This day we arrived at our Antarctic voyage jumping off point. We didn’t think there was much to see in Tierra del Fuego even though I’ve always loved the sound of that name. I once had an outstanding and very funny accounting instructor for a CPA exam review course. I know, I know a funny accountant is an oxymoron. Anyhow, this instructor would always say “where have you been for the last 3 years, Tierra del Fuego?” to anyone who gave a stupid answer to one of his questions. After the class got used to hearing his sarcastic question, he began to just say “Tierra del Fuego!” when he heard a stupid answer. Soon, it became just “TDF”. Eventually, the class would shout TDF when it heard a stupid response and everyone would crack up. Ever since then Tierra del Fuego has had a special place in my memory.
Ushuaia may be the biggest pleasant surprise of the trip to Antarctica. Before coming here I had continuously checked the Ushuaia weather forecast and it was always the same: High 52, Low 42, cloudy with showers or rain. Plus, any photos of the town of Ushuaia that we had seen were always from a distance and primarily showing a miniscule town with drab mountains in the background with a few blotches of snow on the peaks. Even as we flew in skimming the tops of some pretty tall mountains, the earth below looked mostly treeless brown.
After checking into a crisp, modern “boutique” (whatever that is) hotel, we took a stroll along the main street. Not Bad! Some nice shops, a lot of cafes and many restaurants. A few restaurants had positioned their kitchens so that one could peer in from the street. These kitchens displayed three or four whole flayed lambs stretched on steel racks that stood on end. The racks were arranged in a circle with the top end of the racks slanted inward to form a sort of a teepee around an open pit fire. We learned that this kind of lamb barbecue is a specialty of the area. Other restaurants displayed large fish tanks with enormous ‘southern’ king crabs, another specialty of the area. We tried both specialties and they were excellent.
The travel specialists we've worked with for 2 vacations have made the trip planning process easy! They ask good questions to ensure they understand our goals and likes and have done an excellent job matching adventures with our preferences - even suggesting things we would not have thought about on our own!
Amy
1 day ago
Erin is great to work with on our adventure to Antartica. She gave us great choices and is very knowledgeable about the options. Her recommendations saved us from making some big mistakes.
Carla
2 days ago
A Mind Blowing Adventure!
Adventure Life kept me well informed and up to date in the lead up to my trip and Albatros delivered a once in a lifetime adventure in full. A totally awesome experience from start to finish.
Jan Price
2 days ago
Jane Packer helped us through the cancellation of our trip due to American Queen Voyages bankruptcy and then finding another cruise with American Cruise Lines.
Jane is very prompt in response, answers any questions, and makes good suggestions thereby making the process much easier!
Deb Donaldson
3 days ago
Adventure Life did an excellent job of planning, organizing and executing a great trip to Argentina. It was nice to have the trip with just the two of us which allowed for a more personable tour with excellent tour guides in all four locations visited. We learned lots of details of the beautiful sites in BA, Mendoza,Baliloche and Iguazu Falls. We want to do another trip with Adventure Life some day.