Antarctica: The Last Continent (2018) - Day 6

Day 6 – Tuesday, November 6th– Buenos Aires to Ushuaia

(Steve writing) Another travel day, which meant getting up early, checking out, and getting down to the breakfast room at 7:30 (when they opened). One thing we managed to do was to put everything we wouldn’t be needing on the next portion of our trip (Mexican souvenirs, sport coats, etc.) into a bag and having the hotel hold it until our return late next week.

We quickly ate another delicious breakfast and called for an Uber. Five minutes was the expected arrival, so we went outside with our bags. Two minutes before arrival, the driver canceled. Another one automatically picked it up, and the exact same thing happened. Happily, the third driver, Edison, managed to show up. The in-town airport, Aeropuerto Jorge Newbury, that is supposedly 15 minutes away, took us nearly a half-hour to reach through morning traffic.

There were long lines for check-in (at least with hometown airline Aerolineas Argentinas). I think Allan and I are so spoiled with either elite status check-in (Alaska) or Business Class check-in (LATAM) that we forgot how long check-in lines can be. Aerolineas divided the lines between northern domestic routes and southern ones, but the majority of people, including us, were in the latter. At least the line kept moving and the scenery on parade was delightful.

Allan’s checked bag was over the 16Kg allowance, and we had to stand in another slow-moving line for him to pay the excess (AR$540, or about US$17). Then we were finally on our way to the upstairs portion of the terminal. I have to say, its location along the Rio de La Plata fronted with large windows and high ceilings made for a very pleasant airport experience. At security, shoes could be kept on, and the cute security guard winked at me as he patted me down a little closer than is usual. That made my morning!

The same sense of light and spaciousness was true on the secure side of the terminal, with sweeping views of the tarmac and solitary runway. We made our way to Gate 1 and took a seat until our flight was called. Most of the planes were, naturally, Aerolineas Argentinas 737s and their subsidiary Austral, plus a few LATAM A320s (ugh). Argentina opened up the local market to more competition, and now Norwegian has a subsidiary that’s doing flights out of here. Watch prices drop in this market.

Eventually, our Austral flight 2894 was called, and we made our way downstairs to the waiting bus, where we boarded our Embraer E190 aircraft. I really enjoy these planes because the coach seating is 2-2, the pitch (distance between seats) is a comfy 32”, and the seats are wider (18.25” according to SeatGuru.com). Austral also had seat-back video, with a smattering of TV shows and movies, as well as music. They also provided earphones.

We pushed back on time at 10:10, and were quickly airborne, first heading east along the river, and then eventually turning south. Most of the scenery was of flat farmland that stretched toward the distant mountains. Allan watched the pilot episode of “DaVinci’s Demons” before starting to watch John Carpenter’s “The Thing” to get in the mood for Antarctica. I worked on the blog.

There were three tall, handsome male flight attendants working this flight, but the ones in coach did as little as possible. About 1/3 of the way through the three-and-a-half-hour flight, beverages and a package of nibbles were served. That was it. I think those handsome men spent their time chatting away in the galley, because they were rarely seen.

The flight was rather dull until the last fifteen minutes, when we started going over the spectacular snow-capped mountains of Patagonia. This was even more thrilling than going over the Andes a few days ago. Beautiful lakes amid green mountain valleys, jagged peaks that you felt you could nearly reach out and touch. That’s one of the reasons this area is such a tourist destination year-round. Spectacular.

There were strong winds coming down the Beagle Channel, whipping up white caps on water. And that made for a very choppy descent into Ushuaia. We landed (on the right wheels first, it felt) at about 13:55, about 15 minutes behind schedule. But we were finally in Ushuaia! This would mark our third visit to the city called “El Fin del Mundo (The End of the World)”. (Regular readers to our blog will recall that we were here just 20 months ago for an annoyingly brief two-hour visit, and we had first visited here in 2010).

We made our way into the beautiful, airy, woodsy modern terminal (think enormous ski chalet), collected our bags, and then met up with the Quark Expeditions representative (and several dozen fellow travelers). We boarded the bus and made our way through the town to the various hotel drop-offs. Ours was last, but the most central: Hotel Albatross (Avenida Maipu 505). We were pre-assigned our room (102) and after check-in, dropped our bags off. We had run into Peter and Sarah as we arrived, and made plans to meet up later.

We dropped our bags in the room and headed out in search of a bite to eat. Anyone who’s been to Juneau will find Ushuaia very familiar. Parallel streets along the waterfront, lots of chocolate shops and souvenir palaces. We ended up having a nice repast at Tante Sara Pastelería & Confitería (San Martin 175). Hot sandwiches and cool drinks got us re-energized. 

We walked around town a little more. At the city’s pier was our ship, the Ocean Diamond, as well as another Quark ship, the Ocean Endeavour, and Hurtigruten’s Midnatsol. Seems everybody is heading to the last continent….

We napped for a while before heading off to the required expedition meeting in the hotel’s lobby area. It was quite a crowd with no particular We were told where to be and when tomorrow (bags in the lobby by 9:30, at your leisure until 3:30).  Someone posted the question “When do we eat?”, which sadly became the giggly catchphrase for our group. 

For dinner, Kay and Sarah had managed to get us a reservation at Chez Manu, which the concierge had said was impossible to get reservations at except a year in advance (Kay managed via email with several hours notice). We went in two taxis, traveling about 3.5 kilometers uphill from the city, enjoying the thick pine forests along the way. By the time we arrived, it had started snowing (but not sticking). 

The restaurant commanded spectacular views across the city, Beagle Channel, and surrounding mountains. The interior was tastefully, but simply, decorated. And we were the first to arrive. (As it turned out, there was plenty of space for anyone wishing to dine that evening). There was a friendly manager on duty, and one waitress. Even though we were the first to arrive, the pace of service was leisurely. Veryleisurely.

The restaurant had a good wine list, but bizarrely the only available spirits were whiskey, scotch, and Kir Royale. No full bar, which we found very strange. Even stranger: no soft drinks. Just lemonade and orange juice. But the views!

When we asked for the Viognier on the wine menu, the waitress said there was only one bottle chilled, so at her suggestion we ended up having a 2016 Argentine Torrontés from Altaland. And it turned out to be such a good choice that we shared two bottles! Light and fruity, it made for an excellent choice.

The meal itself was very good, although not as delicious as our dinner at Don Julio several nights earlier (my tenderloin wasn’t so tender). The desserts were beautifully presented (my warm apple crumble with ice cream had wildflower petals on the rim of the bowl), with a particular favorite being the Calafate-Champ (wild blueberry sorbet with sparkling wine). For Kay’s dessert, they turned down the lights as they lit the liquor on her Fuego sobre “El Glaciar” (think Baked Alaska, but much better). It was a nice ending to a good meal. And when all was said and done, it cost about US$50 per person, which was remarkable.

We called for taxis to return us to the hotel, said our goodnights, and headed for sleep. Tomorrow the expedition starts for real!