We have made great speed through the Estrecho de Lemaire on the National Geographic Explorer, and hit strong winds that slow us right down again as we approach the Beagle Channel. It has been a great day for petrel and albatross watching, including a rare white-morph giant petrel, as shown in the image gallery below. I have only just finished telling another passenger that the Beagle Channel is one of my favourite places due to the beautiful sunsets and scenery when it starts snowing. Then it starts snowing horizontally. Visibility in the Beagle Channel as we approach Ushuaia varies from not so bad to none whatsoever. On the plus side, I have now seen Ushuaia through the driving snow (it’s about 1 degree Celsius, and feels colder than it ever did anywhere on South Georgia Island).
Later that evening, the weather clears to provide a beautiful view of this southernmost Argentine town of 60,000 people. The best views of Ushuaia have always been from ships arriving or departing, and today is no exception.
Ushuaia
We are to stay in port this evening, with an early morning disembarkment tomorrow morning. Some of the passengers and crew head into Ushuaia to walk off some cabin fever.
