South America, 2014: Ushuaia, Argentina

13 March 2014

By the time we awoke, the ship was moored in this smallish city. It is advertised as the gateway to the Antarctica as it is the main town that tours and flights to Antarctica depart from. The ship has a tour available (for a mere $2,000) which will fly you to the Antarctica for the day for the opportunity to walk on the continent. We decided to take a closer tour – we took a historic steam train ride through the Tierra del Fuego National Park.

Ushuaia claims to be the southernmost town in the world and has a population of 80,000. In the 1990s, Argentina incentivized people to move to Ushuaia by offering them high wages, so a lot of young people relocated to the area to work. They eventually married, had families and have now established this area as their home. It is the southern terminus of the Panamerican Highway, so Russ and I can now say we have driven the highway at both its extreme points. The city is in a beautiful setting, situated along the Beagle channel with snow-capped mountains as backdrop. The architecture reminds me of British and Russian styles with lots of gingerbread accents.

The area was first visited by a European missionary, Thomas Bridges, who remained the only white settler for decades in the 1800s. He did an amazing job of documenting the Yaghan people’s language and culture. Thanks to him, the language will survive even though there is only one living native who can speak the language. He was much loved by the local people.

The town didn’t take long to tour. There are some tourist shops, but we had difficulty finding much of interest to us. There was a small artisan village of shops where I found a couple of local crafts to buy. I managed to stay warm enough with my hat, gloves, scarf and jacket, but it was plenty cold.

Our tour took us on the Panamerican highway out to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. We were on paved road for only about a mile out of town, and then we were onto gravel ala Alaska roads. One of our tour stops was a viewpoint on the Beagle Channel. The clouds had lifted a bit so Russ got some beautiful pictures of the islands that make up the end of the world.

The railway is a narrow gauge diesel train that is a replica of the ones used in the early 1900s to transport inmates of the penal colonies in the area. The Argentinian government tried to create a prison environment where it would not be easy for the prisoners to escape and it certainly seems like this area would meet that requirement. The colonies existed until 1947.

We had a very nice hour and half ride, sitting in comfortable, warm cars and chugging slowly through the National Park. The views were beautiful and reminded me a lot of Alaska because of the low trees and scrub bush. We passed a river inhabited by beavers. Beavers are not indigenous to the area, but they have thrived since being introduced in the 1940s. On the other hand, the rabbits that were introduced at the same time have become a huge nuisance to the sheep ranchers because they have no natural predators.

The weather held the whole day so we had a great time in Ushuaia. Now we continue on the Beagle Channel to Punta Arenas, our first port in Chili. I am not sure if we are on the Pacific side or the Atlantic side of South America – it seems we are right in between. Being in a channel has been nice; motion-wise we have had smooth sailing. It is still very cold and windy though. We saw some beautiful country with several glaciers as we left Ushuaia.

Docked in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Ushuaia sandwiched between the water and the mountains.

The sun managed a weak appearance by late afternoon.

This is a sculpture in the park along the harbor. The Fournier was a ship lost in 1949 with 78 people aboard; it remains a mystery why the ship sank.

We have seen several of these exercise stations situated in parks throughout South America.

Street murals are very popular in Argentina. Unfortunately, so is graffiti.

A highly decorated penguin.

This was posted on the dock for all cruise passengers to read. Argentina remains very sensitive about the Falklands.

This is a sailing ship designed for disabled and able crew. It is used as a teaching ship. I am going to look for it at this summer's tall ship festival in San Pedro.

These old cannons are on the grounds of the Museum at the End of the World. We didn’t have the time to tour the museum.

A view of our ship from the town plaza.

Some of the European architecture of the buildings. The whole town is a eclectic collection of buildings, a real hodgepodge.

On the Panamerican highway, heading toward the Tierra del Fuego National Park.

A pretty narrow bridge for this huge bus.

The official name of the railway.

They really played up the use of the railway as a convict train. You could even buy convict uniforms – we actually saw one of the tourists dressed in one.

Some of the passenger cars at the southernmost railway.

There I am, visiting with a fellow passenger while waiting for our ride.

Our little steam engine.

Leaving the station.

Our little steam engine making its way through the National Park.

This is known as the tree cemetery. The tour guide said the shorter ones were cut down in the summer, the longer ones in the winter. This logging was done by the prisoners.

Russ enjoying the train ride.

Crossing the Pipo River in the National Park.

The other steam train making its way back to the train station.

These horses are pretty close to wild. They were brought here by a local rancher, but the ranch failed and the government took over the land. The horses have survived and thrived for close to a decade.

One of the many waterfalls we saw on the train ride.

At this stop, they had replicas of the Yaghun people’s homes. What I found interesting was that the locals wore little clothing year round. I don’t know how they survived in the harsh climate, but they did for about 10,000 years. Then they became the victims of disease when the Europeans arrived.