But we should be in Ushuaia

I'm writing this post from a 3rd rate hotel in Buenos Aires - I know this is not my usual style and that staying in Buenos Aires was not on my itinerary. But events are sometimes outside one's control.

It all started on Monday morning when I was leaving San Francisco to fly with American Airlines (AA) to Miami to pick up their flight to Buenos Aires. The first AA flight was delayed 2 hours due to a mechanical fault, but I had plenty of time in Miami, so was able to sit back and enjoy the spectacular sunset casting shadows over the southwestern US desert - photos to come!

The 2nd AA flight was delayed about a 1.5 hours for various reasons eg offloading bags from no-show passengers, shift-changeover time at Miami International - choose whichever you prefer. But again I had plenty of time in Buenos Aires.

So I managed to have a little dinner, watch a recent episode of House of Cards and get a few hours sleep before we landed at 11:30am.

I sailed through immigration, and found the taxi to take me to the domestic airport, about a 30 minute drive with the aircon on full in the very hot and steamy weather. I found the gate - went to get a bottle of water, and something to eat since it was now 4pm and hadn't eaten for about 6 hours, but they were anxious for us to get away, so I figured I'd get something on the plane.

A slight delay, but that's expected in this part of the world. So I settle back, get the camera ready and away we go. About 30 minutes later the pilot tells as that we'll be heading back to the main airport (not the small one that we'd left from) 'cos he isn't sure whether we have a problem with a tyre, or with a warning light.

We spend about 45 mins dumping fuel over Argentina before the flight attendants are called into the cockpit. "This can't be good." People are getting concerned, including me, and we become more concerned when the flight attendants come out of the cockpit and get everyone to put everything in the overhead bins - including things that would normally stay under the seat. Hmm.

Being told "it will all be ok" and "trust us" doesn't work very well on nervous passengers, but there is little we can do. I'm trying to remember how many tyres are on each group of wheels on a 737-800 (I'm pretty sure it's more than one, and in some cases 4) and tell myself that these guys are trained to do this, and the weather is being kind (very little wind, no rain).

We fly low past the control tower - they think they can see a blown tyre. And then we circle once more before coming in to land - fire-engines along the side of the runway, the full works.

It is a beautiful landing, barely any sideways movement, and he uses the length of the runway before coming to a stop, turning around and returning us to the airport.

So now we have a 737-800 full of tourists from all over the world trying to get to their next destination. Communication is not high on the list of Aerolineas Argentinas' attributes. But they manage to get hotel rooms (with a much-needed shower) - apparently with dinner (one empanada for me), which was also needed due to the lack of food and water for most of us for many, many hours.

I got into my room at 9:20pm, had a quick shower, grabbed an empanada, and am now back doing this blog, knowing that I need to be down in the lobby (4 people per lift and 2 lifts - many, many people) before 1:30am.

We're trying again at 3am tomorrow - with a new aircraft.

So instead of being in my charming little hotel in Ushuaia, overlooking the Beagle Channel, I'm in a hot stuffy room with no view, in steamy Buenos Aires - the good news is that it won't be for long!

I look forward to the next blog being way more interesting and fun!!