Ushuaia
Ushuaia is sometimes called "The End of the World".
Ah, it's not so bad. Actually, it's pretty cool, I mean, a very interesting place, to visit.
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| Port of Ushuaia at the base of the Andes, the southern tip of the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego |
The map display is a large scale view of our route. Ushuaia is the small dot at the tip of the continent. Just north of Cape Horn, it is the southernmost town in the world, about 60,000 residents. We are still in Argentina here. Ushuaia is on the western border with Chile.
For centuries this was an important supply and service port for whaling fleets. There was a large penal colony here in the early 1900s (more on this below). Today it is a major port of departure for voyages to Antarctica, for scientists and tourists.
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National Geographic's Orion
for modern day Antarctica-bound explorers |
The Orion was at the dock besides us to pick up passengers and provisions for its cruise south. What fun that would be.
Ah, for the price of a ticket ...
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| Christmas on the streets of Ushuaia |
Ushuaia is a calm, safe port in the Beagle Channel, way protected from the wild waters of the Strait of Magellan, that passage named after Ferdinand, the first to navigate around Cape Horn, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Remember in 1520 he was the first to circumnavigate the world?
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La Cantina Fueguina for fresh seafood.
Notice the stack of boxes by the door? |
Charles Darwin came to Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel, eponym of the British ship that brought him here, probably on his way to the Galapagos Islands, during which time he was reputedly making notes on what was to become "survival of the fittest". (check it out)
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| Note the varieties brewed |
Cape Horn and Beagle beer are not to be missed. Not only does Argentina make great wine, but the beer is also terrific, thanks to the German immigrants, we were told.
Strategically located at the end of the dock for all foreigners entering Ushuaia by sea, is the sign below.
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Not sure what is sticking to the sign,
maybe some English toffee gone green? |
The casual tourist or the uninformed foreign national may use the words, Falkland Islands, in a casual conversation with a citizen of Argentina. Be prepared for a quick, perhaps unexpected response; for example, "There is no such place. Perhaps you men the Malvinas!" For a very lively engagement in a bar, bring up the subject, especially if you are British. Be forewarned. Argentinians are very passionate about their claims, and about Thatcher's 10-day butt-kicking in 1982. To use contemporary non-speak, to some locals, that event was just fake news.
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Ask an Argentinian seagull if she
has been to the Falkland Islands
and you might get your eyes pecked out |
Ask a Chilean about the Malvinas you will probably get a shrug of the shoulders and some grunting about the Argentinians, who have purportedly claimed some Chilean islands too. There is no love lost between the neighbours on either side of the Andes Mountains. Foreign relations between Argentina and the UK have been on again, off again since 1982.
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| did not eat the moustache here |
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| the southern Andes above Ushuaia |
We are going to catch a train now for an excursion into Tierra del Fuego National Park. A toy train - El Tren del Fin del Mundo - well, small gauge anyway, meanders alongside the Rio Pipo at zero grade. The tracks for this, now tourist train, were laid by prisoners in the first decade of the 20th Century. The purpose was to transport the murderers, thieves, recidivist n'er-do-wells, from the prison on the edge of town, into the river valley to harvest the forest.
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Her throat or my camera
- what was more valuable? |
At the estación we were accosted by a couple of big jailbirds who unhanded us after fleecing me for 10 bucks for the photo (not over- priced actually).
I felt I was in the land of Lilliput (Swift), the trains were so small, as were the engineers.
In the ancient, but well- kept coaches we rubbed shoulders - literally with the other Brobdignagians, many of whom spoke our northern language.
It's December 27. At 5 pm and we sail away. The sun will not set tonight until 10:15. Temperature is about 52F/12C. The Patagonia Amber Lager sure goes down well.
...ooo0ooo...
next blog post is: Punta Arenas, Chile
For centuries this was an important supply and service port for whaling fleets. There was a large penal colony here in the early 1900s (more on this below). Today it is a major port of departure for voyages to Antarctica, for scientists and tourists.
