We wouldn’t be boarding our ship until 4:00 PM so we visited Ushuaia’s national park, Tierra del Fuego. Our guide was very good and we learned a lot about the park during our tour. We had several stops inside the park. The first was the train station where you could take a 60 minute train ride through the park or stay on the bus. We chose not to ride the train and we were really glad we did because we got to visit this beautiful bay called Isla Redonda and there was a post office there! The postmaster would also stamp your passport for a small fee. We also visited a lake, the visitor center, a beaver dam and the river that runs through the park.
After our tour of the park, we had lunch in town because we had a couple of hours before we checked in near the pier to board buses to take us to our ship, the Ocean Adventurer! We could hardly wait to see our ship which would be our home for the next 3 weeks!
We were very fortunate that we were upgraded to a suite by Quark! We had a lot more room than where we booked. It was a wonderful free bonus! Of course, once we unpacked, received our kayak equipment, the extra space was quickly filled! Something that was very unique to us is nobody had room keys! Our cabins were always unlocked unless we were in them and turned the deadbolt. It was nice to be able to walk to your room and just walk in. They had no trouble with anyone going into someone’s cabin uninvited.
We left port around 6:00 PM. The majority of us went on deck. We also had a briefing by our expedition leader, Ali, and she introduced the rest of the team and gave an overview of what to expect on ship and things to follow.
