Argentina: Ushuaia

 I studied Spanish in Ushuaia for a week (this, again, was continuing my plan from my 2020 trip that was cut short). It reminds me a lot of Alaska. I had morning Spanish classes, then explored the town and the surrounding areas in the afternoons. My Spanish classes were all 1-on-1, which was kind of disappointing - the school was small, and I guess this was too off the beaten track to have more students.

I hiked up to visit Marcial Glacier, just above town. When I got there, I discovered I was not prepared for this - I hadn't brought my grippers or walking sticks, and got halfway up, then decided the trail was too icy to continue safely.

There was a pretty harbor around town, which was a nice place to walk around when I wasn't doing other things.

I took a bus/boat tour out to see the penguins. At first I had been told there were no penguin tours available this time of year, then discovered the main penguin colonies emptied out this time of year, but there were resident colonies further up the coast, where the larger tour boats couldn't reach. I kept hearing conflicting things about whether penguin tours would be possible, so I'm glad this worked out!

I also took the standard larger boat tour out, which didn't feature penguins, but did have marine mammals and lots of other birds.

I also visited various museums in town; the former prison (used because Ushuaia was so remote) also doubled as the naval history museum, art museum, etc.

I rented a bike and biked up the coast.

I took a tour out to Tierra del Fuego National Park, which is where the Pan-American Highway ends. It also has a small railroad that I rode, and a post office at the southern tip of the country. There was fox hanging out nearby, looking for handouts.

I tried going up to Marcial Glacier again, this time bringing grippers and a walking stick. I got farther up this time, but still had to turn back before then end. (And probably should have turned back sooner - it was very slippery, and going back was harder than going up).

My Spanish classes weren't terribly good, but it was interesting talking to my teacher about Argentina. She complained about the high costs of everything because of inflation, how buying new shoes for her daughter cost her her entire month's pension from her husband (who had died). She had moved here from Venezuela, and had lots to say about the countries, and her experience here.