Friday December 28: Hola, Argentina!

I arrived successfully in Buenos Aires, Argentina (BA), sleeping like a baby over the whole flight. I needed that! Here in BA it is pleasantly warm out, high 70s or so. Excellent. I did some investigating, and decide to shuttle over to the domestic airport, to try to get a standby space to USH. On the third and last flight of the day, I got the very last seat on the plane. That's a sign of things to come, I hope.

From the BA airport, I sent 2 emails to recommended hostels in USH. Upon arrival in USH, and while waiting for them to find my bags, I checked email. Awesome, one of my top choices has a room. I'll stay at the Martin Fierro B&B, in the exact room that my guidebook's author uses when he is in town. (Thanks for the recommendation, Wayne B!)

Eventually, it is clear that Aerolineas Argentinas has absolutely no idea where my bags are, even though they are tagged with bar codes. And they wonder why I generally refuse to check luggage! We filled out forms, and the airport manager promised my bags would be delivered to my hotel by noon the next day. We'll see. Meanwhile, it is almost midnight now, time to go find my bed.

The Martin Fierro is run by Javier, a somewhat eccentric lawyer, builder, and modern-day gaucho. He built the entire inn himself, by hand, using natural and even reclaimed historic building materials. Awesome spot, I will stay here a few more days after my expedition to Antarctica.

Once Javier heard that I am a writer, he insisted that I take the "writer's room." It has a little bay window with a desk that looks out over the port of Ushuaia:



Apparently this is the exact desk from which Moon Handbooks author Wayne Bernhardson does his Ushuaia updates.

On the way to the Martin Fierro, I stopped to buy toothpaste and a toothbrush. The same place also had a small 24 hour restaurant, for the taxi drivers. I'll be back to check that out at some point.