Blogs from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, South America

A visit to the Yamana Museo in Ushuaia provided us with a little insight into the life of the four indigenous peoples of the surrounding area; the Yamana, Ona, Hausch, and Alacalufe. The two things which stood out for us was one group of people who lived almost entirely on their tree bark canoes which included building fires in their canoes to cook with and to keep warm by. Another group wore no clothes and in order to keep warm and “dry” from the torrential rain they covered their bodies in animal fat. This would make sense to me if the winter temperatures did not dip below 15 degrees (Leigh says 25 degrees!) but the average temperatures range from 1.6 °C in the winter to 10.4 °C in the summer. Amazing! The afternoon boat trip into ... read more

Today was a bit of a surprise. I knew it was raining out when I woke up, but I didn't realize how ugly the weather was. My boat trip was cancelled due to the weather, which meant I had only a few minutes to make the decision to take a taxi to the Train to the End of the World. I made it on time, but was shocked that it was snowing. In the first couple pictures, you can see snow on my coat and outdoors. What a change from the humid 90 degree days of Rio and Iguazu. I am now glad that I packed all of the extra warm clothes. Who is the rookie traveler now with 2 suitcases? Not me, I was warm, dry and happy. The train was a nice ride up ... read more

In Ushuaia, Argentina, the slums are above the rest of the city. There is a visible line where it changes; the last paved street runs horizonatally and muddy dirt roads branch off up the hill. The higher you get, the worse off the roads and houses are. Eventually, it gets so muddy that wooden pallets are put down in the hopes of making trails, and corrugated sheets of metal piled for bridges, attempts that fail as mud and dirty water is everywhere. Mutts and unleashed, free dogs run around, growling and barking if you come near, and they aren't the kind type of dogs you can pet; if you get too close, you will be attacked. I was bit on the back of the leg by a bastardly dog, but luckily it wasn't serious. I had ... read more

Our final Chilean destination was Punto Arenas. The main tourist attraction here are the Magellanic penguin colonies. Marco was convinced that they are exactly the same as the Jackass penguins. Either way, we decided to give this sightseeing trip a skip and rather went to the Naval Museum. Among other things, we watched an entertaining video of a sailboat that sailed around Cape Horn in the 1950s. The cameraman gave a blow by blow account of the happenings en route. We had thought of doing a remote hike to the southernmost point of mainland South America, but a look at the weather report changed our minds. We visited an interesting cemetery though: large burial vaults/houses dedicated to families. As per our tradition, we went out for a final dinner to reminisce our Chilean experiences. We both ... read more