Susan's NGTAW Blog: Full Circle, Back to Ushuaia

Fin del Mundo - End of the Earth!

Monday, November 20 - Ushuaia, Argentina

Today’s the day to head home. We leave the ship at 8 AM and make it back to Middleton around 5 PM tomorrow (Tuesday). Whew! It's going to be a long one. It’s interesting to think that the ship has basically 8 hours to turn around all the cleaning, stocking, supplying, etc. before the next group boards at 4 PM today, and they’re off again!

We had arrived and docked yesterday evening around 7 PM. Michael and I went out for a walk around Ushuaia, and enjoyed seeing all the artwork, sculptures, tourists spots, etc. in the town. Good thing the souvenir shops were already closed - it kept my luggage light.

I was up at 6, to get ready and make sure my carry-ons had the items I wanted - charging cord, AirPods, change of clothes, etc. Michael got up about 6:20, Our suitcases were being collected by 6:30 and Michael put them outside the door.

Breakfast was served in TwoSevenZero from 6:30 to 7:30. I had my last omelet and Iced coffee. We lingered, until it was time for disembarkation at 8 AM. We boarded busses at the pier, and drove to the Ushuaia for a tour of the Maritime and Prison Museum.

Sunday evening arrival in Ushuaia, parked at the dock and enjoying the views

Leaving the ship this morning, boarding busses for a tour before our charter flight

Monument to the Ancient Peoples and Pioneers - protected by a mountain shaped like an albatross

We toured this museum while waiting for our scheduled charter flight to Buenos Aires

Serving as a prison since 1902, now an art, historical and maritime museum

The Museo del Presidio de Ushuaia was built beginning in 1902 It was a time when Argentina was populating the area to lay claim to the territory, and they wanted a remote place to stash their prison population. They used the prisoners to build the infrastructure in Ushuaia, including the roads and the railway that travels to the national park (they were logging lumber at the time). By 1920, the jail had 5 pavilions arranged radially extending from a central open hall. There were 380 prisoner cells which housed more than 600 prisoners.The prison was shut down in 1947, and has since been used for civic activities, as a maritime museum, an antarctic museum, an ethnographic display of the original native peoples, and art museum, and one of the five wings has been retained as it was originally used for the prisoners - grim! It was chilling to see how it must have been for the prisoners.

Two stories, five wings and 380 prison cells for 600 prisoners

We eventually made it to Ushuaia's airport for our 12:30 charter flight to Buenos Aires, which arrived at 5:30. Our flight to Houston departed at 10 PM. It was a big change to be waiting in Buenos Aires, where the late spring temperatures are in the high 80s!

Back to EZE - Buenos Aires

Flying into Houston at 5 AM

Houston airport sunrise

Upon landing in Houston, we found the United Polaris Lounge at the Houston Airport - oh my goodness, what a nice one. And it’s a good thing, because we had a 6 hour wait until our flight to Milwaukee. There were about 20 of our fellow travelers here in the lounge with us. We were glad to make use of the shower facilities, which helped to soften the grind of three long flights. It felt great to clean up, and put on a fresh change of clothes for the day! We kept busy, working on photos and posts, watched the sun come up around 7 AM. Over time, we said goodbye to all the NG colleagues and we were the last left in the lounge.

We boarded the flight to Milwaukee at noon and arrived before 3 PM. No problems with our luggage, but it took us a while to find our car in the parking lot. By the time we got home, it was dark. We stopped for some groceries along the way. The house looked great, and we were glad to settle into our own bed after being gone for more than 3 weeks. We had to get ready tomorrow, as we’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Thursday, for all the family. Looking forward to seeing everyone and giving them their little souvenirs from the trip - penguin socks and penguin ornaments. And telling all the stories of this amazing, magnificent, fantastic Antarctic, Falklands and South Georgia expedition!