Monday, February 3rd, 2025

According to the ship’s Log our position was 58°80.2’S / 068°30.3’W (Back where we started !)

Because the Plancius actually achieved its anchorage in Ushuaia before the projected time of midnight, I suppose that I slept on flat water. I would like to be able to say that I missed the unceasing undulation of the waves, but I did not. I slept peacefully – and not with the fishes !

My inner clock was still working though, so, with breakfast scheduled for 07:00, my eyes opened at 05:00 so that I could have my final little bit of “quiet time” before “double-espressoing” (I really do hope that is a real word) my lovely wife at 06:00.

Before making my tea, I first stepped on deck to snap the lights of Ushuaia, it was very cold ! Even in the darkness, I could see that Plancius had a new flag to replace the one that Dr Eva had bought in the auction. In the distance, despite the low light, new snow could be seen on the semi-circle of tall mountains that rise above the town.

Of course, solitude it was not to be. Throughout the expedition there had been a hardcore group of “almost as early as David risers” and I only had a few minutes alone before other people appeared and began talking to me. There were far more of them than usual, perhaps they were excited to be leaving.

I had thought, before we ever got on board, that I, too, would be glad when the time came to leave – but, oddly, it was the complete opposite. I had not yet left and I was already missing our little gang !

A few of the “non-gang” passengers with whom I had enjoyed interactions of some kind, came over to say goodbye. I was touched. I know that I have already said it, but most of the passengers were probably not that dissimilar in outlook from me and Lucie.

Promptly at 06:00, the double espresso was delivered and Lucie became a blur of packing movement. We did not have much stuff, so it did not take her long. Sadly, she was almost too quick off of the mark and she put my socks, which I need with my walking boots, in the bottom of my rucksack, That meant she had to unpack it again and then repack. Less haste – more speed.

Breakfast came and I really did feel sad that this was the final one that we would share as a group. I attempted to suppress the feeling with some Weetabix (I would have to carry my rucksack, after all !) a couple of fried eggs, beans, potato cakes and toast – and it sort of worked.

Wendy and Amanda had a very early flight, so they were keen to join the queue for the airport coach and vanished back to steerage after brief, farewell, hugs. Wanda, whose flight was not until noon was a little more effusive and Dave sort of vanished. I guess he did not want us all to see him cry ! Weirdly, we ambled back to our cabin, shouldered our rucksacks and trotted down the gang plank – only to see, as we walked away, Wendy and Amanda still waiting to disembark. We waved.

Ali was supervising the coach boarding, so we said goodbye to her as we did to my fellow Bedfordshire boy, Martin, Krill Susie and, of course Szymon. From the top of the gang plank, Koen indicated that he would miss us two, well, that is certainly the number of fingers he raised, at least. The Expedition Team were a great group of interested and committed people. I was already missing them ! 

We almost sprinted out of the harbour, probably to prevent our erstwhile companions from making further affectionate (or otherwise) hand gestures as they rolled past us in the coach.

We took one last look back at the Plancius. Two major cruise ships had also arrived in the night and, beside those giants, our little vessel looked tiny and insignificant. The next expedition would be starting that very afternoon and we knew that little Plancius would be taking its passengers to places that its bigger cousins could not go. We had chosen right.

The local taxi drivers missed a good opportunity. There were none waiting, so we set off on foot. We made our way to the main street, the Avenida San Martin, but at only 08:15, on a Monday morning, it was practically deserted. Had it not been for vigorous local efforts to control invasive flora, I am quite certain there would have been some symbolic tumbleweed blowing down the road.

Signs on the stores and, more significantly, the cafés, indicated that not much would happen before 10:00. Not even the supermarket was open. There was nothing for it, but to yomp our bags up to the Portal Antartico. Again, I must stress that is the correct spelling !

Where the Portal had been fairly deserted the first time we were there, it was a veritable ant’s nest when we returned. We had hoped to be able to get into our room, but it was not to be. We were able to leave our luggage, but found ourselves back on the street until 14:00, when the cleaning would be finished.

There was nothing to do but to wander slowly back into town towards our favourite café, Martinez. Needless to say, we met a few of our former travelling companions whilst en-route. Two of the photography group were waiting outside of the (still closed) supermarket, a German father/daughter combo (who had both made the “Polar Plunge”) were wandering up the road and, in the café itself, there were no less than five more of them. We installed ourselves at a corner table and waited out the morning with our iPads and eReaders.

Just before 14:00 we were admitted to our room which, unfortunately was not the same one we had first time. That seemed to be occupied by a large family group from (and possibly the bulk of the population of) Finland.

This time, we had to share the kitchen with people from a dorm room. Not really a problem, except one of them was a Spanish speaking “cat lady” type who only seemed to speak to herself – and, sadly, she must have been quite deaf …. Still, it was only going to be for two nights ….

Because Ushuaia’s only real remaining attraction was a hike at the opposite end of town, we decided to continue our lazy day. We had a banana each for lunch to remind us about “real life” and then read and wrote until it was time to go out for our evening meal.

We wandered back down the hill into town as twilight began to make its presence felt. Plancius was already gone from the harbour and, given the time of day, it was probably the small ship we could just see in the distance, sailing east. I think we both felt a slight pang of jealousy for what those people, lucky enough to be on board, were about to experience.

For our evening meal, we chose yet another place on the Avenida San Martin, this time Bar Ideal at number 383. It was on a corner and had yellow walls and a green roof, it was hard to miss.

Lucie had a kind of Argentinian ravioli, filled with crab meat, which she declared to be delicious. I chose lamb in the “Tierra del Fuego” style. I can only assume that “style”, in this case means kill a sheep, shave the wool off, grill the whole lot and serve it up ! I had never seen so much meat on one plate. I like lamb, but I felt that I may well have exceeded my 2025 quota before I gave up. It WAS delicious and well cooked, there was just way, way too much of it !

The “artisanal” beer was, yet again, an IPA – but it was rather a nice one.

Regrettably, were both so full that the very tempting bread pudding on the desert menu, went unsampled …..

It was coming on to full dark as we walked up the hill (for the third time in one day). In the dark, with its lights twinkling and the stupid propaganda posters rendered invisible, Ushuaia was quite a pretty little place.