Ushuaia

The bottom of the world is funny place; you can buy everything imaginable (ipods, rei type boots and clothing, digital cameras) making it feel like home in some ways, but to buy something simple like milk, you have to buy a bag of it (yogurt comes in cups or bags) making it feel totally foreign in other ways. It´s also funny to hear the Ramones blasting from cars and seeing ´Good Charlotte´spraypainted on stairwells.

The city itself is amazing however. It sits right on the Beagle Channel, and is ringed by snow capped mountains even in summer. And being summer, it gets dark here around 11pm and lights up again about 3 am... that makes for a short night even by Argentine standards where people are using to coming home from the club at sunrise at a more reasonable 6 or 7 am.

Today I´ll be heading out on a tour to see sea lions and cormorants; yesterday I hiked up to the snowline with an American from the airport to see Margot Lake, which was more like a glorified pond. Eating snow was a nice treat though, and the views overlooking everything were spectacular. Monday I´ll head to Navarino Island in Chile for some more serious hiking followed by a ride on a cargo boat up the Chiliean coast. It looks like I´ll be on the boat for Christmas-- not exactly like I planned, but maybe better than I expect.

--Doug