Cape Horn & Ushuaia

We are sailing the inside passage toward Ushuaia, Argentina on Tierra del Fuego, the world’s more southerly city.  We are in the fjords and are surrounded by snow capped mountains and islands.  It is gloomy looking, with heavy dark grey clouds hanging low over the valleys.  It is raining and cold outside.  The water is flat so we are having a good ride.

This morning I awoke to glaciers and ice floes.  Michael drew back the drapes and from my bed I could see the Amalia glacier!  What a wonderful way to start the day.  And it was all downhill from there.

I played bridge in the morning, I played bridge in the afternoon, and I played bridge in the evening. We occasionally had to pause the games to have a look at some incredible glaciers, most of which seem to being receding. One glacier had an eye-popping waterfall from high up on the mountain.

We spent the day sailing down the Strait of Magellan, a 363 mile channel linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that is an alternative route used by sailors to avoid “Rounding the Horn.”  It meanders through untamed nature past towering cliffs, glaciers, and a maze of islands.   We then poked out into the Pacific for a few bumps and then tucked back into the protected waters of the Beagle Channel.  The rain had stopped.

 “Rounding the Horn” is notorious for its storms and raging waters.  There are gales or worse on over 200 days per year with 66 foot high waves quite common.   Our captain has decided not to go around Cape Horn on the outside as the weather was just too bad.  Emerging from protected waters around 9 PM, he did give us what we all came for:  a trip to the Cape.  It’s not very dramatic; it’s just another island with a lighthouse, but it is an infamous one.  The seas were building to 18 feet, but keeping her nose into the waves, the Sojourn rode straight and true.  As a matter of fact, I have a photo of me sitting in the Observation Deck knitting.  We had a great view of the lighthouse on Cape Horn.  Everyone cheered, toasted the success and then went to do other things as the Sojourn made a 180 and headed toward Ushuaia.

Ushuaia

shuaia is on the Argentina side of Tierra del Fuego.  It has a population of about 65,000 and is the provincial capital.  Spreading up the mountains with steep streets and wooden buildings, this charming town is the starting point for many expeditions to Antarctica, and for outdoor enthusiasts, skiers, backpackers, and hikers.  Weather conditions were harsh and the rough geography made this a perfect place for a maximum security prison.  This put Ushuaia on the map.  Today, this is a bustling seaport town with many tourist shops on its main street.  It is also one of the largest seaports in Argentina as it is the launching point for most ships going to Antarctica.  The weather here is cold; the average winter temperature is 0°C (32°F) and the summer average is just 10°C (50°F) and it snows – a lot.  And it is windy – a lot.  Today, it was very BRISK indeed, with a stiff wind and in the low 50s.  On the bright side, it didn’t rain!

After a leisurely start this morning, my tour was the End of the World Train and a folk show.  The bus picked us up on the pier and after a REASONABLE drive we arrived at the train station to board the Prisoner’s Train for a 7km ride to the end of the world.  We passed majestic snowcapped mountains, the zigzagging Pipo River, the Macarena Falls, peat bogs, and the tree cemetery. 

In the late 1880s, the government of Argentina saw the Strait of Magellan as a strategic area in terms of navigation and wanted to establish sovereignty over this forgotten and faraway territory.  What a great place to claim sovereignty and get rid of convicts all at the same time – let’s build a prison!  So in 1902 the idea was put in motion.  By 1910 the first railway movement was recorded.  Prisoners were sent out on the trains to cut wood and extend the rail tracks.  Wood was needed for the prison and for the growing infrastructure for the city.  The prison shut down in 1947.

This historic steam train was used to transport prisoners out into the forest to cut trees for wood.  We saw a huge area that was nothing but weathered tree stumps.  Some stumps were low to the ground, some higher.  You can tell what time of the year the tree was cut:  the highest cuts indicate that the trees were cut during winter when the snow was high and the lowest cuts were made during summer.  We also saw many horses grazing in the meadows.

After a short and windy stop at Ensenada Bay for a photo, we headed back to town for a folkloric show and more empanadas.  These were the best empanadas yet.  I had to restrain myself from being a little piggy as I was hungry, they were so good, and we had vegetarians at our table that would not eat them.   I wanted to scoop the uneaten empanadas off the table and into my bag for a little snack later on.  But being a good escort, I had to practice some decorum.

I walked around town after the bus dropped us off, but my bag was too heavy with camera gear, an umbrella, and all other assorted crap I carry that shopping was too uncomfortable.  I did, however, find a free wifi and I got to FaceTime with Deborah and Isabelle!!!!!  Can you imagine that – I am half a world away and we could video chat just like that.  My timing was perfect as I caught them before Isabelle had to leave for school.  The rest of you guys that I tried to FaceTime and text – answer your phones!!

Michael:

I had a brief, but very enjoyable excursion this afternoon called “Beagle Channel by Catamaran.  Truly, the best way to see the rich wildlife of the Beagle channel is by boat and this was a specially designed catamaran with domed windows and most importantly (since it is very cold here) fully enclosed.  Leaving Ushuaia, we made four stops on the way to the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, the actual border between Chile and Argentina.

Each stop was a small island that was home to various species of birds, or sea lions.  The first, “Bird Island,” (I wonder how it got its name) had thousands of small white birds either flying, nesting or crapping all over the place.  Man, did it smell!  The second island had thousands of black and white cormorants, which looked like small penguins, so we called them junior penguins.  The third was inhabited by sea lions, some of them weighing thousands of pounds.  Just for the record, each male sea lion had a harem of from three to 60 females.  Way to go guys!!  It was then back to the boat for well deserved Manhattans.