Blogs from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, South America - page 21

A bewildered tourist asks: “Where are the sheep?” “To be honest, you’re the sheep now,” replied the guide, sheepishly. Estancia Harberton, a smallish ranch by Argentine standards (a mere 50,000 acres, that’s all), has not really operated as a ranch since the mid-nineties, when the wool market bottomed and a horrible winter killed off much of its flock. Now it mostly earns income from the catamaran-loads of tourists who drop by on extended Beagle Channel tours or, more rarely, like me, drop by of their own accord. Hence, we are the new sheep of the farm. But why would anyone bother to make the trek to this now non-ranch ranch? At first glance, the modest cluster of whitewashed buildings huddled on a protected bay of the Beagle Channel might seem an odd tourist destination, especially considering ... read more

Contents 1. End of El Salvador, Surfing in El Tunco 2. 2 weeks in Argentina 3. Bariloche Swiss Alps meets South America 4. El Chalten. Hiking Argentinia´s Patagonia. 5. El Calafate and Glacier Moreno 6. Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire, and the end of the world). 1. End of El Salvador So i spent the last 2 weeks in El Salvador back at El Tunco beach learning how to surf. It went pretty well and was a great place to spend some time. By the end of my time there I was able to get up on some unbroken waves, and more importantly have a blast. 2. 2 weeks in Argentina But since March 10th, ive been in Argentina. But not just Argentina, Patagonia Argentina, which is the southern part of Argentina and famous ... read more

The Beagle Channel divides Isla Grande from the southernmost islands in the squat toe of an archipelago that makes up Tierra del Fuego (itself separated from the mainland of South America by the Magellan Strait). The channel forms a natural point of reference in this dramatic, windswept corner of the world, and also forms a border in the weird political geography of the region: Argentina to the north, Chile to the south. Isla Grande itself is cut down the middle between the two countries, thus: Argentina to the east, Chile to the west. On a map the border looks as arbitrary as can be imagined, a plan devised on the back of a dinner napkin in one of the distant seats of power, in a land far, far away. Ushuaia, the capital of Argentine Tierra del ... read more

What Dana got up to after I left.... read more

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 ... read more