Airport Diaries
11.2.25
My last day in Ushuaia dawned after a thundering rain storm which lasted all night.
Come the morning it was chilly but there was a beautiful rainbow shining through the rain over the bay. The rain continued but I had some work to do so burrowed under the covers (respectable top on show for the video team meeting of course!! )
I had planned a hike up to Vinciguerra glacier, Laguna a de los Tempanos and Amigos waterfalls but decided it would be too muddy for my last day as I was thoughtfull dressed for 2 days; Ushuaia - Buenos Aires - Mar del Plata- San Clemente del Tuyú . Quite the trip and I can definitely feel an echo of Race Around the World, although two of my trips were by plane - not allowed on RATW.
After closing my laptop I set off on a trip into town; breakfast and coffee would get me out of the house and give me some exercise. I really love the air here, it’s so fresh but it was cold today, the app said 5 but the wind chill made the temperature plummet to -3.
Half way down the hill , I looked back at Marshal Glacier and it was hidden by mist and snow, what had arrived as rain at ‘El Faro’ ( lighthouse), my air bnb, must have been snow on the mountains, they all had a Lacy dusty covering of snow but it must in reality have been quite deep covering.
I have been frequenting a coffee shop called Ana Y Juana. There are two in town so it’s likely to be a chain. ‘My one’ is on the outskirts, not as busy, with a mixture of locals and back packers and a sprinkling of fellow digital nomads.
I even have my favourite seats, two antique arm chairs with a coffee table between. I’ve been coming on a regular basis to sit and sew or read. It’s cosy and warm and the sound track is relaxed and mellow!
So today was an admin day. I was having a few issues with accommodation and transport; I needed to swap dates on my hotel (a treat!) on Easter Island. I’d spent a frustrating few days trying to reach them through the booking app and finally with a bit of lateral thinking managed to change the dates but canceling and booking direct with them, me and BFF Google translate that is!
Fulled up on a cheese and ham tostoda and a caffe con leche, I was on a roll booking accommodation in Mar del Plata and a flight from Mar del Plata to Bariloche (annoyingly still through BA but only a 1.5 hr stop over)
However my most immediate and pressing need was for a bus from Mar del Plata to San Clemente del Tuyú to stay with Flor , her twins and her dad Octavio. Little did I know this would be the downfall of my day!!!
I was really looking forward to a return to summer heat and maybe a swim 🏊♀️ next the sea if not too cold and spending time with Flor. She and Russ and the girls had come over to my Airbnb for a swim when I was in Buenos Aires but it hadn’t been for long.
2 hrs into websites and internet searches , multiple message and help from Flor, the cafe owner and an accommodating lady in the bus ticket shop, online booking was not happening, despite having found a place to print the tickets (obligatory) A ‘real’ ticket wasn’t available either due to a travel ticket purchase limitation of 500km- apparently a thing!
My phone battery was fading so after a final walk along the harbour and bay I headed back up in the freezing cold to the my host accommodation . However arriving back and my battery dying at the same time, thoughts of a hot cup of tea chilled when I realised the house was locked, Ana was out, I had no key, no cell power, no power pack, no charging cable (all carefully packed in my bag) and no way of contacting Ana. 😱 Fluffy ( a hairy cat called Achilles and Mucho Pellor ( an even harrier bouncy hound who’s real name was Toco) were enthusiastic but no help.
I could see my bags through the lovely floor to ceiling window and for a brief moment I contemplated the narrow window above my head where the cat jumps in but then reckoned with 2.5 hrs until my taxi was due my best bet was to find phone power or a way to contact Ana.
Only a little daunted I set off, first to the neighbours houses I had the courage to approach- those without noisy big dogs . They were all out so I headed down the hill in search of a charger or a burglar and encountered the kindness of strangers.
I met Max at a legislative, formal looking building. No iPhone chargers ( South America like India have not embraced the bitten Apple! ) So max drove me to a hostel where I met Estelle and her mum Elenor, still no suitable chargers so Estelle drove me to town to a friend in a ski shop- iPhone charger but not the correct one , then she led me round the corner to s mobile phone shop where Augustino ( hallelulia) , had a charger and let me charge my phone until it blinked into life again and I could ring Ana after first asking the BBF to translate ‘help I have no key!!’
Fabulous! Ana on her way and still only 5.45pm! Back out into -5* and a quick march up the hill. It’s a 30 min walk from town to my air bnb, I would be back for 6pm - easy! and time for that cup of tea as well. I even stoped for biscuits at the bakery as a thank you to Ana and her son.
Back at the ranch, another rapturous greeting from the bouncy hair balls but Oh no, no sign of Ana! She is caught in a supermarket trying to pay, queues are legendarily long and slow here.
6.45pm ticks round really quickly, I’m not panicking, much, after all I’m all packed just have to tidy my bag and the pack electicals which have been calmly charging having a lovely rest while I’ve been legging it up and down hill in Ushuaia!
All was well that ended well though and I even got my cup of tea and a chat with Ana (our BFFs translating for us) about the cost of living in a tourist town and the lack of value and investment by governments in teachers in both hemispheres, before the delightful Lorenzo arrived to pick me up and I got to practice my Spanish again on the way to the airport.
The airport in Ushuaia is delightful; about the size of a medium sized motorway station. It’s consists of three triangular lodges- all wood and glass with fabulous views over the mountains and sea. The runway teaters on the edge of the Beagal Sound. It takes 15 mins tops to get through check in, there is one security post and that takes 5-10 mins including queuing and in the cafe it is wait or service and you pay when you have finished like in a proper restaurant- how nice is that!!
Update 12.1.25
The flight was actually cancelled and as I write its the next day and I’m waiting for the replacement having had a few hours in a hotel and afternoon tea for breakfast ☺️
I was thinking that this is the first time I have had a plane cancellation and then I remembered the military shutting down the airport at the outbreak of war in Former Yugoslavia in June 2991. I with a tribe of young pilgrims on our way back from Medjugorie was marooned in Mostar for several days until the airport was reopened.
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