Journey to the Edge

Beautiful tidewater glacier After we left Ushuaia, we traveled north along the west coast of Chile. If you look at a map, you will see that the west coast contains many fjords.  We had some outstanding views of the Andes all along this coastal journey. The Andes are a majestic mountain range which forms the backbone of South America. The range runs 5500 miles in length north to south, and takes an east-west turn at the southern tip of the continent. The Andes are the highest mountain range outside of Asia, with more than 70 peaks over 20,000 feet in elevation. We traveled in and among the waterways close to the coast, including the famous Straits of Magellan. The scenery was beautiful, with lots of mountains rising from the sea to form the coast, many of them containing glaciers. This area is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which is one of the world's largest continuous ice fields. We saw alpine glaciers, which are located in cirques, or bowls, high up in the mountains. ...

Or is it the beginning of everything? Ushuaia (pronounced you-shwy-a) is the capital of the Argentine province (state) of Tierra del Fuego. It is located at the very tip of South America. It is the world's southernmost city and takes pride in that fact. There is a sign that proudly proclaims Ushuaia as "Fin del Mundo". The city is actually closer to Antarctica than to Buenos Aires. In fact, Ushuaia is the gateway to Antarctica, as most ships traveling to that continent begin their journey here.  The weather here is quite unpredictable, and can be sunny one minute and overcast the next. But if you wait a few minutes, the sun will come out again. In fact, they say that Ushuaia is where you can experience all four seasons in one day. Thunderstorms here are rare, but the day we arrived there was a late afternoon thunderstorm, and the next day we noticed a new coating of snow on the Andes which, we were told, was deposited in the previous afternoon's storm. Ushuaia has lon...