I arrived in plenty of time for check in at Ushuaia airport for my DAP flight to Punta Arenas in Chile. I figured that any spare time could be used to charge my gadgets, update my blog and have lunch. It didn’t work out like that.
Checked my bag, went through security into the rarely used international departure waiting area and found myself alone.
No food outlet and lavatories were locked. All I had was half a bottle of water and with a stomach like mine, the morning after the night before, I started to panic. With no charge points I could not even while away the time on my blog.
After some time I was joined by four chinese who were as bewildered as I. I paced the area, occasionally looking out of the window, when I saw a small twin prop aircraft land. It then dawned on me that with few passengers DAP were not using their jet but the De Havilland twin otter that I had wanted to fly on in the first place.
If only I had known I wouldn’t have had the last Jamesons or two, I would have eaten something and I certainly would have used the lavatory, as there are none on a twin otter.
The fear was transferring to my bowels when I remembered some emergency medication I was carrying and with an hour to go before take off it should kick in. First a sublingual quick acting immodium tablet followed five minutes later by a temazapam tablet. My old company doctor used to give me temazapam as it is a relaxant enabling sleep on long haul flight. It has other properties for which it is not prescribed so often. It is a strong anti-emetic for cancer patients and it also prevents travel sickness. Just the job for this turbulent flight lasting 1.5 hours as opposed to less than one hour by jet.
Six other US and Spanish passengers completed the manifest and finally someone came to unlock the bathroom doors and there was a stampede.
Time for boarding and we were led with an escort fore and aft along corriders through domestic arrival halls and on to the tarmac where or plane awaited. We scrambled aboard, sat where we liked and because there were only eleven of us on this 19 seater there was plenty of room. Both my tablets had kicked in and I was feeling good. I took some pics as we took of and watched for a while as we passed the mountains.
Then I had the relaxant benefit of the temazapam and fell asleep for an hour!!
The crossing is by inflatable boat with an outboard motor and the flight out of Puerto Williams would have been by DAP’s Twin Otter plane. 
It would have been quite an adventure …but a bridge too far for me.
Grey Trails 