Final Leg: "On the Way Home"

And that - was Antarctica!

At the start of this trip, I wrote that I had been thinking about this trip in legs i.e.

• Vancouver to Toronto to Santiago to Buenos Aires - first leg.
• Buenos Aires to Ushuaia - second leg.
• The boat - third leg.

Then everything in reverse, but lumped together because that's "on the way home" which is inherently less exciting.

This post is about that last leg - the inherently less exciting, everything in reverse, "on the way home" leg.

Last Days on the Ship
The days we spent northbound on the Drake Passage headed back to South America and in transit through Ushuaia and Buenos Aires, Argentina were all a little melancholy for me. Like, we just had an amazing experience on the 7th continent! And now it's over and we're heading home. Sad face.

However, there were some highlights from those last days at sea. We were able to enjoy a few more meals on the ship with some of the expedition crew members, hearing about what was next for them - whether they were staying on for the next voyage or wrapping up for the season. We sighted Cape Horn, the "southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile (Wikipedia)" and learned that an albatross-shaped monument was erected there to commemorate the lives of thousands of seafarers who died while attempting to sail around the cape.

Later that same day just off the coast, we saw even more whales (I will never tire of seeing BLOWS off in the distance - totally remarkable), and even a few dolphins that decided they wanted to race the ship, swimming and jumping alongside us. Está bien.

Sighting Cape Horn from the Ocean Endeavour © Matthew Boulton

The monument to the sailors who perished trying to
"round the Horn" © Matthew Boulton

Disembarkation and Tierra del Fuego
We pulled into the port of Ushuaia in the early hours on February 7 - disembarkation day. As one of our guides put in, coming over the loudspeaker: "The time has come. It is now time to get off the ship!" We finished packing up, said our final goodbyes and loaded onto buses with Rumbo Sur, the local travel agency and partner for Quark Expeditions. I hate to be dramatic, but it was all I could do to stop myself from crying as we pulled away from the dock!

One last stroll around the aft deck

Disembarkation morning in the port of Ushuaia

Luckily, I had a chance to reset - and resign myself to the fact that the voyage was over, sob! - before we headed to the airport, with a little tour through Tierra del Fuego National Park.

Entrance to Tierra del Fuego

It's nice, but it's no Antarctica

At Ushuaia's old airport

Old planes are cool

Hangin' around the old airport

Driving around Ushuaia

Just Another 25-hour+ Travel Day
The rest of the story about us getting home is a long and harrowing one - and one I, frankly, am not interested to write up in detail on the blog (sorry/not sorry). Let's just say, it involved a flight delay in Ushuaia, a taxi strike in Buenos Aires, another flight delay in Buenos Aires, resulting in a delay transitioning through Santiago and being rebooked onto a different flight in Toronto, a disturbed individual on that flight causing another delay... but then after more than 25 hours finally, and thankfully, HOME.

From the tarmac at the new airport in Ushuaia

Adiós, fin del mundo!