Today after we heard we definitely wouldn’t be leaving today (but definitely manana …!) I radioed the Uruguan Artigas base to take up our earlier invitation to visit the base. It’s only 4km away, up and over the hills and around the coast right next to the edge of the Collin’s glacier (known by the Russians, and Bulat who studies it, as the Bellinsghausen glacier) but it took over an hour of effort to walk there through the deep snow. The base consists of 8 people at the moment and we were warmly welcomed with cups of tea and Uruguayan dulce de leche cakes to revitalise us after our hard walk. We were given a tour of all the offices, communications building, laboratories, meteorological base and accommodation (including en suite shower rooms in some – very luxurious!). Most of the buildings were built in the 1990s though the newest was built in 2006 and in summer the base can hold 30-40 people. Scientists (predominantly working on ocean biology and glaciers) bring equipment for specific projects, meaning that during the winter season (and now, at the start of summer) the labs are pretty empty until the scientists arrive. Although the base is located next to the glacier the weather was so bad we could barely make it out through the mist. We were invited (and tempted) to stay for dinner but, with the weather closing in, decided we’d better make the long trek back while it was still light and for our last night in Bellingshausen.