To the end of the earth and back

Today we arrived back in Ushuaia, and disembarked the ship. The storm that had been predicted for our the Drake Passage never materialized, so we made it through just fine. The seas were a bit rough one day and several people were sick, but we made it through unscathed!

(On the boat, on our first morning in Antarctica) 

While there are some nice things about being back on land (we no longer have to climb up a ladder to get in to our beds), it is bittersweet. We said goodbye to some hilarious friends, and our days in Antarctica went by way too quickly. The crew onboard the ship were fabulous, and everything ran very smoothly. It was a really fantastic trip.

This afternoon we headed out to an island near Ushuaia for our last penguin outing. There is a large colony of magellanic penguin, which we hadn't seen yet. They build their nests underground, like little burrows, so that was interesting. Another highlight was seeing a king penguin. There are four rogue king penguins living on this island, and we were lucky enough to see one. Generally king penguins are found in South Georgia, an area that we didn't visit on this trip, as it is quite a distance away from Antarctica. We were very sad to leave the island and our last penguins.

Tomorrow morning we will leave Ushuaia and fly back to Buenos Aires for a couple of days of relaxation, hopefully in the sunshine!