We docked in Ushuaia last night. Since we were in port, the seas were calm! No more of these 15-foot waves throwing us around in the Drake Passage. I woke up, got my COVID test result (negative), and went to enjoy the last breakfast with my friends.
They started to call us by deck, starting at the top. Since I was on level 3, I was one of the last to be called. I was one of nine people who were on a domestic flight, not the regular charter flight. This was disappointing news on the way down, but my fears were put to rest when we had three marathon tours staff with us. On the way back to Buenos Aires, we had a similar arrangement.
As the nine of us exited the ship, we all got on our own special van. Jeff arranged a hike for us with a guide in Tiera Del Fugo National Park on his own dime. I am sure that he billed the company, but the fact that he did something that nice was just amazing. I took some extra clothes in case it was muddy or if it rained.
We piled in the van and were on our way. One thing that we were a little sad about was that you can get your passport stamped in Ushuaia with a penguin stamp at a tourist hut. This is technically ILLEGAL, but hey, who cares when you are having fun, and I wanted a penguin stamp in my passport after this journey. Besides the Russian base/post office was closed to tourists on King George Island (and you can get your passport stamped there if you want). We got there, but they were not open yet. We waited 10 minutes and went inside. They actually had 4 stamps that you could get, so we got them all! Why not? I made sure the stamps were on the LAST page of the passport, not in the middle.
After that, we piled back into the van and we drove to the park. The van dropped us off with the guide. We were going to do a 4.5-mile point to point hike and the van would pick us up on the other side. As we stepped out of the van, my hat almost blew away. It was super windy!
We started the hike on the beach. The trail would wind from the beach into the trees, which would spare us from the wind for a while. At one point while walking on the beach, I looked out on the water. I noticed a bunch of dolphins jumping and playing. I yelled to everybody and soon we were all watching them. We got some good pictures and videos. As we continued to hike, we were able to see the dolphins from various angles and watch them play. It was pretty cool!
The hike through the forest was beautiful. Hills, mud, wind, and birds were everywhere. After about 2 hours, we arrived at the pickup point where we all piled into the van and went to the visitors center to use the facilities. Our guide took us to this rather HUGE dome tent-looking structure. There were two tables in there, along with a propane stove. It could see probably 15 people comfortably. We had a boxed lunch there, along with booze. The tent was situated on a lake, so the scenery was nice while eating lunch.
After lunch, we went to the end of route 3. Apparently, this highway runs for thousands of miles. There is a sigh there with miles to various places. Alaska was 17,894 km (11174 miles) away – which is practically halfway around the world! We were also able to get another glimpse of the dolphin pod that we saw earlier.
With time running out, we drove back to the airport, where we were to fly out. As we pulled up and parked, the drive opened his door. The wind was blowing so hard that it caught the door and bent it backwards with so much force that the door could not close properly. LOL. We all laughed and the guide took it in stride.
We all checked in and was told that our flight was 1 hour late due to the high winds. I passed the time by talking to Sarah and Maria. We boarded our flight and made it to Buenos Aires without incident. I gathered my luggage and walked outside to the International terminal check in and got settled in. I found my departure gate and sure enough, there were a bunch of us on this flight to Miami.
With my Chase Sapphire Reserve, I get a free Priority Pass. I looked up EZE airport, and sure enough, I got a free meal there at Outback! I asked Katherine and Eva if they were hungry (Katherin was, Eva had already eaten), so I invited her to go with me. For Priority Pass members, they have a special limited menu that you can order from. There were no steaks, but hey, what do you want for free, your money back? We had a good dinner and reminisced about the trip.
I still had a little bit of time to kill, so I went to the duty-free shop to buy some wine for Ashley. I bought three bottles that were recommended by Sarah and Jeff back in Ushuaia (Malbec and anything from the Mendoza region). Soon, it was time to board the flight. My row was called early because I had purchased Economy Plus for an extra $50. When I got to the front of the line, they told me that NO liquids were allowed on the flight. I protested and showed them that it was in a duty-free bag. They simply said that NO liquids were allowed on the flight, NOT EVEN WATER! WTF? This is the SECOND time I have tried to bring wine back from South America (Rio being the first) only to be stymied. I do not have a good batting average with booze from South America.
This flight was non-eventful, and I landed in Miami. I planned it so I would have a FIVE-hour layover, just in case something went amiss. Nothing did, so I went to the Turkish Airlines lounge that snubbed me on the way down. This time, I got in without any issues. They had a nice breakfast spread. I sat there for a while, used the more private bathrooms, and watched airplanes taxi in and out of the gates.
The next part of the journey would take me from Miami to Baltimore (with a 3-hour layover) then on to Hartford. I boarded the Miami flight, landed in Baltimore, and went to Minute Suites (another Priority Pass perk) to take a nap. I got a free room for 1 hour, and anything after that was billed at $30/hour in 15-minute increments. I stayed for 1-1/2 hours, but they never charged me for the extra half hour. The flight to Hartford was also non-eventful. I landed and Ashley & Grace were there to pick me up. My FOUR DAY journey north was complete!