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From the End of the World
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End
of the world. . .beginning of everything
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| After a long flight and overnight in Santiago, Chile, we flew to Ushuaia, Argentina, which bills itself as the southernmost city in the world. | ||
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| Ushuaia's setting is dramatic, nestled between the mountains and the ocean. Although tourism is important (most Antarctic cruises leave from here), light manufacturing has allowed the population to swell to over 60,000. | ||
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| Since Argentina is famous for its meat, espcially its beef, it seemed only appropriate that lunch be a huge barbecue. | After lunch we were entertained by some of the local young people doing traditional gaucho dances. | |
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| The dances were high-energy, with lots of jumping and foot-stomping. The dancers were very skilled; we learned later that they complete in national contests. | ||
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| The port of Ushuaia would be the last green area we would see for ten days. | We finally boarded our ship, the Explorer II--not to be confused with the Explorer (no connection), which had sunk about two weeks before. No, we weren't worried. | |