Have Time, Will Recap

Somehow the last month or so has gone by quite quickly, and I haven't found the time to summarize what I've been up to, and what my plans are. In the interest of documentation, and before I forget everything:

Antarctica: Utterly amazing. Worth every penny. To make this easier on me, I'll default to bullet points:

• The Falklands - cool place, but I can't see why they're worth fighting over. Penguins on sandy beaches are quite a cool view, and there are amazing albatross colonies. Port Stanley is a nifty little British town, which is quite a change coming from Argentina.
• South Georgia - amazing. Animal Disneyland. Utterly magical place. Huge penguin colonies, astounding amounts of elephant and fur seals, and great landscapes behind them. The history behind the place, both the whaling stations and the Shackleton tale, is quite interesting too. 
• Antarctic Peninsula - views like nowhere else I've imagined. The best comparison I can think of are the top few hundred meters of your favorite mountain range (say, the Alps), in the middle of the winter, chopped and dropped at sea level. With quite a few more glaciers to boot. The wildlife isn't as astounding as it was in South Georgia, but the nature takes views and forms like nothing else. The last day we had picture-perfect weather, and we cruised through an 'iceberg graveyard' of some sort, with the still water providing absolutely magical reflections.
• The people - these cruises attract quite a mixture of people. Our young crew was comprised of most people under forty (who weren't staff), although quite a few of the older ladies and gentlemen were very, very interesting. The major upside of being together for two and a half weeks is that we had the time to connect and bond - after a month of traveling alone and moving every few days from place to place, it was a very welcome change. I've met some great friends, some I'm very much hoping to see again at some point in my travels, be them these ones or future ones.
• Staff - super friendly, very knowledgeable, and made us feel at home, Ate with us during the meals. drank with us at the bars, and were very happy to share and help us enjoy the trip as much as possible. Absolutely helped made the trip as awesome as it was. 

Ushuaia: Cool city, yet not my favorite so far. Felt quite touristy, everywhere we went we saw tourists and heard Hebrew. Hostels never had enough room, and as our plans were day-by-day, we had to move quite a bit. My best few nights there were probably spent out camping, either on a short trek, or out in the national park. I imagine I'd have liked the city more if I wasn't there in peak tourist season. Hikes I did there:

• Glaciar Martial - a small little glaciar. Not all that exciting, but on the way down we found our way and climbed ski chairlift that was closed for the summer.
• Laguna Esmeralda - muddy walk to a pretty lagoon. Nothing special, but a fun half-day hike. If you go, hitch-hike there and back - it's not too hard, and much cheaper than paying for a shuttle.
• Laguna de los Tempanos - very, very pretty. A small lake right off a glacier (Glaciar Vinciguerra), that's half frozen. Absolutely worth the trip - could be a half day trip, or could be combined with...
• Paseo de la Oveja - a neat two-day hike, or one really long day. We ended up doing it in two and a half days, and that was with starting the Laguna de los Tempanos hike at 4pm the first day, and sleeping in until 6pm (!!) the second day. The third day was quite a long walk, and and we skipped a supposedly pretty side-trip, but all in all it's a very nice hike. The pass itself was quite epic, as it started hailing in our face and the winds were out in force, but in the end it was all fun and games.
• Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego - pretty views. a few nice hikes. We didn't have time to do the longer and more challenging one (Cerro Guanaco), but the time we spent there was quite nice either way. 

From there, I took a boat shuttle down south to the Chilean Isla Navarino, on the southern side of the Beagle Channel. I'm absolutely loving this place - so much that it will get its own blog post before (or right after) I leave.

Pictures from The Falklands and South Georgia are up, and pictures from Antarctica will be up once I've had a proper chance to sort and upload them. That might take a while... After I'm done on Navarino I'll make my way to Punta Arenas, and from there to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine. I will trek there for a week or so, and then stay on the park for at least a month to volunteer. After that? I haven't the faintest idea, but I imagine it'll be time to start heading north.