We made it to Ushuaia, the southern most city of the world! It took all day to travel from Mendoza.
This place is truly spectacular. It is the gateway to Antarctica which is 700 miles to the south. The town itself is ok (70k people), but the natural sites are really beautiful. We had 2 all day private tours (because it is so reasonable) of Mother Nature at it's best. Day 1 we took a zodiac to a penguin colony which had a Magellan colony and a Gentoo colony. These penguins are of moderate size rather than huge (we will do the Kings on a side tour of our cruise). It was really neat to see these creatures in the wild and watch them swim, waddle, etc.
There was one pathetic penguin, a rock hopper, which was sick and was lost from its own colony which lives on a different island. Very sad, the guide said it would die because it was being shunned by the other colonies. We then hiked a 7 km trail on a private island called Gable Is--unbelievable. Only one tour co. is allowed in and only 25 people total can occupy the island at one time. The sites of the mountains, bogs, birds, flora, were spectacular and what really struck us was how "loud" the solitude and quiet of the island was. We had a catered lunch (by our guide) atop a mountain overlooking lakes, fields and forests with mtns. in the background.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.