Ushuaia - 29-30 Nov 2013


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South America » Argentina » Tierra del Fuego » Ushuaia
November 30th 2013
Published: December 18th 2013
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Ellie having some fun
Friday 29th November (Odyssey Day 21)







We were shuttled into town at 0830 this morning by Simon and the first thing everyone did was organise a trip out on the Beagle Channel for the afternoon or tomorrow. I really wanted to do it today so I could have a relaxing day tomorrow. The weather was beautiful but it can change rather quickly here. A few managed to get on to a sailing boat but there were only a few places left. Joanna and I booked onto a short 2 ½ hour catamaran cruise around a few of the small islands on the channel. It didn’t leave until 1530 though so we had a few hours to spare.







The one place in Ushuaia that I really wanted to visit was the old prison, which had been turned into a museum. It was a relatively short walk (after a visit to the Information Centre for maps) and entrance cost 110 peso’s. It was a fairly large complex set out with a main hall and a number of ‘arms’ or wings extending out from it. Four of these arms were set up with exhibits in the former cells. One arm was a history of the area and the prison itself, which started out as a penal colony. It had examples of the inmates and a lot of displays of the things made by the prisoners who worked. These included model ships, jewellery and carvings. Another arm was left as the original prison would have been. This section was extremely cold and harsh and clearly wasn’t heated as the other areas were. It would have been a freezing place to live and the whole wing has been left untouched for effect. A little creepy to tell the truth, but very interesting too.







There was also an art exhibition in one wing and it seemed to contain a lot of penguins. You can’t escape the fact that penguins are one of the big attractions in many areas of Argentina. There was even an interesting little film that was definitely different – it was an artists’ portrayal of Minnie and Mickey’s domestic life and was probably more appropriate for an Eastenders episode rather than anything else…







The last wing
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AJ with the vertebrae of a whale
open to view was a gift shop and temporary exhibition hall which currently holds more art. Mostly representations of, you guessed it, penguins!







After spending some time in the museum, we went and found a café for a few drinks while waiting for our boat trips out to the channel. It was really busy but we managed to snag a table - well actually one of the waitresses was kind enough to ask a lady to move to a smaller table so we could fit in.







The others left an hour before us but Joanna and I just found a quiet, warm place to wait for our turn. Our trip out onto the channel was 350 peso’s and departed at 1530. There was a little confusion as we worked out that we needed to pay a further 10 pesos port tax before boarding. A little confusing when the port people didn’t speak English and we don’t speak much Spanish but we did work it out in the end. Actually, what we did was find someone else with the same company name on their ticket and discretely
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Joanna on the catamaran
copy them…







The trip out on the catamaran was about 2 1/2 hours and we passed quite close by a few small islands. The first had a large number of cormorants on it. They are black and white and from a distance look a bit like penguins. As you get closer though, it becomes fairly obvious they are cormorants though.







We stopped on another island to get off and walk around. The island had a viewpoint on a small hill though truthfully the views of the area from the boat were better in my opinion.







The last island we went by had a colony of Sea Lions. Apparently the most southerly colony there is. They were all just laying around on the rocks soaking up some sun as we passed quite close and took lots of pictures. I did discover that I seemed to take as many pictures in one afternoon as Joanna has taken the entire trip…







After getting back to the port in Ushuaia, we waited for the others at
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Beautiful view of Ushuaia under the mountains from the catamaran.
the Tourist Information centre across the street. Then we proceeded to go up the hill to dinner – Joanna, Hannah, Ellie, Steve, Ken and Kelly. Quite a steep climb to get to the restaurant that was recommended to us but the view was worth it.







We had decided to splurge a bit tonight and go to a nice restaurant. It had a really nice seafood menu but was fine dining and very expensive (well, expensive for Argentina at least not anywhere near what you would pay at home for the same thing). They did have a good deal on a multi course tasters option for 460 pesos but the whole table had to have the same and so we decided to buy individual meals.







Truthfully I have never tasted scallops so well prepared and the bread was so fresh we just kept eating it. They brought it to us warm whenever we cleared our plate…







I had some delicious sea bass for main but may have forgotten to tell them not to put any pepper on it. Oops. It
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AJ enjoying the catamaran cruise
was fortunately just a little on top that I could scrape off and still eat the fish. That fish was worth a little discomfort I think!







While Joanna and Ken decided to walk back to the camp (which is just out of town and took them an hour), Ellie, Hannah, Kelly, Steve, and I decided we had done enough for the day and just wanted to get back, so we took a taxi. An easy decision when it was only 50 pesos to get to the campsite.



Sunset here is just before 2200, and it stays light for a while even after the sun sets. It makes for some wonderful long days and means we are never in a hurry to get back to camp.



















Saturday 30th November (Odyssey Day 22)







A relaxing day today. It was much warmer using my blanket as a cover for my bed roll (under my sleeping bag) and I slept very well. But today is still a rest
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Cormorants
day. It’s a lovely area to sit around in too, nice and warm inside with tables and chairs and windows all around for a good view. The sleet and rain looked much nicer from inside a warm, dry building than it would from inside a tent…







We had a special dinner tonight. Wayne and Danielle cooked us pizza from scratch, taking advantage of having a proper oven and cooking implements.







Everyone was making the most of having a common room, kitchen, bathrooms and internet here, as we are all preparing for two consecutive bushcamps and three long driving days.


Additional photos below
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Sea Lions, a lighthouse and a beautiful sunny day.
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Young Sea Lion


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