Ushuaia, Antarctic cruise port, serves as a point of departure, return, and attempted search in the Antarctic plot. It is where a hired bounty hunter looked for Bernadette Fox, and the port at the end of the route traced on the map of her cruise; the mismatch between that route and Bee Branch’s later destination at Palmer Station helps explain why finding Bernadette remains uncertain.

Search for Bernadette

After Bernadette disappeared, Elgin Branch hired a bounty hunter recommended by someone at work to search in Ushuaia. The searcher spent two weeks checking hotels and boats arriving and leaving, but found nothing. Elgin says they received the captain’s report after the unsuccessful search, placing the port within the investigation while underscoring that a concentrated effort there had not established where Bernadette had gone.

The Cruise Route

A map dated December 26 records the itinerary of Bernadette’s trip aboard the Allegra. From Tierra del Fuego, the ship stopped at Deception Island, circled the Antarctic Peninsula, traveled deep into the Weddell Sea, and returned around to Neko Harbor and Adelaide Island. It then turned back through the Bransfield Strait to King George Island before continuing down to Ushuaia. When Bee compares this course with the voyage she and Elgin are taking, she recognizes that Bernadette’s ship never came near Palmer Station.

Departure and Narrative Significance

Ushuaia is also part of Bee’s decision to travel to Antarctica. She boards the Allegra, expecting the cruise company to tell her family that she is aboard and therefore safe. Once the ship sails, she knows she will be unable to communicate; the three-week separation becomes a deliberate pause for her and Elgin. The port thus links two very different absences: Bernadette’s unresolved disappearance after a voyage that returned there, and Bee’s chosen disconnection as she sets out to find her mother.