Antarctica Off The Beaten Path Tips by Sharrie Top 5 Page for this destination

Cape Horn, Chile

On this sunny & clear day, our final day on the way back to Ushuaia, we passed by the "southern tip of the New World" which is Isla Hornos.

Cape Horn was discovered in 17th century by the Dutch.
It was the Dutch East Indian Company which then held the monopoly to the sea route leading from Africa Sea to the Spice Islands.

Cape Horn is now a national park but not many land here as the wind & high waves made the journey a very difficult one.
We didn't since it was not on our itinerary but we got a fantastic view of it.
We were very lucky on this trip! :-)

Gypsy Cove (Falkland Islands)

This is the "wrong" excursion I was put in. No, I don't want to see Magellanic penguins.
I want those King Penguins.
Having said this, it's Gypsy Cove I visited anyhow.
Gypsy Cove has a nice beach, a couple of penguins... which makes me think, probably this should be in the Tourist Trap section ;-)
But I suppose there are others who'd adore those Magellanic penguins.
Anyhow, it was a relaxing ride from Port Stanley & cost us about US$35 each (not cheap for a half day tour). Nothing much here really. Just the sea & penguins. We did however get a brief tour of Port Stanley. So, I guess that made up for it.

Oh well, what can I say? I'm used to getting my own way & in this case, I didn't! & I'm pissed. So, no matter how heavenly this place is (not that it is), I can't bring myself to talk much about it! :S

Falkland Islands

This is in our itinerary.
Hence, it's off-the-beaten path for most.

I think almost everyone has heard a little about the Falkland war fought more than a decade ago. I don't remember when exactly though I knew Prince Andrew fought in it. Hm, I was just "informed" it's 1982. & was asked what I think about it? What's there to think about? A war is a war... (like a seal is a seal...). Sure, different reasons, different justification, different circumstances. Then what? I only know where there's war, there's suffering somewhere. May be not on our end, but some is suffering on the other end. Be it the soldiers' family or the "enermy's" family. Whatever it is, it is sad to see people die. May be there's a good reason to die for. I don't know & I don't wish to think about it...

Well, Falkland Islands belongs to the Brits.
Supreme authority is vested in the Queen of England & exercised by the Governor.

I don't know exactly why we were coming this way. It was on the itinerary & I was bent on getting on that boat. So, here we were.

I like Falklands but things are all quoted in pound sterling. So, it's expensive currently at our exchange rate. But I spent money here anyhow. Lots of souvenirs & gift shops here.

The End of the World (Ushuaia)

"Ushuaia - The End of the World, Beginning of Everything" it says on the seafront.

It is probably Argentinian southernmost city.
Scenic, resort-like & clean.
Snowcapped peaks & relying on tourism, Ushuaia is pretty.

I'll be back when I head for Calefate!

Ushuaia (Argentina)

Not an entirely off the beaten path as you have to get here & find the port to board all cruise ships.

So, no. Not exactly that definition of the term.
But it appears here because most people (at least those who were on my cruises) didn't spend time in this city at all. They hopped out of the plane, spent a night at the Glacier Hotel & embarked the ship the next day. Not many spent their time exploring this city.

I, on the other hand, did a full day tour of the tiny city of Ushuaia. It's a nice walkable city with friendly people. Well, most of them are on vacations or trying to sell you something ;-)

Still, I like it. It's compact & it has lots of nice souvenir shops. If I had known it to be such a nice town, I'd have come a few days earlier & stocked up those winter clothing I need instead of getting them all the way from Canada!

But anyhow, Ushuaia, or rather Argentina has been very affordable since the country started facing financial difficulties in the last 2 years or so. I was told the Peso used to be pegged to the US$ at the ratio of 1:1. Now, it's only less than 30% of that! Incredible. I had never taken a taxi at US$1 a ride!!!