Greetings from Glacier Alley, Chile! We have been so very lucky to have beautiful sunny weather. It’s more usual to have rain. Today our adventure was in Ushuaia, Argentina. We left the ship around 8 am and headed off for a bus/catamaran tour. Bus part first, we went to Tierra del Fuego National Park, right on the border of Argentina and Chile. We saw several bays that were quite beautiful, with snow-capped mountains reflected in them. It was explained to us that an introduction of the “bieber” here has destroyed quite a bit of natural landscape…we finally figured out that the beaver was meant. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic, but her English pronunciation was dreadful. Anyway, now that we know that biebers have overrun the area…alas.

 

 

Then it was off to Beagle Channel and the catamaran! It was remarkable, with almost emerald-green water and rocky islands in the middle of the channel. One of these islands (Isla Lobos, literally Island of the Sea Wolves) is home to sea lions; the catamaran got quite close, and we were able to see bulls, females, and many pups, all sunning themselves. The sea lions share this rocky spot with Imperial cormorants…thousands of them. From a distance, they look a lot like penguins, but closer up you can see that they are slimmer and are graceful fliers.

The next island was Isla Pajaros (Bird Island)….and well named. Imperial cormorants, black-neck cormorants, terns, gulls, albatross. Just amazing. We were able to see several of the Imperials nests on the cliffs, with the “mom” bird keeping the chicks warm and fed.

The third island was Faro les Eclaireurs–about three rocky islands together with a lighthouse. It was one of the most scenic and picturesque spots I’ve ever seen. The water was crystal clear, the rocks had a beautiful yellowy moss, and the mountains were all around. I’m hoping my camera did it justice!

 

After getting back to Ushuaia, we shopped around a bit, then headed back to the ship. It was “formal night” for dinner, so we dressed up and had another delicious dinner. Around 7 pm, we entered Glacier Alley in Chile. Spectacular is a pitiful description. Every place you looked, on both sides of the ship, glaciers. Some with running waterfalls, some with frozen waterfalls. Some morrains all the way to the water, some glaciers that haven’t flowed down. Some white, some blue. Where there were no glaciers, there was lush lush greenery and trees, or sometimes just cliffs and rocks. We even had a rainbow make an appearance.