Stranded in Chilean Tierra del Fuego, Part 7

How I finally made it back to Ushuaia

On Thursday, it was my fourth day of being stranded in Puerto Williams. I’d made new friends, found a treasure trove of research for my novel, visited the main community of remaining Yahgan, explored the Yahgan cultural museum, and went hiking with even more new friends.

I’d found Isla Navarino to be breathtakingly beautiful, and I was relaxing a little to enjoy the adventure…but I still didn’t know how I would be getting back to Ushuaia, my home base for the remaining month of my research trip.

Even though I was supposed to be working remotely, I’d been out of contact with my job since writing a quick email to my boss to explain the situation. I prayed the email had gone through.

I’d been in slightly better contact with my parents, since a phone call to them early in the week thankfully connected. My parents had lots of years’ experience living in Latin America, so they understood how such things could happen, but I was sure they were still worried about me.

Sunset view from the woods surrounding Puerto Williams

I’d checked in several times with the tourist company that organized the boat trip I was hoping I could take directly back to Ushuaia (through a 45-min drive and a 30-min boat trip). The tourist company’s office staff assured me they had my name written down to reserve a spot and that they would let me know.