When we woke this morning we were traveling through the Beagle channel, a majestic fjord lined with glaciers.  We have entered Tierra del Fuego, Spanish for Land of Fire. As a child (2 days ago) I had thought that it received this name because it was a land carved by fire and ice, but was surprised to find out Magellan gave the area this name after seeing the fires in the hills lit by the native people Selk’nam and Yahgans. Whomever lived here must have been tough.  This rugged landscape does not look like an inviting area to live.

We will spend the day in Ushuaia and leave for the Drake passage tonight.  36 hours later we will be in Antarctica and meeting up with our ship the Point Sur.  You can track the Point Sur with this link:

http://marineops.mlml.calstate.edu/ptsur1