I am disappointed: I haven't seen a moose yet. Even before I arrived in Newfoundland, I was warned to watch out for the moose. And since I arrived this afternoon I have been instructed by at least three people (and a very large yellow sign) to keep an eye out for the big, gangly beasts. Apparently, the province is rife with them. But, in my first day, they have stayed hidden from view. Maybe they are just shy. But it's not the moose I came to see. Those of you who have been reading my travelblog since its inception know that I began writing entries for my Viking Voyage, an epic journey from Denmark, through Norway, the Faroes Islands, and Iceland, ending in Greenland. I had hoped, when I started planning that trip, to continue on ... read more

Day 1 I am not sure how I have been so lucky weather-wise since I got to the southern extremity of Argentina. Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia are known for their sometimes extreme weather. Snow in the summer, rain that comes pelting out of nowhere, winds that can flatten you. But I have seen little of this. I am almost beginning to think the bad weather is a myth (except see Day 2). On Monday, almost on a whim, I decided to take the bus from El Calafate up to El Chaltén, a small town on the other end of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (the same one with the Perito Moreno Glacier) - a three hour trip through the dry, barren steppe of this part of Patagonia. You don’t know what nothingness, albeit a beautiful nothingness, ... read more

A bewildered tourist asks: “Where are the sheep?” “To be honest, you’re the sheep now,” replied the guide, sheepishly. Estancia Harberton, a smallish ranch by Argentine standards (a mere 50,000 acres, that’s all), has not really operated as a ranch since the mid-nineties, when the wool market bottomed and a horrible winter killed off much of its flock. Now it mostly earns income from the catamaran-loads of tourists who drop by on extended Beagle Channel tours or, more rarely, like me, drop by of their own accord. Hence, we are the new sheep of the farm. But why would anyone bother to make the trek to this now non-ranch ranch? At first glance, the modest cluster of whitewashed buildings huddled on a protected bay of the Beagle Channel might seem an odd tourist destination, especially considering ... read more

Day 3 (Ushuaia) Knock on wood, the weather seems to be working in my favor during my stay in Tierra del Fuego. First there was the blue sky during my tour of the Beagle Channel, and now today a morning of overcast but dry, tranquil conditions - perfect for a hike. I took a mini-bus to the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, just 12 km to the west of Ushuaia (the park actually abuts the Chilean border of Isla Grande - watch where you are walking!). This was my first opportunity to get a taste of what the land looked like when Darwin visited and, more importantly, when the Yámana lived here. And what a land it is! I followed the Senda Costera trail that hugged the shores of Ensenada and Lapataia Bays, just off the ... read more

It’s so nice of the Ushuaians to set off fireworks just for my arrival to the End of the Earth! I knew it was a big occasion for me, but, wow, this is too much! Really, I don’t need all the attention….oh, wait, the fireworks are not for me? They are part of the bicentennial celebrations of the May 1810 Revolution? I guess I will just have to join in the fun in the southern most city in the world! *** But back to me. I need to get something off my chest. You see, I feel like I cheated. Here I am, at the tip of South America - or el Fin del Mundo, as it is well advertized - looking longingly southward towards tantalizingly close Antarctica (yet, to my frustration, out of reach seasonally ... read more