Punta arenas, ushuaia and the end of the world

This post is a bit late but I've been home in CA for the last couple of days, eating Korean food and vegging out. I'm finally coming out of the happy haze I've been in since I got home and realized that being home is ... kind of boring. A good boring but boring nonetheless. Well, at least to a world adventurer like me :). No, one of the best things about traveling is how great it is when you finally come home.

But I didn't want to neglect the last parts of my journey, especially since my last days were so great. I headed out to Punta Arenas from Puerto Natales, determined to see penguins and eat king crab in the one afternoon I had there. All flights on the day I wanted to head back to BA were booked so I had to book my return ticket a day earlier, thus rushing the last part of my trip. It wasn't so bad since I was able to see all the things I had wanted.

Once arriving in Punta Arenas, I dropped my bags off at this hospedaje (sort of like a B&B) called the Hostal La Luna. The place is run by this very nice lady and the room was quite cozy. Full-sized bed and down comforter, too! It was really just like staying at someone's house, especially since the owner explained that there was no key to my room but that I could use a butterknife to gimmy the lock open when I wanted to get in. But its not like I had much to steal anyway so I didn't care.

Right after checking in, I boarded a minivan to Seno Otway to see the Magellanic penguins. Apparently, Isla Magdalena has a better penguin colony but the tours only visit the colony on Tues, Thurs and Sat so I wouldn't be able to go. The colony at Seno Otway was much smaller but they were cute anyways. I just kept laughing at them waddling around, falling down and doing cute penguin things. One of the penguins even came right up to the fence where a whole bunch of people were gathered to take a closer look. But alas, we only had an hour there so I quickly snapped my pictures and we headed back to Punta Arenas. I topped my evening off with a nice dinner of vino and king crab pasta. Most of my meals consisted of coldcut sandwiches, instant pasta and soups so it was really nice to splurge on a real meal.

Magellanic penguins. They are maybe a couple feet tall. They nest during the summer though I didn't see any babies when I was there.

Nesting penguins. Amazing how I got all of them grooming at the same time.

Curious guy.

But the best part of Punta Arenas was seeing the Magellan Strait. This was where Magellan had sailed! One of the greatest explorers in history! It was so amazing to think what it had been like when him and his crew discovered a route to the Pacific. I can actually say that I was gellin' like Magellan.

The man himself, Magellan!

The Magellan Strait. Can't you just feel the history?

The next day, I headed to Ushuaia. I won't say much about it because it was just 10 mind-numbing hours inside a bus. I don't know why they don't have overnight buses but they all run during the day. It was a day wasted but at least I made it to Ushuaia.

Ushuaia markets itself as the 'Fin del Mundo' though there are actually a couple of towns south of it. Ushuaia has just done a better marketing job and plus its on the Beagle Channel (I will spare you with a gushing paragraph on Charles Darwin but we're talking the Beagle Channel!). I only had the day before my flight that evening so my options were a bit limited. I had wanted to visit the Tierra del Fuego National Park but I didn't have time. Instead, I climbed up almost to the Glaciar Martial to get a stunning view of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel. Standing up there was just the best finish to my trip -- looking down at the end of the world and taking it all in. I, of course, topped it all of with another dinner of king crab. Its everywhere down there and it was so delicious. Crab soup, crab pasta, crab casserole and my favorite, crab with rice. Yummm, centolla....

Ushuaia. Its a beautiful little town and you can see these huge imposing mountains all around.

King crab. Its HUGE and pretty ugly. But bring it on! Its sooo delicious.

The view of the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia. It was quite a climb through mud and snow but totally worth it. Just look at that!

I also had some time to squeeze in a quick visit to the Maritime and Penal Museum since Ushuaia used to be a penal colony. I personally thought the Maritime part was more interesting. They had all these miniature boats (all crafted by the same guy to keep everything to one scale) to show the progression of sailing from Magellan's day to the present. And it was also interesting to see a portion of the history of exploration.

A miniature of Magellan's boat, the Trinidad. I love Magellan.

Overall, Patagonia was simply amazing. Every view left me breathless as did every single one of those crappy hills I had to hike over. Its so different from Buenos Aires and I'm so glad that I was able to experience them both. I got sick, I got rained on, I froze my butt off but it was all worth it. Its definitely a trip that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

My last few days in Buenos Aires were a blur. A frenzy of goodbyes and Christmas shopping but I got through it. Thanks to everyone I met in Buenos Aires and especially in the residencia for all the laughs, the meals and the good times! I will definitely miss my BA family!

Some final parting shots:

Finally, pictures of my kids! They are all so full of live and rambunctious and innocent.

I worked with 15 kids in total. I would have taken more photos but I was sick and infectious during what would have been my last week.

The most impressive fruit and vegetable stand I saw. For a city that eats almost nothing but steak and potatoes, they have some really fresh produce.

Shots of the polo game I saw. I had no idea what was going on but it was still impressive!

You are looking at some of the best polo players in the world.

Very posh and Ralph Lauren of us (me and Colleen).

Isn't this city gorgeous?