Me in front of the famous Ushuaia Sign at Ushuaia Bay
Because I was on the regular flight and not the charter flight, we departed 1 hour earlier than the normal group. That meant we were departing the hotel at 6 am sharp, and had to have our bags in the lobby by 5:30 am. I arose at 5:10 am, showered, and then packed up the final items that were straggling. I made my way to the lobby and dropped my bags at the designated spot. The hotel was kind enough to open breakfast 90 minutes early (at 4:30 am) to accommodate us. They did not skimp on the breakfast like they could have – it was the normal one we normally had.
After I ate, I made my way to the bus, where Paul from Marathon Tours announced, “We are waiting for one more.” I said that was probably me, and sure enough, it was! I boarded the bus and off we went to the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport. It was about 20 minutes from the hotel, so it was not too far. There were three marathon tours staff on this flight (Paul, Alissa, and Gillian), four runners, AND one of our guides from the previous day. During the ride, Paul said that this airport can get rough and to put wallets in your front pocket. We were hoping that our guide would help steer us clear of the riffraff in the airport.
Since only the guide spoke Spanish, we all followed her like lemmings into the terminal. There was an initial checkpoint outside where they were verifying tickets. She talked to them (and presumably turned on the charm) and we went right through without having to show our flight details. We then went to the ticket counter where she again worked her magic and soon we were all checked in. One strange thing in Argentina is that if your bag is overweight, you must go to a different line to have it weighed and pay extra fees. They do not do it like here in the US where the ticket agent collects any fees. There were three people that were over the 33-pound limit so off to the overweight baggage line they went. I was actually over by 2 pounds, but the lady let me off the hook. When they came back, they were smiling ear to ear. Apparently, the scale was broken, so they did not have to pay any more baggage fees, which saved HUNDREDS of dollars! Gillian had all of the medals, which weighed a figurative ton!
Our tour guide walked us to the security checkpoint, and after that, we were on our own. We quickly located our departure gate and settled down for the 90-minute wait before we started boarding. There were some interesting conversations, and I had a good one with Paul and Gillian about Red Bull Crashed Ice. This is where four people wear hockey gear (or some equivalent padding) and skate/race down a track/course. The track reminds me of a ski course (but much much narrower of course), complete with jumps, uphills, and downhills. I think I found a new sport to watch! Check it out in the link above.
We started the boarding process for the 3-1/2 hour flight to Ushuaia. After we showed our boarding pass we had to board a small bus that took us to the airplane. I looked at one of the ladies in our group and said, all of that careful planning to stay COVID-free is going to be unraveled by this bus ride! The ride was only 2-3 minutes to a plane on the tarmac. After unloading from the bus, I climbed the stairs to board the plane. I got stuck in a middle seat, but at least I was next to one of the people in our group. The flight was uneventful, and before long, we landed. We claimed our luggage and boarded a bus that would take us to our next COVID test, and then onwards to the port.
Ushuaia Rugby Club
The COVID testing site was arranged by Albatross Expeditions (the company that operated the ship) at the Ushuaia Rugby Club practice facility. Even though we tested negative a day ago, we still had to have a rapid test done in order to board the ship. We were met by Nadine, who said this process would take about 45 minutes. After 20 minutes, she said that everybody was negative and that we were free to go!
Since we left about an hour before the previous group, we had some time to kill. Not only were they an hour behind, but getting 160 rapid tests done would take more than twenty minutes. Paul talked to our guide and arranged for them to take us on a tour of Ushuaia. Ushuaia is not an overly big city (about 60,000 people), but it is the southernmost city in the world. There is a world-famous sign with white letters on the edge of Ushuaia Bay (pictured at the top of this post), so we stopped there for pictures. We drove around a bit and learned some of the local histories. After driving through the downtown area, we ended up at the port around 2:10 pm. We were given a small box lunch that had a roast beef sandwich, an apple, a bottle of water, and some other thing that I had no idea what it was. It looked like a roll that you get in a restaurant. I bit into it and there was some pink-looking stuff in the center. It looked like ham salad, but I have no blooming idea what it actually was.
Ushuaia End of the World Sign
After eating lunch, I got my picture taken in front of a sign that said: “Ushuaia – the end of the world” (in Spanish of course). I wanted to buy some trinkets here, but shopping was frowned upon. We were somewhat in a bubble and the Marathon Tours staff wanted to keep it that way to minimize the risk of getting COVID. It was about 40 degrees and windy, so I got back on the bus, as did everybody else. At 2:55 pm, we were cleared to board the ship. At that time, we also heard that everybody on the charter flight was COVID negative as well!
Upon entering the ship, we had to cough up our passport, which I did not like. We got a key and a ship charge card to put all expenses on. I was semi-unpacked when my roommate Tom strolled in. We talked extensively about running, what races we have done, and what we are doing next. I found out that he is a Radiologist in Washington DC and was a very nice guy.
At 5pm, we had a mandatory meeting about ship safety. We were told that we had to quarantine for 1.5 days and would be taking rapid tests EVERY day during the journey. During the initial 1.5 days, we were not permitted to leave our cabin at all – although the only thing to see outside is water. If everybody was negative after this, they would loosen the restrictions. Everybody was negative up to this point, so there SHOULD be no problems. At the end of the virtual safety meeting, they gave us a weather update. Emma , the announcer, said that we should be in the Beagle Channel for about 4-1/2 hours and then after that, we will be in the Drake Passage, the most treacherous waters on earth. Waves in the Drake Passage were currently about 12-15 feet high. The Ocean Victory could handle them without any problems, but she kind of chuckled and said, “I advise securing EVERYTHING in your cabin.” Well, this should be interesting to say the least.
Dinner was served around 7 pm, and we had smooth waters until about 10:30 pm. After that, the waves really started kicking up, and the boat was rocking pretty good, but nothing too absurd. Tom took Dramamine, but I felt fine.
After watching some Dr. Who, I fell asleep around 12:30.