Ushuaia, Argentina

We spent an incredible day in Tierra del Fuego National Park. We arrived to a beautifully sunny and warm day. When we arrive on a day like today, we assume it’s always fair weather like this. We quickly learned from our tour guide that this type of day occurs only about 5 times a year-so we continue to be lucky with weather.
More stunning scenery greeted us today-I don’t know how much more beauty I can take! Mountains, glaciers, lakes and wildflowers surrounded us at every turn. The air was crisp and one could truly embrace the feeling of being “at the end of the world” in the southernmost city in the world.
In a very protected environment such as this, regulations are in place to keep things in check.
For example, they found that algae introduced by fisherman bringing in fishing equipment from elsewhere was detrimental to the ecosystem here. Therefore, fished in the National Park is prohibited to prevent foreign species from entering this protected area.
This brings me back to Antarctica, where every time we got on or off land, our boots were sprayed down, then disinfected, and finally cleaned a third time. This is to prevent any possible spread of disease from one penguin colony to another in a different location.
Prior to landing on Antarctica, all of our clothing and gear was inspected and vacuumed to eliminate any seeds, plant material or other fibers that may prove to be problematic.
Delicate systems require diligent monitoring to maintain the balance. We are fully in that mode right now!Read more