Advertisement
Published: November 30th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Firey Sunset
Coastal walk in Necochea Alright Tierra del Fuego, you win but we will be back to climb your peaks and pet your penguins! The snow in Ushuaia has been unrelenting this week and we only made one successful backpacking trip to Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego before the storm hit. We took a flight from Comodoro Rivadavia south to Ushuaia and couldn´t believe the gorgeous scenery from the window...nor could I believe the size of the plane. The flight held thirty people and they seemed calm as clams as the plane scuttled back and forth on the runway, pushed by the icy winds. I likened it to a dog wagging it´s tail to at the speed of a bobble head doll. The week before was wonderful and Jess tried to think about the whales instead of plummeting into the dark waters of the ocean; meanwhile, I noticed my knees were lodged so tight in the seat in front of me it was better than any seat belt could do for my safety.
We were arriving from a camping trip in Puerto Piramedes on Peninsula Valdes on the East Coast outside of Puerto Madryn. The beach was our campground and we listened to the
Southern Wright Whales snorting from their blowholes day and night; it sounded similar to someone blowing across the top of a coke bottle. As we hiked along the lime striated hills, we eagerly searched for their shapes. The occasional glimpse of a fin or tail is all we were afforded through my super sweet camouflage binoculars, or BiNi´s, as Jess had termed them. We decided to splurge for a boat tour to get up close and personal with the massive mammals that neither of us had ever seen before. We chose a smaller tour group on a Zodiac boat. Not but five minutes from shore were we delighted by the giant, blue faces of a mother and calf as they bobbed in the Sapphire water at our bow. Their faces and backs encrusted with white barnacles. It was a sunset tour and the sunlight danced on the water as we rode along in the midst of at least fifty whales. In the distance a very large specimen was putting on a show for the folks peering from the cliffs above as it thrashed its tail (completely vertical in the water) back and forth, slapping the water and throwing its light
Scopin'
Mike on the watch for birds of prey bending droplets to and fro. We were too far for a picture but at times like that all you can do is watch and take it in. We returned to shore and enjoyed the bottleneck symphony before departing the following morning.
Upon arriving in Ushuaia (Argentina´s claim to the Southern most town in the world), we checked into the Freestyle backpackers hostel. Greeted by the ever so exuberant Gabriel and Rasta Max. Turns out it was Rasta Max´s (soul founder of the one and only Reggae scene in Ushuaia) birthday and he had his band of rockers-gone-reggae entertain us all with punchy guitar licks and enduring back-beats as they were nearly swallowed by there giant jeans and hats that covered their eyes. It was nearly impossible not to join the jam on the dance floor.
The next day we departed for our two day stint in Tierra del Fuego National Park where we walked the coastal trail admiring the dozen or so birds we had never seen before. The weather held out just long enough for us to cook up some pasta and enjoy a dusk visit from a fox at our tent. We were alone in the
All by Our Lonesome
Camping in Tierra del Fuego world and it felt great. The next day we made it to the bus pick up just before the bathtub in the sky overflowed and poured down upon the park. We awaited more hiking for the next five days while snow drifted down until we finally made our peace with the town and decided to head out to Puerto Natales, Chile to embark on a six day adventure in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
Mike and Jess
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0361s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb