Amateur Traveler: Thursday, Dec. 31 - Tierra Del Fuego/Ocean Nova

This was the day we were to board our ship for Antarctica. But we had until 4:00pm to get to our ship. So we left our luggage at the hotel and met the guide at 8:30am. A Chinese national, Yuan, living in Toronto joined us for the tour making a total of 5. We hopped in the van for our half day tour. We stopped often to take in views and to go on short nature walks. It is a nice park, a wilderness area set amongst snow capped peaks. Within the park are lakes and salt water inlets. We learned a bit about the history, geography, and natural environment of the area. It is a nice park and I think well worth preserving. However, the scenery was not as dramatic as I was expecting.

At abount 1:30pm our tour guide drove us back into town to a restaurant he recommended. We ate and then headed down to the dock. This gave us an opportunity to walk through the downtown area of Ushuaia. It is a quaint picturesque town.

At the dock the security officer wanted a boarding pass and passport. Becky and I had the passport but the boarding pass was in our suitcase and had already been taken to the ship ahead of us. I didn't know we needed it. He didn't speak any english and I just did not know enough spanish to explain our situation. Ralph, Trish, and Yuan all had the required documents and went on ahead. We asked them to send for help as it was getting late. Then guard talked to someone over the walkie talkie and decided to let us through. We were the last ones on the ship.

Our ship was the Ocean Nova, a 5 deck 226 foot ship. Rather small in my opinon for an ocean going vessel, the brochure says it holds a maximum of 68 passengers. We were told that there were 72 on board. Turns out that the ship still had 20 empty berths less than a week before the ship was to set sail. However, a tourist ship had run aground several days before and the tour company had to scramble to get passengers booked on alternative ships since they were scheduled next to go out on the now damaged ship. So that bumped our total to 72 passengers, full capacity.

The ship itself was adequate. There were 2 internal common areas for passengers to relax and mingle, an observation area with a bar on the top deck overlooking the bow. And a library area with windows looking out from the stern of the ship. There was a dining room and some deck areas outside for nature viewing. Simple but comfortable. No complaints about the berths, we never had any trouble sleeping. The shower area was small. You had to take a Navy shower, but I didn't figure that out right away. After I had water sloshing about the entire bathroom floor a couple of times, I decided it wasn't meant for a full blown "let the water run and sing" shower.

We boarded the ship, there was an initial meeting, dinner, and we set sail at around 8:30pm. We formed teams and had a scavenger hunt to help get to know the other passengers. It was like summer camp. We formed a team with a bunch of Canadians. They were rather young, mid to late 20's. This was a reunion of sorts for them, as they went to the same High School in Vancouver. We had a lot of fun with them throughout the trip.

Finally, with sparkling wine in hand, We all ushered in the New Year on the Drake Passage. Who would have thought?

Dock in Tierra Del Fuego National Park