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DEL.ICIO.USUGA study abroad: Day 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA student Eleanor Hand, 20, is one of a handful of college students and professors currently traveling on the University of Georgia’s first ever study abroad trip to Antarctica. The group is spending a few days in Argentina before boarding a boat to the quietest, coldest continent in the world. She’ll be filing updates on the group’s travels over then next several days. She filed this report from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. To catch up on the story, click here.
My first morning here, Thursday, Dec. 28, my jog was more dangerous than I expected. Not because of crazy drivers, as found in Buenos Aires, but because I looked more at the scenery than the potholes. Monte Olivia (1318m) held my attention for much of my exercise. To the east of town, Monte Olivia is the sharpest mountain peak in the range with a snow-capped pinnacle jutting into the sky.
Ushuaia is Tierra del Fuego’s capital and boasts 60,000 residents, up from 9,000 people 30 years ago, according to our tour guide, Claudio. As one of its 350, 000 tourist-season visitors, I feel completely safe in the easily navigated city. Avenue San Martin is lined with souvenir shops and cafes. The exchange rate benefits Americans tremendously as our dollar is much stronger than their peso. Almost twenty-five minutes worth of phone calls home only cost me $6.
Today’s two-hour bus ride to Estancia Harberton, Tierra del Fuego’s oldest farm, flew by for our eclectic group of twenty-three. A retired teacher, two Kiwis (New-Zealanders), college students from California to Georgia, and a variety of other people compose our group. Lined with Southern Beech trees, the roads were partially paved. With no semblance of road grading and definitely no lane markings, I felt like we were riding a children’s rollercoaster. If you think that South Carolina’s roads are poor, as I do, then visit Tierra del Fuego’s, and you’ll think otherwise.
The weather is highly variable in this region. Locals say you can experience all four seasons in one day. During lunch we witnessed the immediacy of this concept as our sunny, 55 degrees Fahrenheit day changed to a gumball-sized hailstorm. One hour later, the sunny skies reappeared.
Next up for the group - an adventure through the Tierra del Fuego National Park.
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