airport transfer arrived later this afternoon and we said our good byes to the pretty snowy town. Our flight to Ushuaia was slightly delayed in departing and it was pitch dark by the time we took off. The view was entirely dark for the entire flight but as we descended to the town we were treated to a show of flying through the icy snowy clouds streaking past in white sparkly lines. Neither of us have flown through snow clouds before. It is a pretty awesome show to behold - like glitter in a fan.

Welcome to Ushuaia - the end of the world. :)

We met up with our tour guide and on the short walk to the van, the fabled wind zoomed past to dishevel our hair and throw some icy droplets in our face. The tour guide did however inform us that the wind is much worse in summer. Hmmm... How much worse can it be?

Ushuaia is much bigger than Calafate. It resembles more of a shipping town than a quaint tourist village. The snow drifts here are much higher than the previous place. Like from ankle height to man height. Our hotel was on a long winding path up a steep hill. The driver had to work hard to get the van up the icy slope safely but the reward was all in the view. From our hotel we have a spectacular view over the town and the Beagle Channel. (the second part we'll confirm tomorrow)

While we were settling into the room, there was a tentative knock at the door. The hotel sent us a bottle of champagne. Way awesome :) (I may have mentioned to the lady at reception that we had been married one week today)

Our hotel room also has an awesome view of the city and channel :)

Tomorrow we are going into the national park and maybe a trip on The End of the World train. Let us hope for our luck on good weather to continue. For now, let the wind and the rain and the snow let loose, We have champagne and a great view of it all!