Feb. 14

Woke up at 2:30AM, got my suitcases down to the lobby and loaded them into the transfer car. The main street in Buenos Aires is the widest street in the world. It is 24 lanes in total, including two verges separating the outer lanes from the core lanes. And as my driver headed me to the airport, I learned that the dotted white lines on the roads are just suggestions as to where you should drive. Cars weaved all over the lanes. It was quite remarkable.

Got to the airport and enjoyed the relaxed security, and ease of checking in. No baggage weighing here, just put your bags onto the conveyor and away they go. There was only one x-ray machine, so we had to wait for the passengers arriving to clear before we could exit and have our carry-on´s x-rayed. Once through the checkpoint, we jumped on an old bus which drove us out onto the runway, where our plane was waiting to be loaded, using a portable staircase.

The air was still very hot and humid, even at 5:00 AM. The flight took 4 hours to Ushuaia. I saw an amazing sunrise from the air. 

Once we landed, the pilot pulled a U-turn on the single runway. I never realized that a 737 has such a short turning circle. I would have put money on him not having been able to complete the U-turn and having to do a 3 point turn instead. Do planes have a reverse gear? (Just kidding) But he did it - and I am safe on the ground at the end of the populated world.