Embarking from Tierra del Fuego

Today was a day filled with two major events. The first was exploring (via bus) the National Park (albiet short) here in Tierra del Fuego ("The Land of Fire", named so when the explorers that "discovered" the area saw all the fires lit by the local natives), which is the southern tip of Argentina. And the second was to board the ship and finally embark for ANTARCTICA.

At 9am local time, about 30 of us boarded a tour bus. Winding through Ushuaia, we learned about the history of the area, the growing community, the skyrocketing property prices, and the difference in wealth between neighbors. Soon however, the landscaped morphed from homes and building to be replaced by trees, rivers, and Condor Mt.

As the bus rolled on, the tour guide explained the ecology of the area was out of balance due to the introduction of exotic fauna to the area. Rabbits, beavers and gray foxes, none of which are native to the Tierra del Fuego, have grown in abundance since there are no natural predators for this species. Now much time is spent by the park rangers trying to control the impact by hunting the beasts and destroying the beaver dams. The purpose for the latter is the top soil layer in the region is notoriously thin, creating a shallow root structure for the trees. When the beaver dams are built, the water backs up, creating a lagoon of sorts, and killing the trees.

Ok, enough downer talk. The area is beautiful -- similiar to Seattle in climate, geology, and lushness. I can see why the Tierra del Fuego is a popular destination in Patagonia. Even with the intrusion of introduced species, there is much life here, and now with little invasion by human hands.

The final stop we made on the tour was the "end of the road". It is the southernmost point in which you can drive a vehicle. From here on, you need to travel by an alternative if you want to continue moving. For me, it seemed appropriate. After all, this very afternoon, we were going to step foot onto a ship and set sail south for two days.

Upon returning to Ushuaia and eating lunch, the time came (FINALLY!) to board the ship that would be "home" for the next 12 days. The Russian ship is named Lyubov Orlova, after an actress. In Russian, Lyubov also means "love", so therefore we are traveling on the "Love Boat". As we boarded the ship, the sunshine burst through the clouds, eveloping the ship with bright rays of sunshine. As we pushed off the dock, a pack of seagulls, began to fly along the Orlova. It was as if they wishing us fond farewell for our grand voyage. At least, that's what I like to think.

Ronaldo and my cabin is a cozy, double room with a single port window. Both of us feel very fortunate for having it, since we both paid the price for triple occupancy. For reasons unknown (we think it's because they were able to sell all the spots on the ship), Quark Expeditions upgraded us to a double cabin for free. Score! The ship itself hold roughly 120 passengers, but doesn't feel too crowded.

I know I mentioned a bit on the people in my last post, but I thought I would try to go into it some more. There's a sense to me that it's a bit like an "international camp". Everybody is polite and social, but small social groups have already started to form. Most often they are between people who are traveling together (our Seattle crew for example). Nevertheless, I am trying to make a concious effort to meet some new people. I find that it's part of the fun of this type of trip.

So what did we do with our first afternoon aboard? We had a bunch of free time, and were welcome to explore the ship. We did have a couple mandatory activites -- one, a lifeboat drill, and second, a medical/health briefing. Other than that, we were left to our own devices.