Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Fin del Mundo (the end of the world?)

You will probably have detected a pattern with our travel methods by now, so not to disappoint you we embarked on yet another marathon bus journey. A 3am start from El Calafate for a 4 hour drive to Rio Gallegos was interrupted by the arrest of one of our fellow passengers at a routine police checkpoint. We then set out for Ushuaia, the world´s most southerly city. This involved leaving Argentina and crossing back into Chile, a ferry across the Magellan straight and then back into Argentina – 4 sets of immigration and customs. Again the scenery in Tierra del Fuego was stunning with very few populated areas for hundreds of kilometres.


We stayed at a B&B for a change and we were treated to dinner one night with the family. In Argentina they eat late – it was 11.30pm before we ate anything and the kids had school the next day!

Ushuaia was originally intended as a penal colony and is home to a fantastic museum about the prison, Antarctica, local wildlife and the indigenous Yamanas (who were wiped out within 100 years of the Spanish arriving) and is housed in the old prison buildings.


We managed a chilly boat trip out to the various islands in the Beagle Channel where we saw cormorants, penguins, seals and sea lions.


Male sea lions can weigh up to 300kg and live in harems with 5 to 9 females who weigh half as much. The big boy in the pictures was trying desperately to get up to his ladies but had chosen a bit of rock that was just to steep for him. He kept on climbing up and then sliding back down and eventually jumped back in the water to find an easier way up for a spot of canoodling. It was very amusing.

Before our flight out (it was the choice of a 3 and a half our flight or 3 days on a bus - you decide) we headed to the local glacier for a cheeky snowball fight and some lunch before heading north to Buenos Aires.




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