Arrival at Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina

I made it! After mechanical delays on two different routes, each resulting in a missed connection to my big flight to Buenos Aires, a night at the Marriott in the Houston airport, and a disaster barely averted when a baggage claim agent who found my checked bag (in Houston and booked on the correct flight) noticed that I wasn't booked on that same flight - my ticket listed the following day!! After a couple of hours of really getting to know the Houston airport and nice and not-so-nice agents, I was overbooked (this is how flights get overbooked btw!) on the flight. The good news for me: that same SFO-Houston flight that was delayed and resulted in me missing my flight the previous night was once again delayed, so I got one of those poor passenger's seats. The bad news for me: for the first time ever I was booked on an international First Class seat (reserved back in Feb as a saver miles award - that never happens). Ever since then, I've just been waiting for United to find a way to boot this free-loader out of First Class. Now, I don't think they had to go so far as to find a dented engine rotor right before we pushed back from the gate, but that did the trick! Economy aisle seat for 10 hours. Not tragic, just below expectations. All of that is but a distant memory now that I'm here!! Ushuaia is simply stunning. Tucked into a little notch of land below the Andes. Today (Dec 28 I believe!) was our first birding trip - we went over to the other side of the Andes and had a delicious lunch at an isolated lodge (Fagnano 54°S) by the side of an enormous lake (Lago Fagnano -100km long and windy, just like Beagle Channel). The best bird of the day: an Andean Condor!! Stunning as it cruised (way) overhead. One of the things I'm always reminded of when I'm a participant on field trips (and not in my usual leader/professor position) is how carefully you have to pay attention. When Esteban ripped through the ducks on the pond, I probably asked him about 5 times about the specifics - was that a Yellow-billed Teal or Pintail? (Pintail!). What's that other yellow billed duck - is that a teal? Yes, a Speckled Teal (with a yellow bill incidentally). That's a Rufous/Red Shoveler? It doesn't really look that much like our shovelers, but ya, now I see that enormous bill. I'll have to remember this feeling the next time I rip through the names of 10 species of ducks for my Vert Bio students on a field trip. A good look and a field guide are essential, but even then, it's a steep learning curve, especially for many of my students who have never really noticed birds before. And speaking of birds, the silhouetted bird is a Southern Giant Petrel against the mountains of a Chilean island right across the Beagle Channel from us. The view over some houses is from my room at Mirabeagle (look-beagle) Hosteria. The house with all the lupine out front is where we had a gourmet lunch today - even managed to make me a spinach quiche and pasta. Others had a first course of trout caught from the lake with salad and then beef (we are in Argentina after all) with potatoes. Flan with a big dab of dulce de leche on top for dessert. Dulce de leche has to be one of my favorite things. Tomorrow: boat trip to a Magellanic Penguin colony!