USHUAIA - pronounced osh why a. Pop. 65,000. Island that is part of Argentina. Only 150 km from Cape Horn and 1000 km from Antarctica.
A pretty port surrounded by mountains that still have some of last winter's snow although it's the middle of summer. It's around 16 C (low 60's) which is about as hot as it gets with little wind. They average 25 days a year of full sunshine - today does not count as we had some clouds mid day. Tourism is the big industry but it's interesting to note that China outsources some of it's electronic manufacturing to Ushuaia (tvs and cell phones). Low taxes is the appeal.
Houses are a variety of colors and shapes but all have metal roofs due to the winter snows. Every house seems to come with a dog.
The authorities thought the island was ideal for a maximum security prison similar to Alcatraz as it would be almost impossible to escape. We rode on a replica of the original prisioner train - still steam powered and on narrow gauge rails. The train passes through some picturesque areas into a National Park where we visited Ensenada Bay. Wild horses roam the grassland. Across the Bay is Chile and the strait leading to Cape Horn. The Park is reminiscent of some of our National Parks with beautiful scenery but it us not developed at all. The post office was the only amenity and the roads are all dirt.
The Island is visited by around 350 cruise ships each year, most of them being small 100 - 200 passenger ships on their way to explore Antarctica. During the winter many Brazilians come here to ski.
Ushuaia is considered the "end of the world" and ,as a result, you see the southernmost post office (where it cost $20. US for 3 postcards and 3 stamps), the southernmost railway, etc.
SATURDAY - We're sailing among a chain of islands. Once we reached the open seas it got very rough with high winds. The bridge announced we'd be running into some brief showers which turned out to be an afternoon of heavy rain. Once we entered the passage to Punta Arenas the seas calmed and it was a pleasant evening.
Formal night tonight. Princess is cutting back on many things. Usually a corsage is delivered to suites on the first formal of each segment - not this time. Also there is usually a Captain's Circle party with free drinks and minimal appetizers where the most traveled passengers (certainly not us) are honored with a bottle of champagne or bouquet of flowers. Again, not this time - maybe the next segment.
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