Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire

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Trip - Strait of Magellan

The odyssey began on Saturday at 2am with a pilgimage to the bus station. I was to make a connection in Rio Gallegos at 8am and then travel to Rio Grande with an ETA of 4:30pm. The first leg of the trip was timed perfectly. So it was that we left Rio Gallegos on time, with good weather. Weather, however, was not our concern - we were going to have to cross into Chile and then back into Argentina to reach our destination. The Chilean controls at Chille-Argentina border crossings have so far proven to be a real drag, so two of them in one day bore heavily on everyone's moods. Sure enough, the first border crossing took nearly 4 hours, pushing up my ETA to 8:30pm. The second border crossing must have delayed the trip for another hour so that I reached Rio Grande at 9:30pm, when nearly every public building and business was closed and I had no hostal reservations and not a clue where to find accomodations.

The trip was not entirely dead time. In Chile the bus made a stop and we were all shepherded off the bus to find a ferry waiting for us. We had reached the Strait of Magellan. The US passenger who sat in front of me was thrilled, "I have read so much about Magellan and now I get to cross the Magellan's strait! You have no idea how cool this is!" The inherent thrill of the experience was later heightened when we sighted toninas (Commerson's dolphins) who joined the ferry to play in its wake. Add a hot dog joint on board, The Police music videos, and you get the full picture of the ferry ride.

After the crossing, more driving, another border crossing, and more driving. However, the scenery did its best to entertain us. The colors I have seen are so compelling that I almost wished to be a landscape painter. I began to understand what motivated Thompson, Lawren Harris, Richard Diebenkorn, and the like.

Rio Grande

I was able, thank God, to find accomodations in Rio Grande. This place didn't have a kitchen, but instead offered private rooms, each with their own TV. It turned out to be a good place to relax and recover from all the traveling.

The next day I set out to pursue what I had come to Rio Grande for: the world's most spectacular trout fishing. But nothing was open on sundays, so my search was fruitless. Instead I visited a local Baptist church. I happen to carry earplugs in my backpack. I thought that I would use them heavily along the trip, but never that they would be the most useful in this church. Apparently churches in Tierra del Fuego have the same problems with volume as some have in Canada. The topic of the sermon was family. Homosexual marriages have become a hot topic in the south of Argentina and there is some strong opposition by the church. My memory has become a little fuzzy on this point, but homosexual marriages may already be legalized in Argentina (or at least in Tierra del Fuego)

The pastor made a point to speak about optimism and belief. He provided many anecdotes of families which had no hope of removing themselves from their situations of poverty and despair. He used the example of Nehemiah, who directed the construction in 50+ days of a job that was deemed impossible for 9 years. He followed it by examples of families who prayed and believed for better times, which came shortly after. Better times are something which many Argentinans find difficult to hope for. This is the general Southamerican situation, but in Argentina the poverty and helplessness is coupled with an intense awareness of the prosperity of foreign nations, especially of European countries. It is difficult for anyone, including Christians, to stand fast where there is no prosperity. But God has led his people many times through deserts, kept Abraham in barren land while Lot enjoyed green grass. Faith is hard to keep, but also of crucial importance here.

On Monday, after finding out that a day of trout fishing would probably short me $400 - $500 I left, disappointed, to my next destination.

Ushuaia

I never really wanted to go to Ushuaia. It is a great place for milestone travelers and those who set out to Antarctica. The former dig the fact that Ushuaia is the southernmost (provincial) capital in the world. The southernmost city in the world is actually Puerto Williams, in Chile (whether it is actually a city and not a town - I don't know). And for those traveling to Antarctica, Ushuaia is the perfect place to find cruise ships and last minute deals. For me, it was the most convenient place to fly out of after my trout fishing adventure. The town centre is a large conglomeration of tourist-oriented shops selling souvenirs, chocolates (a mainstay in every Patagonian destination even though no cacao seems to grow here), and handcrafts in rhodocrosite and onyx; and restaurants offering seafood, menus crowned by the centolla (king crab).

Ushuaia is a port town unusually surrounded on land by a dramatic mountain range. The tallest peaks only reach 1300m, but that is fairly high when observed from sea level. Naturally then, hiking is a popular activity. In fact, Ushuaia is so boring that travelers (even those with zero hiking inclinations) who budget themselves a week end up spending that week hiking. For those of us who enjoy this activity, it is a treat. I don't say that there is nothing to do in Ushuaia - there are a few museums and harbour tours. If a tourist enjoys shopping and blowing wads of cash on overpriced goods, this is paradise. Otherwise, you find a buddy, as I did, and head out to the Parque Nacional to do some hiking. Just be ready to pay the 50 peso entrance fee to gain access to this park which is far less impressive than the majestic, fee-free El Chalten (I'm still puzzled by this). Paolo (my Italian buddy in Ushuaia) and I took the road to Cerro El Guanaco, the hardest hike which was listed as an 8 hour hike. The conditions were terrible and our footwear paid dearly for it - mud, swamp, snow, and heavy winds at the peak. We were back in 4 hours. After our descent, he stayed at the lodge to wait for the bus while I set off on a diplomatic journey. You see, many years ago someone thought that the Patagonian environment would be ideal for the introduction of beavers with the purpose of using their pelts. Twenty-five beavers were introduced and now the population has increased to about 30,000. They are considered a hazard to the southern forests of Argentina. I had to see this for myself - what a mess they have done! A quarter of the forest is a tree cemetery. The same storyline was followed by the Northamerican trout. There are so many of these now in Patagonia that they are decimating the smaller local species. I extend my most official apologies, as a Canadian, to Tierra del Fuego. (my Peruvian side is far less diplomatic, so it won't express itself here)

The next day I teamed up with a Jewish man to visit the Glaciar El Marcial, which we suspect that we never saw. Instead we hiked to the bottom of the snowline of a mountain and pretended it looked like a glacier. Some wild toboganing ensued.

Ushuaia held little more for me, so that same day I walked to the airport and took a flight to the Argentinan capital.

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Photos

glaciar el Marcial
me, with Ushuaia in the background