Ushuaia, Argentina

 Hello my friends! I am happy to report that I survived the South Pole experience and have landed in beautiful Ushuaia, Argentina where we start the next leg of our journey. I have to admit our hotel is extremely comfortable with wifi and all the creature comforts:). The view is spectacular across the Beagle Crossing, the furthest mountain range is the Andes in Chili. This is the height of summer. If the following photos look cold and windy to you, that's because it is!

We took a train ride through the national park and explored the lake areas, and ended at the southern most post office in the world. 

Oops, I cannot figure how to delete this double photo, sorry folks. Moving along..... A few more photos of the post office on the pier, the town, and surrounding area:

Luggage space w as very limited with the requirements for the South Pole  I did sneak in a small set of acrylics that I hope to be able to use for some color sketches on the cruise. Acrylics are easy to pack since they are water soluble and quick to dry, handy!  Thanks for following along:))))

Peace Around The World

 This is the plane that dropped us off at the pole. It has both skies and wheels, thank goodness!

 

You might not recognize me, I'm th one waving.  In the photo below, I'm spreading peace around the world:))))

The cool thing was that we had a ceremony to light the World Peace Flame while we were in Union Glacier base camp with people from all over the world. Antarctica was the last continent to have the flame lit and it was great to be a part of that process.  You can check out the world peace flame on Facebook for more info 

Thanks for fo.lowing along!

The South Pole

We made it!  Here's a photo of Rick and I at the base camp at Union Glacier, Antarctica. 

This is where we acclimate before the next leg to the actual South Pole. The landscape is rugged, 

pristine, beautiful, extreme and remote.  

These are our luxury hotel suites. The mountain back drop is actually about two miles away with a large cravass between. Not a good idea to go wandering around outside of the area that is surveyed 

and deamed safe.  

Then it's on to the camp at the South Pole:

Above is the South Pole camp where we enjoyed perfect weather. We hardly had any wind and it was a warm and sunny -25 below. Practically sun bathing weather for the Pole. After all it is summer!

This is an eclectic group, from left to right, we have peeps from China, USA, Russia and Thailand. That's me in the middle:)

End of the world

Puntas Areanas- the end of the world-almost!

Tomorrow the South Pole!

(No wifi there!)