Sunday December 11 was another beautiful day in Buenas Aires. We started the day with a delicious buffet of eggs, ham, cheeses, breads, fruits, and beverages in our hotel, the Elevage. We successfully fortified ourselves for our day of travel to Ushuaia. We were pleased that we were picked up on time and headed to the domestic airport. As it turned out we were ALWAYS picked up on time-that relieved a lot of travel stress. We checked in and found that our flight was 30 minutes delayed. We were scheduled to stop in El Calafate and then continue on to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world at 55 degrees latitude South. We arrived about 5:30 pm in Ushuaia and again were picked up at the airport for transport to our hotel, no stress travel, just the way we wanted. On the ride to the hotel, our driver told us about the next day's adventure and made recommendations as to what to bring and wear, more stress free travel. We were dropped off at Hosteria Linares, greeted by the friendly staff and shown to our delightful room with 3 single beds. It was a very cute small hotel with THE most stunning view of the Canal de Beagle and the mountains. We enjoyed the view from the comfortable living room that was decorated for the Christmas holidays.
After settling into our room, we headed down a long stair case with a magnificent view to the main street with many shops and restaurants. We totally enjoyed the long days and bright sunlight despite the late hour. We were surrounded by snow capped mountains and the still water of the Bay, breathtaking scenery. We stopped in some of the shops to explore our jewelry choices and some of the local crafts. We walked along the water front, amazed by the beauty of our surroundings and finally captured our photo at the End of the World sign. We decided to delay making purchases as we were HUNGRY. We found a small restaurant and decided to give it a try. We were pleased with our choices- Kathy had King Crab which is a MUST in Ushuaia and she was not disappointed. Janet and Carol Jo had seafood medley, which they enjoyed very much. We chatted about our adventure and our observation that in Ushuaia there were many young families with school age children, but few university aged or elderly persons. We also noticed that this was not a good city for people with disabilities, with the hills, stairs, uneven sidewalks and few accessible buildings. Our physical therapy training showed up even on vacation. About 10 pm, after dinner, we headed back to our hotel but it felt earlier due to the amount of sunlight still present. We packed up our day packs for the next day's adventures and fell happily into our comfortable beds.
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.