The day started cool and windy, but with a beautiful sunrise over the Beagle Channel. Things get rolling slowly, but we’re finally out the door by 11:00 AM. Our plan is to take a boat tour of the Beagle Channel and see the “End of the World” lighthouse. We walk to the kiosks to see what’s available. Three cruise ships docked overnight, so the town is busy.

We find a three hour tour (Oh Noooo!!!) leaving at 3:30 on the Catamarán Ezequiel and buy tickets. With time to kill we do a bus tour of Ushuaia, which proves to be fun and informative. The bus is a double decker 1956 Routemaster billed as the southern most Routemaster in the world and was probably once a London bus.

The tour winds its way through the city, pointing out the first Catholic Church, the oldest school and the house of a notable writer who lived in Ushuaia. A lot of the stories relate to the former prison, as Ushuaia started as a penal colony. An escaped prisoner supposedly hid in the bell tower of the Catholic Church, and was only found when the priest discovered that all the sacramental wine was missing.

We stop at Laguna del Diablo, a small pond the locals skate on in the winter.

The tour ends by the waterfront, but we still have an hour before our cruise, so we go to a nearby food truck for a choripan , which is grilled sausage topped with salsa and chimichuri and served on a toasted roll. I thought it was delicious. Melissa and Doug thought it was undercooked.

Finally we boarded the Ezequiel for our Beagle Channel cruise. It was still windy, but the sun was emerging from the clouds and it was nearly 60 degrees.

The Beagle Channel was named after the British ship of Charles Darwin fame, although not when Darwin was aboard. It marks the boundary between Argentina and Chile and is the passage from Ushuaia into the Antarctic Ocean and continent. There are numerous islands in the channel, some of which have been disputed by Argentina and Chile in the past. Rocky islands are covered with flocks of Antarctic Terns, cormorants and other species. Sea lions loll on the rocks.

The most famous landmark in the Channel is the Faro Les Éclaireurs, the so called lighthouse at the end of the world. We cruise past the lighthouse and the Captain deftly spins the ship so everyone aboard gets a good view.

As the cruise continues a group of rowdy passengers moves toward our seats. A large woman with inflated lips tries to bully Kip into moving, but Kip stands firm. A glass breaks, but doesn’t slow their partying. Tension fills the air. A couple across the aisle, she also with inflated lips and a perpetual pout, takes endless selfies, while a young girl with them stares straight ahead, face void of expression. The trip is nearly over. We have held off the intruders and head out triumphantly for pizza. Last day at the end of the world.