20 December 2012, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

To All who love Penguins and Cold Weather,

So here I am, at the “End of the Earth” on the “Longest day of the Year” which is also the date that is supposed to be the “Last day of the World“.  (<–funny isn’t that?)  AND who would have thunk, this is my SECOND SUMMER solstice of the year?  That is a first for me!  The sun rises at 4:30pm, and sets at around 11:30pm.  Giant lupine, and Icelandic poppies are bursting through this town, and though it was a high of only 41ºF, this height of summer makes for smiles on the faces of locals enjoying the ‘good’ weather.  Ushuaia is a cramped little polar town that boasts it is the southern most city in the world.  Chile, on the other hand begs to differ as they claim “Port Williams” is THE most southern city in the world.  I’ll let them duke it out, because I have seen both cities and I like Ushuaia better.

Penguins, sea lions and glaciers oh my!  This area has glaciers nestled in throughout the tip of the world, these Andes mountains just don’t stop!  What an amazing mountain range.  I took a nice boat cruise down the Beagle Channel and while moving toward the South Atlantic Ocean, we had Chile on one side, and Argentina on the left.  Such a nice viewpoint.  And then there were the penguins.  Gentoo and Magellanic penguins hovering in large beach colonies enjoying the good weather.  Come on now…who doesn’t LOVE penguins?  So darn cute.  (If you said you don’t love penguins, there is something seriously wrong with you….)

Love from the End of the World,

Susi