day 4-5, Ushuaia and Drake Passage

after a very early flight to Ushuaia, known a " fin del Mundo", or the end of the world. It was a 3 1/2 hour flight and most of us slept. The Ushuaia airport was quite a striking building, and landing there was exciting because on my side of the plane all I could see was water, even after we landed, so it looked like we landed on the ocean!

We had a few hours in Ushuaia before we boarded our ship, so souvenir shopping and wine purchases were the activity for most of us. It's an interesting city at the base of the mountains so all the streets are very steep but it's a nice friendly place since they get lots of tourists who leave from there on various trips to Antarctica as well as quite a bit of cargo shipping.

 My roommate and I found our cabin on the 5th level of 6 levels of the ship, and fairly nice for research ship accomodations. We had the mandatory safety drill with life vests and finding our lifeboat, which was a small, enclosed vessel which held half the people on the ship - which would be about 50 -that would be a very claustrophobic experience if we ever had to use it! We had dinner and a briefing of our next few days, then set out for the infamous Drake Passage. After leaving the Beagle Channel the water started getting a bit rougher and we all put on seasick patches. The boat rocked through the night and I found it quite calming and fun to feel the rise and fall of the ship while I was sleeping!