At the foot of the world - Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia

Wednesday 7th March

Paul still, er, loose, but not feeling too bad.

Didn't get going until quite late in the morning, and had a walk around the small town - strangely has a Christmas feel about it, though there's no decorations. Perhaps Paul is now seeing things...

Yes, it is a little cold, but we're wrapped up, and the sun is shining, here in the most southern city in the world (though we think that Puerto Williams in Chile takes that honour, but is smaller).

Got our hopes up with making enquiries about a 10 day Antarctica trip. We had hoped to arrive here and get onto a boat at the least minute and save a few quid. All was looking good, we filled out the forms, and the boat was due to leave on Friday. For the record, the price they were offering (USD3000 each) is something of a steal - we were put in touch with a local/reputable agent for Antarctica trips, Alicia Petiet.

Whilst we were 'nearly' booked on, we still had to wait for our forms to get faxed through to Chile, and we'd be contacted later. Unfortunately in the meantime, we hear that the trip has been cancelled for mechanical reasons. Bugger! This is confirmed the next day.

However... - read on, for our second hope.

Chris was depressed in the meantime - it really is a golden opportunity to go somewhere so remote - will we ever be down this way again???

Didn't really do much else today, Paul was flagging, and Chris was down in the dumps...

Thursday 8th March

Paul wakes up with no change to his sewage system, so he stays in bed for the rest of the morning, Chris goes off to make further enquiries about Antarctica trips.

Also, we're only booked at this hostel one more night, so dreading having to move on. (They're full)

Well, we've got an excursion for later in the day, a boat trip up the Beagle Channel, which will take in some waterside Estancias (ranches), as well as a Penguin colony, and a Seal colony. We booked with Canoero Catamarones, and paid Pesos150 each - the boat etc, was fine, though there's always more folk onboard than you'd like, but not too much of a crush.

The weather was kind to us, though the wind as we ploughed through the water was rather breathtaking. The boat trip was about 5 hours in total, taking us a far up as the Haberton Estancia (built by the Anglican missionary Thomas Bridges in 1886), about 90kms away. On the way we passed the wreck of the Sarmiento, from 1912.

Arriving at the highlight, Martillo Island, home to the Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins (the former are bigger than the latter). Whilst the bulk had already emigrated north, there was still plenty to see and enjoy. Not quite sure what they make of the boat pulling right up to the beach, though I don't think we hit any...

Fantastic being so close, though lots of folk on the boat wanting to get to the front to see. It's good to be 6' 1" sometimes.

Some of the penguins are changing the feathery coats and we understand that they don't go out into the sea at this time.

As well as the penguins, there's flying birds too, including Black and White Albatross and Southern Skuas. The latter sit amongst the penguins, all happy-like.

On the return journey we stop off at the South American Seal colony, and also a small rocky island inhabited by Cormorants.

The water is nice and flat on the way back, and the setting sun reflects off it beautifully, with the Andes in the background.

Paul's stomach remains explosive.

Friday 9th March

OOps, Chris drops her engagement ring and it smashes into 3 pieces. Not sure if that's a sign, though thankfully she has a spare one to wear in the meantime.

Bumped into the Irish couple who first mentioned the 'cheap' Antarctic trip - they tell of another that is going on Sunday, and there's some last minute berths going.....

In town we go into one of the chocolate cafes, Chris enjoys a Submarino - a mug of hot milk, in which you drop in a bar of chocolate.

We then face the prospect of lugging our gear down the road to the Yakush Hostel. We fork out for the two of us the take over a 4 bed dorm whilst Paul is still suffering. We've booked in for 3 nights, but the bookings they already have means we have to change rooms each day. Not ideal, but the place is nice (we do prefer Antarctica), and the folks are friendly and helpful.

We visit Alicia again to find out the deal with the other boat trip - yes, she thinks there is availablility, but we would be separated and in same-sex dorms. Not what we want to do - it's a lot of money, and we'd not want to be split up and/or run the risk of sharing a room with some undesirable. Not quite the spirit, but really not what we want to do, and maybe not the best idea if Paul's stomach doesn't improve. Chris is depressed again.

Well, we need to make the most of the area, and take a short hike - the Cerro del Media trail, 4.6kms (mostly up!). Walked through the residential area behind town - some of the houses are like flimsy shacks - don't know how these people keep warm!

The walk is a little more difficult that we expected, but it was nice to get past the treeline and enjoy the view of Ushuaia below, and stretching out over the Beagle Channel etc. Sadly, no wildlife to see, except a few small birds. Had a brief snowball fight at the top.

Got back after about 3 hours, which isn't bad when the literature suggests 3 hours each way. Felt shattered and Paul got grumpy as we trailed up the main street a couple of times trying to decide on which food we should have. The diary I'm copying from reads that Paul was 'out of order' being grumpy. Whatever....

Had a mediocre meal at the Irish bar in town, then fairly early to bed.

Saturday 10th March

Both slept well, though Paul's condition remains the same, despite having starved for 20+ hours over the last 2 days.

Bit of a hassle in the morning whilst we wait in the hostel between checking out of our current room and checking into the new one, though please to be back into a double room.

Caught up on a little bit of the blog, whilst Chris tracked down the bus tickets out of here and visited the Museo del Fin del Mundo (Museum at the end of the World). Really interesting, and plenty info in English.

Ushuaia sits within a region called Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fires) - so called because of the campfires spotted by passing ships. The indigenous Yamanas people kept permanently lit fires in sealion skulls.

In the 1500's, the Europeans weren't interested in the land and so sailed through, and didn't settle until the 1800's.

The first mission in Ushuaia was opened in 1869, and Thomas Bridges (one of the first missionaries) even compiled a 32,000 word dictionary, which is now of great significance as the language of the Yamanas people has died out.

The Yamanas were essentially 'canoe indians', living off raw sea food and sea lions. Before the missionaries came, they essentially wore no clothing. Studies from the mid 20th century show that the Yamanas ' body warmth was 2 grades higher than that of most humans - they also had more body fat, probably due to their diet. Also, they would smother themselves in seal fat to keep warm.

Sadly, and God only knows why, 4 Yamanas (2 adults, a boy and a girl) were taken to London in 1830. Their names - Boat Memory, Fuegia Basket, Jemmy Button and York Minster. Boat Memory died in London, though the 3 others returned.

Ushuaia was officially founded in 1884.

Not a lot else done today - grabbed some food from the supermarket etc etc.

Sunday 11th March

Chris took herself off to the Museo Maritime, and joined the English language tour - very interesting, though quite pricey to go into the museum, 30 Pesos/GBP5.

Up to 600 inmates were held in the building, in 380 small cells. It reminds Chris of Alcatraz.

Wing 1 has been kept mostly original - very cold and gloomy. A huge amount of information is available in English.

The jail was built between 1902 and 1920, all the construction work carried out by the convicts, though the it was closed in 1947 for humanitarian reasons.

One of the best known inmates was Santos Godino, aka 'Big Eared Man'. Criminologists performed surgery on his ears whilst in prison - they believed his violent behaviour was due to his big ears!

Chris back to the hostel in time to move rooms for the last time - Paul stayed in bed in the morning.

Had hoped for a trip into the National Park in the afternoon, though Paul not up for it. Instead, we walk along the pretty shoreline, and enjoy the amazing reflections around us.

Christine had her 'best ever' hot chocolate in town, but was then depressed to see the Antarctica boat leave the harbour.

Bought some sweets and crisps from the supermarket. Early night...

Monday 12th March

Travelling day today, and we're off on an 11 hour bus ride to Punta Arenas. Paul is pleased that things 'down there' have pulled themselves together.

Bit of a misunderstanding on the bus with the seats, and we miss a chance for Paul to have two seats to himself. It's all Chris's fault, and the legroom is pretty poor. Paul forgives Chris, but Chris doesn't forgive Paul for being nasty to her.

The scenery as we drive along is pretty and mountainous, with lots of reflections in the still lakes below, though this soon changes to flat and barren lands. Thank goodness for the wonder of the Ipod Video, and the makers of Family Guy.

Whilst the landscpae not that interesting, we spot a few Rhea (flightless ostrich-thing) and Guanaco, a member of the camel family and related to the Alpaca and Llama.

Getting across the border to Chile is really quick, even though we're a coachload, and the hours drift by as we watch the vast open spaces around us.

We have a short ferry crossing with the coach (crossing the Strait of Magellan) - Paul stayed on the coach but Chris had a look overboard and was rewarded with some Black and White Dolphins swimming nearby, also a Magellanic Penguin popped its head up out of the water.

Arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile around 7pm-ish...

continued on next thread...