South America and Antarctica 26: Back to Ushuaia
"If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it wold be Shakespeare. And yet is it something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it!" - Andrew Denton
The days at sea went quickly. Before I was ready we were back in the Beagle Channel, which links the Drake Passage with Ushuaia.
We picked up our Chilean channel pilot from this boat.
And then the hills surrounding Ushuaia came into view, along with the smells of forests and vegetation. Smells that had been absent from the air since we left.
We traded photos with another passenger and his wife that afternoon.
Then the dock was right in front of us.
Our deck hands threw the small line onto the dock...
...where the dock hand caught it, and then used it to pull in the larger ropes that tied the ship down.
The captain calmly eyed the docking proceedings from a window in the bridge.
The security guys were also there, waiting to clear us for disembarking.
And then it was done.
I turned about 45 degrees from where the photo above this was taken and captured this image of the yachts in Ushuaia's harbor in the late afternoon sun.
Melony and I went ashore that evening and walked around Ushuaia. But all too soon the sun set in the west again, on the last night of our adventure.
The veteran crew members had all been right. Visiting Antarctica changes a person in a profound way. I'd go back again in a heartbeat.
The days at sea went quickly. Before I was ready we were back in the Beagle Channel, which links the Drake Passage with Ushuaia.
We picked up our Chilean channel pilot from this boat.
And then the hills surrounding Ushuaia came into view, along with the smells of forests and vegetation. Smells that had been absent from the air since we left.
We traded photos with another passenger and his wife that afternoon.
Then the dock was right in front of us.
Our deck hands threw the small line onto the dock...
...where the dock hand caught it, and then used it to pull in the larger ropes that tied the ship down.
The captain calmly eyed the docking proceedings from a window in the bridge.
The security guys were also there, waiting to clear us for disembarking.
And then it was done.
I turned about 45 degrees from where the photo above this was taken and captured this image of the yachts in Ushuaia's harbor in the late afternoon sun.
Melony and I went ashore that evening and walked around Ushuaia. But all too soon the sun set in the west again, on the last night of our adventure.
The veteran crew members had all been right. Visiting Antarctica changes a person in a profound way. I'd go back again in a heartbeat.
posted by Lee Paulson at
4:10 PM
1 Comments:
Lee,
Very much enjoyed your posts about Antarctica. We just came back from the same trip - got to hang out with Russ Manning too )). You mention that the trip changed you - in what way?
Thanks so much.
Anna
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