At Sea & Arrival at Ushuaia, Argentina
Sunrise on this final day of the voyage found us once again at sea with no land in sight. We were in the stretch of water between the Falkland Islands and South America, heading back towards Ushuaia, Argentina, that southernmost city in the world where we had started this remarkable voyage on National Geographic Explorer.
Once again, as so often happened on this trip, the weather was unusually cooperative, and the rays of the rising sun lit up the water with nary a whitecap in sight. We sailed this often stormy body of water without the crew even installing the safety hand ropes across the dining room– a sure sign that calm seas were expected on the rest of the crossing.
It is remarkable how quickly another day at sea passed on the National Geographic Explorer as we attended presentations, began packing, and spent time reviewing our photographs from the voyage. By late morning, we had raised land. First to come into sight was Isla de los Estados, and then just a little while later, Tierra del Fuego itself off our starboard bow, that large island on which Ushuaia sits which is officially part of South America. We were sailing west and southwest from the Falklands to reach South America, but I was reminded of a comment from our guide in the Falklands the other day. He pointed out the in the Falklands, we were so far south that even if you headed east, the next land you would hit would be South America. One doesn’t realize that one is that far below Africa and even Australia when in the Falkland Islands, and that was actually the furthest north point of our trip!
Off Tierra del Fuego we were met by a swarm of black-browed albatrosses, greeting us back to South America and giving us one final show of their fantastic aerobatic flight. By the time we all gathered for the Captain’s farewell cocktail party in the lounge, we were sailing smoothly up the Beagle Channel towards Ushuaia.
At the party, Captain Oliver Kruesse recounted some remarkable statistics from our voyage. We have sailed over 4000 nautical miles, which comes to over 4600 statute miles on this journey. He pointed out that had we sailed northeast, we would have crossed that Atlantic and reached Namibia. This really hit home the message of just how far we had journeyed on our far-reaching quest to see the wonders of Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falklands. A journey which given the chance, I think everyone on board would gladly start over again tomorrow – it has truly been a trip of a lifetime.
