From fin de siecle to el Fin del Mundo

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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!

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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 and monetarily). It is one of those boxes that can be checked on my travel wish-list, a place I had long wanted to visit, even before I knew how to pronounce it properly. (Yes, Marina, I have known for a long time now that it is not Tierra del FEW-go!) Getting here was a long haul that took me nearly directly south from Washington, DC, via Atlanta and Buenos Aires, to Ushuaia, totaling about sixteen hours of flight time - plus a twenty-four hour layover in rainy BA. But considering that I reached this southern most of cities in two days time, I can’t complain. I even feel a little guilty. You see, a good friend of mine just completed the DC to Ushuaia jaunt by LAND. And here I am taking the fast track to the Tierra del Fuego, arriving by air. My friend then continued on to the crown jewel of travel destinations, Antarctica….so, on second thought, perhaps I don’t feel so guilty. He got to go the extra mile(s) that I cannot, at least not this time around! Forget what I said, I didn’t cheat. I was just smart.

The descent to Ushuaia over the Beagle Channel was almost in and of itself enough to justify this trip. Breaking through the clouds, the jagged, snow-streaked peaks of the straggling end of the Andes came into view. The land below, green with splotches of browns and reds, looked like a slightly more verdant version of Iceland; the dark waters of the channel were inscrutable. The town was huddled along the shore, its back facing the steep rise of mountains. The view was enough to announce: You’ve arrived at the End of the World!

After checking into my B&B, a comfortable place called simply La Casa, tucked along a residential street above the town “center” (Ushuaia is too long and gangly to have a true center), I descended to explore the town and waterfront. I was excited to stumble on the local version of the bicentennial celebrations, a showcasing of windjammer training ships used by Latin American navies. The multi-masted ships, framed against the mercurial sky, could not have been more picturesque; their pea-coated crews welcomed everyone to come aboard and poke around the riggings. Later, as the sun set, the ships were outlined in pretty lights, and a navy band played on the dock. Then, after dinner - which I ate at a lovely seafood place with a view of the ships - the sky erupted in the dramatic fireworks display that rounded out my first day in Tierra del Fuego. Truly a fiery greeting to the Land of Fire!

I can’t wait till tomorrow when I get to set sail myself, albeit in a catamaran, not a romantic windjammer, to trace part of Darwin’s path down the Beagle Channel. Maybe, like my friend who went to Antarctica, I will even get to see a penguin (or thousands).

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