Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
We flew from Ottawa to Buenos Aires via Toronto and a stop in Santiago de Chile. The plane was an hour late leaving Toronto due to mechanical problems.
We checked in our maximum allowance of 23 kg per suitcase and carried on 10 kg more. Surprisingly 23 kg makes a suitcase very heavy to carry.
Figure 1. Deicing in Toronto
Figure 2. Clouds over Lima
We deplaned for a couple of hours in Santiago de Chile and then reboarded and flew on to Buenos Aires. Page 1 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
Figure 3. Flying over Andes from Santiago to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires (1-3 February)
We arrived at the Buenos Aires international airport and bought a couple of tickets for delivery to our hotel for US$38. A bus (www.tiendaleon.com) took us downtown to the bus terminal where we boarded a car for the final leg to our hotel. Our co-passenger was a local who told us that in the days of President Juan Perón, Argentina had a good economy like Canada. Our tour leader later explained that Juan Perón ruled during the 1950s when Argentina was still benefitting economically from not participating in WWII. However he said that Argentina did not invest in education and its economy suffered when the European countries recovered after the war.
Figure 4. Central district of Buenos Aires Page 2 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
We had a day to wander around Buenos Aires and see the sights. We were warned that Buenos Aires was dangerous and that we should not carry valuables including cash. A woman who we later met in Ushuaia who was from Buenos Aires also said that the city had a robbery problem. Fortunately we did not encounter that side of life in Buenos Aires.
Walking down the 9 de Julio Avenue, we encountered the huge image of Eva Perón on the side of a prominent building.
Figure 5. With Evita in Buenos Aires on the 9 de Julio Avenue
We visited La Recoleta Cemetery where many notables in Argentina have been buried since 1822 – many in quite elaborate and ostentatious tombs.
Figure 6. Ostentatious tomb in La Recoleta Cemetery
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For us, the most notable figure interred in La Recoleta Cemetery is Eva Perón, the wife of President Juan Perón and the heroine of the musical Evita who died in 1952. Her remains are in her family’s, Duarte, tomb.
Figure 7. Evita’s family tomb in La Recoleta Cemetery
Figure 8. Beautiful stained glass in one of the tombs in La Recoleta Cemetery
We went down to see La Casa Rosada where Evita gave her speeches on its balcony and then walked to Calle Florida to find the black market money traders.
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Figure 9. La Casa Rosada is the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina
The Argentine economy is experiencing significant inflation of more than 40% per annum and the government is holding the value of the peso artificially high. Hence a parallel, unofficial dollar market has emerged with a separate rate called the “blue rate”. The official exchange rate is about 9 pesos to the dollar, while the blue rate is 13 pesos to one dollar – almost a 50% difference.
To get the blue rate we visited the black market currency traders on Calle Florida in the city center. A trader s you walk down Florida there are lots of guys saying “cambio, cambio, cambio” (currency exchange). These men tell you the rate and then take you to an unmarked office where the exchange is made.
Figure 10. Black market currency trading from magazine stand on Calle Florida
Our 1st currency trade was made inside a magazine stand where we got 13.3 pesos to the US$. Six hours later we returned to exchange some more money but the operation had moved to a backroom in a building due to “security Page 5 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15) concerns”. Later on we exchanged dollars for pesos at a casino in Ushuaia. In short the black market currency exchange is widely spread and one would be a spendthrift not to use it.
Figure 11. Beggar on Calle Florida
Figure 12. Cathedral of Buenos Aires, Argentina (former See of Pope Francis)
Leaving Calle Florida, we walked to the Cathedral of Buenos Aires which is the former See of Pope Francis. Inside in a side chapel is the tomb of General Jose de San Martín. Martín is credited with the liberation of Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spain and statues representing those three nations surround his memorial.
The tomb is guarded by two Granaderos. We watched the changing of guard ceremony. Page 6 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
Figure 13. Granaderos guarding the tomb of General Jose de San Martín
We came across the beautiful Galerías Pacífico – a high end shopping arcade originally built in the 1890s by the al Pacífico Railroad.
Figure 14. Murals inside the Galerías Pacífico
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Figure 15. Warning sign inside the Galerías Pacífico
Figure 16. Two shoppers overwhelmed by the Galerías Pacífico
Puerto Madero was constructed in 1897 as Buenos Aires’ port on the Río de la Plata but was too shallow by the 1920s for bigger ships so became a decaying area. Starting in the 1990s, it has become one of the most successful recent waterfront renewal projects in the world. The cargo cranes in Puerto Madero are now purely decorative.
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Figure 17. Corvette ARA Uruguay built in England in 1874 on display in Puerto Madero
Near Puerto Madero is the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve but we could find an entrance so we walked alongside the Laguna los Coipos and watched the birds.
Figure 18. Guira cuckoo at Laguna los Coipos
We watched a large crew removing posters from street light posts. This appeared to be a work for welfare program as there was little enthusiasm for the work.
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Figure 19. Part of large crew removing posters from street light posts
Like elsewhere in Argentina, Buenos Aires has a monument to the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. The Argentines refer to the Falkland Islands as las Islas Malvinas. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.
Figure 20. Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas ("Monument for the Fallen in the Falklands") in Plaza San Martín
At night we ate a sidewalk café on the 9 de Julio Avenue that served good food at a reasonable price and served Quilmes beer in the convenient 1L bottle for 50 peso or about $4! Our restaurant took US$ at the rate of 12 pesos to the dollar.
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Figure 21. Quilmes beer in the convenient 1L bottle
El Chalten (3-5 February)
Early in the morning of 3 February we flew from Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newbery (Buenos Aires domestic airport) 2,100 kms south to El Calafate. The airline Aerolineas Argentinas has a 15 KG limit on checked baggage and since we were at 23 KG, we were concerned about a penalty, however, in the event the airline was not concerned about the excess weight.
Figure 22. Goodbye to Buenos Aires
At the El Calafate airport, we were met by Fredrico, our tour leader, who turned out to be excellent and really helped out folks when required.
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From the El Calafate airport, we made the four hour drive to El Chaltén about 220 km north of El Calafate. This village was built in 1985 to help secure the disputed border with Chile. Today the sole reason for its existence is tourism.
Along the way, we saw the first of many guanacos that we’d see along with wonderful views of world class climbing mountains near El Chaltén including the pillar of Cerro Torre (3,128 m) and the fin shaped Monte Fitz Roy/Chaltén (3,375 m).
The top of Cerro Torre often has a prominent mushroom of rime ice, formed by the constant strong winds. Cerro Torre literally means “hill tower” in Spanish.
Monte Fitz Roy was named by Francisco Moreno in 1877 in honour of Robert FitzRoy, who as captain of the HMS Beagle had charted large parts of the Patagonian coast. The mountain is also called Chaltén from a Tehuelche (Aonikenk) Indian word meaning "smoking mountain", due to a cloud that usually forms around the mountain's peak.
Both mountains are difficult to climb because the sheer granite faces presenting long stretches of arduous technical climbing and the weather in the area is exceptionally inclement and treacherous. Hence the rate of summiting is orders of magnitude less than that of Mount Everest.
Figure 23. View from airplane of El Chaltén peaks 100 km away
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Figure 24. Mini-bus to El Chaltén
The road to El Chaltén from El Calafate passes through a flat desert area with the Andes mountains in the west.
Figure 25. Road to El Chaltén
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Figure 26. Guanacos silhouetted against the Andes
Figure 27. Remains of guanaco that got caught up trying to jump fence
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Figure 28. Bee pollinating desert flower
Figure 29. UFO over desert
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Figure 30. The land of butterflies
Figure 31. Estancia (sheep farm)
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Figure 32. El Chaltén and Fitz Roy in distance
Figure 33. View of Cerro Torre near El Chaltén
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Figure 34. View down into El Chaltén
El Chaltén is a rough around the edges little town of 2,200 people sustained by tourism in the summer season. Come winter, its population dropped to about 600 people.
Figure 35. Our hotel
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Figure 36. Our neighbours BBQing Argentinian beef
Figure 37. Southern lapwing
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Figure 38. Pollination
Figure 39. Our rental car
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Figure 40. Patagonia is a land of butterflies
Figure 41. Cerro Poincenot and Mt. Fitz Roy at sunset (viewed from El Chaltén)
El Chalten – Hike to see Mt. FitzRoy (4 February)
We hiked up 14 kms up to Laguna de Los Tres and back to El Chaltén in 11 hours which made for a long, tiring day. Fortunately, the notoriously changeable Patagonian weather cooperated and we had sunshine right up to the magnificent mirador at Laguna de Los Tres.
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Figure 42. Route up to and back from Laguna de Los Tres
Figure 43. View of FitzRoy from Rio de los Vueltas Valley near El Pilar trailhead
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Figure 44. View of FitzRoy near start of El Pilar trail
Figure 45. Lost in a sea of green
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Figure 46. Small mountain flowers
The trails were well maintained but there were lots of steps due to the logs buried across the trail to prevent erosion.
Figure 47. Trail maintenance
The final stretch to the mirador at Laguna de Los Tres involved a difficult hike up the steep rocky moraine.
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Figure 48. Steep trail up moraine to Laguna de Los Tres
Finally at the top of the moraine, we reached the mirador at Laguna de Los Tres with its magnificent view of the FitzRoy massif and the glaciers draining down into the laguna.
Figure 49. The payoff view at Laguna de Los Tres
From the laguna we descended the Fitz Roy Trail back to El Chaltén. The 4 hour hike was tedious.
Looking back up to FitzRoy, we could see its summit obscured by the clouds that were rapidly moving in and we were thankful that we had no clouds obscuring our view at the mirador.
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Figure 50. View of FitzRoy obscured during descent via Fitz Roy Trail
Figure 51. Pretty little mountain flower
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Figure 52. View of Rio de los Vueltas Valley during descent via Fitz Roy Trail
Arriving back in El Chaltén, we bought a big bottle of Fanta and drank it in short order.
Figure 53. Back at El Chaltén at the Fitz Roy trailhead
Overall the 14 kms and 11 hours or hiking took a toll on us and made the upcoming hikes more difficult but the views of Fitz Roy along the hike were wonderful.
El Calafate (5-7 February)
At 5 PM we left El Chaltén for the 4 hour drive back to El Calafate. El Calafate (pop 20,000) is located on the south of Lake Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina. The name of the city is derived from a little bush with yellow flowers and dark blue berries that is common in Patagonia. Page 27 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
El Calafate has grown substantially as it serves as the hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciares National Park including the Perito Moreno Glacier and El Chaltén.
Figure 54. With explorer Francisco ‘Perito’ Moreno in El Calafate
From El Calafate, we drove an hour west to see the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier that was named after the 19th century explorer Francisco ‘Perito’ Moreno. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of three Patagonian glaciers that is growing. This glacier is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes.
The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometres (3 mi) wide, with an average height of 74 m (240 ft) above the surface of the water of Lago Argentino.
Figure 55. The impressive terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier Page 28 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
Figure 56. Elevator at the terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier
Figure 57. Waiting for glacier to calve some blocks of ice
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Figure 58. Block of ice falls into water
Figure 59. Beautiful blues on face of glacier
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Figure 60. Another block of ice falls
Figure 61. Estancia near El Calafate
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Figure 62. Black-necked swans (largest waterfowl native to South America) on Lago Argentino
Figure 63. Flamingo in Lago Argentino (biggest freshwater lake in Argentina)
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Figure 64. Monkey puzzle tree at hotel in El Calafate
Figure 65. Fancy dessert at crêperie in El Calafate
Puerto Natales (7-11 February)
From El Calafate, we caught a public bus to Puerto Natales, Chile. Puerto Natales is a jumping off point for trips into Torre del Paine National Park.
The bus trip lasted 4½ hours but the bus was comfortable and had assigned seating so it was a good trip.
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Figure 66. Bus route from El Calafate to Puerto Natales
Figure 67. Stray dogs at bus terminal in El Calafate
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Figure 68. A comfortable bus
Figure 69. Argentine shepherd with sheep dogs herding sheep
We stopped and got off the bus when passing out of Argentine through its border control and repeated this a couple of miles later when entering Chile through its border control. At the Chilean border we also had to put our hand carried baggage through an x-ray machine while a dog sniffed our stowed baggage for fruits and vegetables.
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Figure 70. Chilean food sniffing dog checks our bags for fruit, etc. at entry point to Chile
Figure 71. Guanacos alongside road in Chile
A couple of times during the bus trip, we could look up and see Andean condors overhead. The Andean condor is found in the Andes mountains and has a wingspan of up to 3.2 m/10.5 ft.
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Figure 72. Andean condors overhead
Puerto Natales is a city of some 19,000 people. Like elsewhere in Patagonia, it was largely settled in the early 20th century by European immigrants, primarily Germans, British, including English, Welsh and Scots, Croats, Greeks, Italians and Spaniards. The port is on Seno de Última Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) which is connected to the Pacific Ocean.
Figure 73. Puerto Natales
We arrived in the midafternoon and walked downtown to exchange some US$ for Chilean pesos. There is no black market currency exchange rate in Chile and we got 600 pesos to a US$.
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Figure 74. Oceanfront at Puerto Natales
Throughout Puerto Natales, one can find statues of the mylodon which was an extinct giant ground sloth. Its remains were found in a nearby cave in 1895.
Figure 75. One of several statues of the mylodon found in Puerto Natales
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Figure 76. Colourful downtown Puerto Natales
Figure 77. Heading off the wedding reception
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Figure 78. Old narrow gauge railway steam engine
Torres del Paine National Park – Day 1 (8 February)
We made the 2 hour drive from Puerto Natales to the Torres del Paine National Park in drizzly, overcast weather.
Figure 79. A dreary drive to Torre del Paine NP
Along the way, we stopped to see rheas and ubiquitous guanacos. The rhea is a large flightless bird, related to the ostrich and emu, that is native to South America.
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Figure 80. Rhea
Figure 81. Guanaco striking a pose for us
Our first day in Torres del Paine National Park involved a long hike to the wonderful Mirador Las Torres. We started hiking from the Hotel Las Torres at 1030 AM and finished back there at 8:30 PM after 10 hours on the trail.
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Figure 82. Long hike to Mirador Las Torres
It was spitting rain when we started hiking and the mountains were shrouded in clouds – not encouraging starting conditions to see anything at the Mirador Las Torres some 5 hours distant.
Figure 83. Starting the long hike to a mirador in the drizzle
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Figure 84. Packing out garbage from the Refugio y Camping El Chileno
Figure 85. Refugio y Camping El Chileno at halfway point of hike
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Figure 86. Escaping the cold and the rain in the refugio
Figure 87. Continuing up to the mirador
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Figure 88. Rocks in roots of fallen tree
Figure 89. Dykes forming fins on mountainside
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Figure 90. Duct tape shoe repair gives out
To reach the mirador, we had to slog up a steep and rocky moraine. This section seemed to go on and on as the trail traversed up and down across the moraine.
Figure 91. Long slog up moraine to mirador
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Figure 92. Nearing top of moraine and the mirador
Figure 93. At long last after 5 hours, the mirador was reached
The Torres del Paine or Towers of the Blue Sky in English, were indeed mainly in blue sky although there were clouds were forming around the torres. The view was spectacular.
The three Towers of Paine – Torre Sur (8,204 feet), Torre Central (8,071 feet) and Torre Norte (7,415 feet) are granite monoliths shaped by the forces of glacial ice. These towers provide very vertical climbing whose difficulty is exacerbated but frequent fierce winds.
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Figure 94. South, Central and North Towers (left to right)
The route back down was long and discouraging as once past the Refugio y Camping El Chileno, the route rises up steeply at the time when one is tired and wanting the hiking to end but there are still two hours to go
Figure 95. A tired hiker being transport out on horseback for US$80
After the hike, we stayed the night in tents at a private campsite outside of the park. The campsite had a wonderful view of Las Torres.
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Figure 96. Monte Almirante Nieto (2500 m) and Las Torres from campsite
Figure 97. Communal supper
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Figure 98. Campsite with a wonderful view of Torres del Paine NP as darkness falls
Getting up early in the morning presented a wonderfully clear night with a ¾ moon illuminating the mountains.
Figure 99. Monte Almirante Nieto and Las Torres at 5 AM
Our local guide had told us pumas are very occasionally seen near the campsite but sighting one is rare and in fact it took him seven years to see his first one. Sitting around waiting for sunrise towards 6 AM I noticed something moving in the dark about 75 m away – it sure looked like a big cat but it was gone in an instant. However, in a matter of minutes a second big cat moved across in front. This cat stopped and looked at me as I took a grainy photograph of it. I could see the red auto-focus light from the camera reflected back to me from its eyes. The AF lights gave the puma to bright red eyes. After a couple of minute, the cat moved on and then a couple of hares hopped past.
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Figure 100. Puma walking past campsite at 5:50 AM
With the pumas gone, the next event was the rays of sunrise reddening Las Torres.
Figure 101. Monte Almirante Nieto and Las Torres at sunrise at 6:44 AM
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Figure 102. Las Torres at sunrise at 6:45 AM
Torres del Paine National Park – Day 2 (9 February)
Leaving our private campsite, we drove 30 minutes to catch the Lago Pehoé catamaran to the Refugio y Camping Lake Pehoé. We camped for 2 nights at the Refugio and made day hikes from there.
Figure 103. Passenger ferry across Lake Pehoé to Refugio y Camping Lake Pehoé
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Figure 104. Lago Pehoé catamaran
Figure 105. Inside a very crowded Lago Pehoé catamaran
During the 30 minute crossing of Lago Pehoé, there were wonderful views of the mountains knowns as the Cuernos del Paine (Horns of the Sky).
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Figure 106. Cuernos del Paine from Lago Pehoé catamaran
Figure 107. Approaching ferry terminal at Refugio y Camping Lake Pehoé
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Figure 108. Campsite at Refugio y Camping Lake Pehoé
At the campsite, we stowed our packs and then hiked up to Lago Skottberg.
Figure 109. Hiking to Lago Skottberg
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Figure 110. Pretty bell-shaped flowers
Figure 111. Cuerno Norte and Cuerno Principal
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Figure 112. Back and looking for our tent amongst the sea of tents at campsite
Figure 113. Thousands of acres were burnt in a 2011 fire caused by a careless hiker
Back from our hike, we passed some time sitting in the crowded and warm cookhouse in the campsite. Unfortunately, there was a sign on the window that encouraged bigotry against a persecuted religion by ascribing blame for the 2011 forest fire to that religion. Clearly any unbigoted person would recognize that the fire was not started by this person because of his religion. I scratched out the name of the religion as best I could.
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Figure 114. Bigoted message in the cookhouse in the campsite
Torres del Paine National Park – Day 3 (10 February)
Our sleep was not very comfortable as the mattress was very thin and provided little isolation from the ground.
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Figure 115. Not many stirring in the early morning
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Figure 116. Emerging from an uncomfortable night in tent
Figure 117. A fiery sunrise over Lake Pehoé at 6:50 AM
We only had a half day until we caught the 1230 ferry back across Lake Pehoé where we’d meet our bus for the return trip to Puerto Natales in the afternoon. That gave us enough time to hike over to Lago Grey. Unfortunately, the renown strong Patagonian winds were blowing a gusts up to 60 mph which made hiking more challenging and made taking good photographs very difficult as one was buffeted about.
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Figure 118. Strong Patagonian winds
Figure 119. Aquamarine iceberg from Grey Glacier on Lago Grey
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Figure 120. Close-up of iceberg
Figure 121. Catamaran arrives fashionably late for 1230 PM departure
The catamaran appeared overloaded as many people crowded on since if they missed the 1230 PM departure, they’d have to wait until the next departure at 1830 PM. It was standing room only inside the catamaran for the rough crossing given the strong Patagonian winds gusting up to 60 mph.
We loaded back on our waiting mini-bus and headed straight back to Puerto Natales where we arrived in the early evening and settled into an aging hotel room in the Hotel Eberhard.
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Figure 122. Iconic image of guanacos in Torres del Paine NP
Figure 123. Guanaco eyeing Federico in Torres del Paine NP
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Punta Arenas (11-12 February)
Leaving Puerto Natales, we made the 270 km trip south to Punta Arenas in 3½ hours on a comfortable public bus.
Figure 124. Bus route from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas
Figure 125. Group waiting at Puerto Natales bus depot for 9:30 AM departure
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Figure 126. Statue of hard rock miner at bus depot
Figure 127. Line of sheep heading off
Arriving in Punta Arenas, we had a briefing about the following day’s 12 hour bus trip to Ushuaia and then headed out to explore the city which turned out to be an interesting one.
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Figure 128. Federico briefing about the following day’s 12 hour bus trip to Ushuaia
Punta Arenas ("Sandy Point") is a city of 128,000 on the Strait of Magellan. It was originally established by the Chilean government in 1848 as a tiny penal colony to assert sovereignty over the Strait.
Figure 129. A hotel – one of several buildings in the Parian style
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Figure 130. Canada is associated with shoes – the Winnipeg shoe store
Most of southern Patagonia is free of Indian or Selk'nam peoples as they were hunted down and killed during the late 19th century in what is now called the Selk'nam Genocide. The cause was that the Selk'nam viewed the sheep on the estancias as game to be hunted which didn’t sit well with the sheep ranchers.
Figure 131. Drawing of Selk'nam male painted for the male initiation ceremony or Hain ceremony
The Cemetery of Punta Arenas is reminiscent of the Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires with extravagant tombs. However one noticeable difference is that the huge bell-shaped topiary cypresses trees spread throughout the cemetery.
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Figure 132. Cemetery of Punta Arenas
Figure 133. Huge bell-shaped topiary cypresses trees are spread throughout the cemetery
Behind the cemetery are warehouses of niches holding the remains of the lesser citizens who can’t afford the price of admission to the main cemetery.
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Figure 134. Niches for the lesser citizens
Figure 135. Niches decorated with remembrances of the interred dead
From the cemetery, we walked down to the waterfront of Punta Arenas.
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Figure 136. Monument to maritime history of Punta Arenas
Figure 137. Fishing trawler in Punta Arenas
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Figure 138. Cormorants and gull on abandoned pier
The Punta Arenas harbour was one of the most important in Chile before the construction of the Panama Canal since it was used as a coaling station by the steamships transiting between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Straits of Magellan.
Figure 139. Mural of past port activity in Punta Arenas
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Figure 140. Beautiful flowers in yard across from our B&B
Figure 141. Helpful signage for female and male toilets in restaurant
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Figure 142. A chocolate pyramid for dessert
In the central square downtown, there is an impressive statue to Ferdinand Magellan (Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes), a Portuguese explorer, who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies (1519–1522) that resulted in the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Magellan's expedition became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean (then named "peaceful sea" by Magellan) having discovered the Strait of Magellan. He was killed in the Philippines by the natives.
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Figure 143. Memorial to Ferdinand Magellan
Figure 144. Lots of red light telling you to stop at intersection Page 74 of 99 Journey through Patagonia (31 Jan – 19 Feb 15)
Figure 145. Morning breaks in Punta Arenas
Ushuaia (12-18 February)
Leaving Punta Arenas we made the 616 km/383 mile trip south to Ushuaia in 11 hours on an uncomfortably hot public bus.
Figure 146. Route from Punta Arenas, Chile south to Ushuaia, Argentina
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Figure 147. Good breakfast at the B&B for our long bus trip
Figure 148. Bus to Ushuaia
The major obstacle for the bus trip down to Ushuaia is the ferry crossing of the Magellan Strait. In good weather the crossing is done in 20 minutes as the strait is only 4.7 km (2.9 mi) wide at that point. However, the Patagonian winds occasionally cause the crossing to become too rough and long delays can result. Fortunately for us the winds although strong did not stop the ferry but the ferry was shut down the prior day and there were long lines of transport trucks backed up to cross.
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Figure 149. Ferry across Straits of Magellan
Figure 150. Ferry arrives at Bahía Azul on the southern shore of the Straits of Magellan
The bus had a steward who performed duties similar to an airline stewardess, including serving coffee and cookies onboard.
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Figure 151. Coffee and cookies served onboard bus by steward!
Figure 152. Cycling tourist gives up pedalling in the strong Patagonian winds
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Figure 153. Sheep in Tierra del Fuego
Figure 154. Estancia
Once again we had to pass through border control to exit Chile and then pass through border control to enter Argentina.
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Figure 155. Argentinian border control
Figure 156. Mountains near Ushuaia
Ushuaia is a city of some 56,000 inhabitants that has grown recently with the increase in cruises to Antarctica. We had to spend 6 days in Ushuaia until our ship, MS Expedition, sailed for Antarctica. This is a long time to spend in this city and we’d have another 4 days to spend in town between our Antarctica cruise and the departure of the Silver Explorer for Africa.
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Figure 157. Celebrating end of bus trip in Ushuaia
Figure 158. Working out at penguin gym
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Figure 159. Tugboat San Christopher abandoned in 1957
Figure 160. Funnel of San Christopher (a salvage tug)
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Figure 161. 1,000 km to Antarctica from Ushuaia
Figure 162. Looking for penguins
We took a 6 hour cruise on the eagle Channel to see the wildlife. A boat left at 3 PM and returned at 9 PM as the sun was setting.
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Figure 163. “My goodness, he’s touching the emperor penguin!”
Figure 164. Route of 6 hour cruise down the Beagle Channel
At the start of our cruise, we passed by the beautiful superyacht Triton that was at anchor for all the days that we were in Ushuaia. Searching on the Internet, we found some views of the magnificent interior of this superyacht.
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Figure 165. Passing superyacht Triton (2004)
Figure 166. The master suite onboard Triton which we didn’t get to see
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Figure 167. Close-up viewing of sea lions
Figure 168. Giant sea lion bull with harem
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Figure 169. Magellanic penguins “flying” back to colony in Beagle Channel
Figure 170. Magellanic penguin colony in Beagle Channel
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Figure 171. Sun setting near 8:50 PM as we return to Ushuaia
After docking at the end of our tour, we headed to supper at the María Lola Restó with its wonderful view out over Ushuaia. This was the finale of our tour as we’d be staying on in Ushuaia for 4 days until our Antarctic cruise sails while the other folks return to Buenos Aires.
Figure 172. Wonderful view out over Ushuaia from María Lola Restó
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Figure 173. Supping with Radka on Argentine wine and beef to wind up trip with group
Figure 174. Tugboat San Christopher at dusk
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Figure 175. Our cabin for 4 days
Figure 176. Climbing up weird staircase to loft in cabin
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Figure 177. Huge Celebrity Infinity (2,100 passengers) in port
Figure 178. Size of Celebrity Infinity is clear given buses beside ship
The Argentinian pique at losing the 1982 Falklands War to the British is manifest in Ushuaia where an offensive anti- English sign greets passengers at the entrance to the pier.
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Figure 179. Ignorant sign at pier “prohibiting mooring of English pirates ships”
Figure 180. There is an Argentine naval base in town where they plot another invasion of the Falklands
In the late 19th century, the Argentine government established a penal colony in Ushuaia and subsequently built a major prison that was shut down in 1947. It is now the Museo Maritimo.
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Figure 181. Mural of prisoners in uniforms
Figure 182. Prisoner escaping
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Figure 183. La Bella Donna
Figure 184. Silent protest on the main street
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Figure 185. The Silver Explorer, our ship to Africa arrives in port while still on the Antarctica run
Figure 186. Buying el cheapo shoes and polish for use onboard the Silver Explorer
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Figure 187. “Luna Park” carrousel
Figure 188. Mural on Ushuaia hospital showing native healing practices
We were lucky to see the pre-Lent Carnival de Ushuaia on Shrove Tuesday. The parade started at 4:30 PM at we were able to stand opposite the reviewing stand so had a great view of the troupes performing. However after 2 hours of standing there we were cold.
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Figure 189. Pre-Lent Carnaval de Ushuaia on Shrove Tuesday
Figure 190. Young nun dressed for carnaval
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Figure 191. Bulls and skirts
Figure 192. Colourful feathers
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Figure 193. Bare mountains near bedtime
Figure 194. Same mountains in morning after overnight storm dumped snow on them
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