I forgot to mention yesterday…we were the only couple met by Viking for the ride to the hotel from the domestic airport. (Most people arrive from the US at the international airport). We had a delightful guide who was very proud of her country, and she kept up a running commentary about the sites along the way. We arrived at the hotel at the same time as a bus that had transported Viking passengers from the other airport. Those passengers all lined up in a queue to check into the hotel, but our guide whisked us to the front of the line and the hotel agent literally stopped helping one of the other passengers and checked us in, much to the dismay of the people on the line. (How to win friends and influence people on our first day of meeting fellow passengers! Yikes!) I knew I would eventually have to wow them with my scintillating conversation and flawless dance moves once onboard, (haha) but all worked out fine since, as I have already mentioned, we have been in the company of some lovely folks and have enjoyed their company.

Our chartered flight to Ushuaia was excellent and they even served a sandwich and snacks along with beverages during the almost 4 hour flight. Wearing masks has been mandatory on all the flights in both Brazil and Argentina.
We flew into Ushuaia and saw the mountains sprawled out in all their majesty, and we couldn’t help but be awe inspired. Situated on the Beagle Strait, Ushuaia is the largest city in Argentine Tierra del Fuego, and the southernmost city in the world. It had been both a penal colony and a naval base as well, and the naval base is still functioning.

Once on board, we received our room key as the room was ready and we immediately had to go thru a safety test for our upcoming submarine excursion. They had to make sure we could squat and hold that position for 2 counts so as to be able to enter the hatch and then they had us lift one leg and place on a chair to make sure we could balance ourselves without falling over. The person giving the safety test was one of the sub pilots and he said we all passed. I quipped…I’m just glad you didn’t ask us to count backwards from 100 by 7’s as part of the test. Lol. Then we had to sign waivers and they weighed us to make sure that the weight will be evenly distributed in the sub. This is important as weight on the sub must be evenly distributed so it is heavy enough to submerge, but light enough to resurface.
Our excursion jackets were on our bed when we finally entered our room. My fits perfectly, but Allan’s was the wrong size. Our cabin steward will bring him a new one.
We had a delicious lunch and at 2 pm, we went to a mandatory safety video for the sub excursion. There are two yellow submarines on the ship that they use, and of course one is named John and the other is Paul. (The sister ship to the Octantis, the Polaris has two subs named Ringo and George.) The video showed us that there are actually two green buttons to press in the event the pilot loses consciousness. One is to power the sub to the surface and one is to talk with someone above after putting on the headphones. There is also an emergency kit for each passenger that has a breathing apparatus and you put that on your head in the event of a decrease in oxygen. He also said if you are prescribed medicines that, without which, you could be in serious trouble, bring enough for 96 hours. (But later on he said the battery on the sub only lasts 8 hours. Hmmm. Where would we be during those other 88 hours? Probably bobbing along until someone rescues us I guess. Hopefully, someone would have pushed that green button before the battery died.)
He said that only about 1,000 or so folks have had this opportunity – to view Antarctica from the depths of the sea, and we might see aquatic life that has never been seen before. We’re really excited and hope when our time comes for the sub adventure, the weather will be cooperative.
We met a nice couple from the Philly area and so we’ll meet them at 6 for drinks and at 8 pm, Allan and I will have dinner at Manfredi’s, one of the specialty restaurants on board.
At 6 pm, the ship departs for the Drake passage. We have placed our sea sickness patches behind our ears, so hopefully we’ll be okay. Say a prayer for us that’s it’s the Drake Lake.