Friday 20 November 2009

Antarctica here we come!

We spent a very pleasant day in Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world, in preparation for our departure to Antarctica in the early evening. The weather was beautifully warm and sunny on this early summer day in the southern hemisphere. In the afternoon the sun shone brightly on the southern end of the Andes Mountains.

Passengers arrived on the ship in the mid-afternoon and settled in. Some had the chance to walk around Ushuaia and enjoy what the city has to offer before coming aboard. One couple, who had followed our Fram blog for the past few months, happened to meet our ship photographer and asked for their picture to be taken. Here they are (with their permission to appear in the blog!).

As we left Ushuaia, we sailed east along the famous Beagle Channel, named after HMS Beagle, the ship in which Charles Darwin sailed in this part of the world in the 1830s. (Don't forget that the 24 November is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's "The Origin of Species"). Each side of the channel, the green hills covered in Southern Beech trees and grasses contrasted with the snow-covered peaks above.

We will now be two days at sea before we reach the Last Continent!