Blogs from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, South America - page 13

BEAGLE CHANNEL & DRAKE PASSAGE & WHALES ALL ABOARD THE SEA ADVENTURER - 16 DECEMBER 2012 All aboard the Sea Adventurer and join the Quark Expedition. We set sail late afternoon and head out along the Beagle Channel. On our left is Argentina and on our right is Chile. We have met several of the people on the cruise and have found them all to be very delighful and have enjoyed talking with them. The staff are so educated and so nice. Two of the female staff (Australia & New Zealand) joined Francine and I for dinner and we had such a good time and laughed so much. Just telling them of our adventures and listening to theirs as well. The staff/guides are from Australia, USA, Canada, Alaska, Scotland, they are Biologists, Marine Bio, Geologists, Historian, ... read more

Vacation of a Lifetime - Part 2... read more

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

Twelve hours flying to Argentina, four hours flying south to Tierra del Fuego, one hour’s drive on the highway, one hour’s drive off road, and then a thirty minute walk. It is fair to say that anticipation had built up. A private lake and I was the only fisherman. The guide had brought along a photographer to capture the thrills of Magico Lake for their website. Expectations were high. I had made contact with Extreme Fishing from New Zealand and confirmed arrangements. Ushuaia is a pretty town of 60,000 people set against a mountain range. We headed out through the mountains at first light; a very pretty ride. Sergio liked to use all the road cutting the corners and driving across double yellow lines or putting two wheels onto the gravel on the inside of the ... read more

Our last day here in Ushuaia was to be a big one. The tour that we had booked involved boarding a boat that took in a famous Lighthouse, the historic Harberton ranch as well as several species of wildlife including Sea Lions, various birds and of course penguins, over a 9 hour period. Looking out of the window of the hostel brought us great joy and relief, as although a little windy, the sky was blue and the sun was out. And so, off we went down to the office where we had booked our tour. When we arrived, the receptionist was desperately trying to make a call from the office, with little luck, and for what reason, we had no idea. After 10/15 minutes of this, she finally made her connection and very briefly chatted ... read more