Blogs from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, South America - page 3

castellano debajo del francés... Ce matin nous nous levons avec une grande surprise et un énorme cadeau de la part de nos amis.... Une promenade en Catamaran dans le Canal Beagle.... Un soleil éclatant accompagne ce cadeau... La journée risque d'être plus que géniale... Nous vivrons une expérience inoubliable en naviguant sur le Canal Beagle jusqu'à l'île aux oiseaux, l'île des phoques et loups de mer et le Phare des éclaireurs. Nous pourrons aussi observer beaucoup de Cormorans impériaux ainsi que toutes sortes d'autres oiseaux. Nous avons aussi beaucoup de chances car l'agence qui organise cette excursion a regroupé deux excursions car l'une d'elle qui mène à l'île des pingouins a eu trop peu d’inscrits… Nous ferons donc également ce petit détour afin d’y arriver mais aussi à l’Estancia Haberton où Angel nous a souvent emmenés. ... read more

The first view of Ushuaia the world’s most Southern city did not disappoint: A port hugging the edge of the Beagle Channel grasped by snow capped mountains and horizontal rain. We had left Buenos Aires after an overnight stay (quite by chance having stayed at the same hostel that we did in 2006) in 30C sunshine and it was 6C when we landed in Ushuaia three hours later. The airport sits on a short peninsula exposed to the persistent south-westerlies blowing up the Beagle Channel from Antarctica. Across the water in Chile more barren snow-capped peaks rise up into the clouds. We had booked a double room at a homely hostel ahead of time not far from the airport. It has good cooking facilities so we have started to getting the hang of shopping in Argentina. ... read more

Three weeks of travel have taken their toll so today I am taking it easy. While the old man goes to climb a glacier, I set off for the museum. A few minutes later, he is behind me. The bus has been cancelled due to lack of interest. He follows for a while, complaining that ‘museums are boring’. Tantrum over, he decides to catch a taxi to the glacier and disappears again. The Museo Maritimo & Museo del Presidio is housed in an old prison (the town was originally a penal colony). The entrance fee has doubled since I googled the website last month (treble the price in my guide book). However, it is larger than I’d expected and I emerge 3 hours and 100 photographs later. The prison consisted of several wings. One has been ... read more

Our time in Buenos Aires is over. Today we fly 1500 miles south to Tierra del Fuego. The flight is very basic - none of this in-flight entertainment nonsense. Two hours in, some warm coke and a bag of rice cakes materialise. The old man is so bored he determines to count his rice cakes. After two more hours, we begin our descent. Suddenly I am no longer bored for three good reasons. Firstly, we have to descend through a huge bank of cloud which causes enormous turbulence. Bouncing through it like a plaything of the gods it terrifying. Next come stunning views of the Andes sweeping down to the ocean. Thirdly, it’s time to try to land, in heavy winds, on the tiny strip of land sticking out from the end of the world. First ... read more

We set off on the characteristically swish bus from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas to see penguins. Punta Arenas was an important stopover from Europe to the American west coast pre Panama Canal (1914), as it lies at the end of the Magellan Straight, a narrow channel which by- passes Cape Horn. It therefore has lots of old colonial architecture and evidence of wealth from a by- gone era. There was a regular steamship service from Liverpool to California years ago. It was also where Ernest Shackleton planned his venture to Antartica. I love a bit of history; feel free to skip this paragraph! Shackletons endeavour was privately funded by many donors, it’s mission to bolster the British exploratory credibility by being the first country to cross Antarctica. He advertised for crew for an arduous and ... read more