As our plane descended through the low clouds into the southernmost town in the world, Ushuaia, Argentina, the view of the snow-capped mountains, the quaint town, and the harbor was fantastic.  I quickly noticed, however, that the 11-story cruise ship MS Veendam was not docked, and a bit of concern coursed through my veins.

Two days earlier I had departed Managua, Nicaragua with my 6-old-daughter, Emily, to meet the boat mid-trip and sail the second half of the cruise up the coast of Chile.  The prospect of missing the boat was serious for two reasons.  The first, I would miss my speaking engagement, and two, my daughter would be crushed.  I was here for work, but she was here to see the penguins. 

As it turned out, when we got to the dock, the customs officials informed us that the ship would arrive the next day.  Whew...we had arrived a day early.

So we lugged our baggage across the street and checked into the Beagle Canal Hotel, a nice business-class hotel which offers a discount for AAA membership, of all things -- something I don't have, living in Nicaragua.

Now with an extra day, we had time to take the recommendation of a friend who runs Antarctic expeditions and enjoy his favorite restaurant in Ushuaia. 

Kaupe, run by the Familia Vivian, sits high in the town with spectacular views of the harbor and surrounding mountains.  Except for the Beagle Channel made famous by Darwin’s explorations, the town sits ringed by mile-high rocky crags with a tree line that is almost a ruler’s edge about half way up.  The restaurant's food was as exquisite as the scenery. 

Kaupe’s specialty is crab, so we ordered three crab dishes, plus a plate of scallop ceviche.  We started with a generous helping of lump, dungeness crab steamed and served chilled with a lemon wedge.  Next, two dozen fresh, tender scallops, whole, with minced onion and olive oil drizzled over the top.  They simply melted in our mouths.

Next we sampled our hot selections.  The crab and spinach chowder was less a soup than a stew, with huge pieces of crab, whole leaves of spinach, and loads of garlic in a butter base.  We ate it with forks and then used bread to wipe the plate clean -- my daughter’s favorite dish, by the way.

Finally, the specialty of the house, Crab a la Kaupe.  Served with a tomato, cream and pepper sauce, this extremely rich, slightly picante version of crab was my favorite.  Emily, now stuffed, only made it about half way through hers, so Dad was rewarded with another serving, to his delight. 

Following lunch we enjoyed a long walk around the harbor to the far side, exploring the beach, examining an Argentinean naval patrol boat under restoration and a DC-3 restored and parked at the municipal airstrip.  We even found a playground at the yacht club and enjoyed the warm sunshine on our faces while we swung and watched people provisioning their boats by zodiac. 

The sun stays high in the sky in mid-November at latitude: 54° 47' and so it was past Emily's normal bedtime by the time we made it back to the other side of the harbor.  But of course we had to find ice cream.  We asked where we could find the best ice cream in town, and the answer was at Gadget, located at San Martin and Sarmiento.  They offered loads of choices in gelato and soft serve yogurt for sundaes.  One is never too full for ice cream because, as Emily explains, it goes in your “other stomach.”

All in all, a great accidental day at the bottom of the world.