2017.01.29 Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia, at 55 degrees’ latitude south, holds the distinction of being the southernmost city in the world. It is the largest city in Argentine Tierra del Fuego an archipelago of nearly 30,000 square miles. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Strait of Magellan and the easternmost part of the Pacific Ocean. Until the late 1800s the area was almost completely inhabited by the Yahgan indigenous peoples (who wore no clothes). They were a nomadic people who traveled by canoe throughout the islands at the bottom of South America. They frequented the site of the town, which takes its name from these people’s description of it as “the bay that opens west”. Early navigators from Europe disliked the violent weather and hazardous seas which impeded their travel towards Asia. It was not until 1870 that the South American Missionary Society, arriving from the Falkland Islands opened the area to European settlement. Until the mid 20^th century Ushuaia was known for its penal colony, as many of Argentina’s most notorious criminals were sent here. In 2002 the area experienced a debilitating economic crash which led to many pro tourism policies being enacted. People are incentivized to settle in the area by a virtually tax free society and high wages for workers. Tourism has increased as well, both with ships stopping en route to Antarctica and visitors drawn to the unique landscape of this remote destination.

In this port I had arranged a private tour to see some penguins. At home we volunteer at the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse and the person that does the scheduling, who grew up in Argentina, had a friend that coordinated these tours, and she did such a great job.

First thing to explain is the weather. The temperature for this day was supposed to be in the 50’s. However, we spent the day between rain, cold, wind and sun. I cannot tell you how many times the coat came off and on. As we got off our ship and went down the pier we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow and a big welcome. You will notice it says this is the capital of the Malvinas. This is what the Argentinians call the Falkan Islands that they fought with Great Britain over (and lost). I do not know how Ushuaia became a part of this.

We had to meet at the tour hut at the end of the pier. We boarded a catamaran called Les Eclaireurs and headed southeast down the Beagle Channel, having as final destination Harberton Ranch.

The first place we stopped was at Bird Island where we saw a colony of Kumaran. They look at lot like penguins when they are sitting, but you can see they are birds when in flight. These birds are protected by Argentinian law. The black color is camouflage when on the water as the blend in and the white acts as a reflection when looked from above. They can dive 25 meters for their food.

Our next stop was Sea lion island where we will saw sea lions of which there are two types. The first is  the South American Sea Lion. The male can weigh up to 350 Kg and has a main around his next. The female is about half the size at 150 kg. One male can have up to 15 females. The male can live only 15 years while the female cane live 25. The other sea lion here is the South American Fur Seal. They are known for their rounded snout with yellow on it. They will swallow rocks to help their digestion. The male and female both weigh about 150 Kg. They can dive anywhere from 25-100 meters for food.

One of the birds that we saw on these islands was the Kelp Goose, who can also dive 25 meters for their food.

Once in the archipelago Les Eclaireurs (our boat) we saw the famous namesake lighthouse.

Once in Harberton Ranch, we made a 15 minutes’ trip from the pier to Martillo Island in a semi rigid boat. We had a great guide called Gabby.

On the island we will walked for an hour between Magellan and Gentoo penguins. But, we had a rare treat, we also got to see a King Penguin. She said he had swum over from Punta Arenas to check out if this would be a good place for his colony to move to.

There were many families with babies on the island also. Some of them still had the fluffy hair on them, which made them look a little comical. The nest is a tunnel way down in the ground.

There were also many other penguins walking around and playing.

We then returned to the Harberton Ranch. Thomas Bridges (1842-1898) came to this area to work with the indigenous people. He took the time to study their language and created a Yamana – English dictionary of about 3000 words. Because of this he was rewarded with a large amount of land in this area, which is now Harberton Ranch. It was not till the early 1900s that a great niece of his from Ohio, who was a botanist, decided to come over and study the area. Once she found whale and other mammal bones washing up on the beach, she changed her focus to marine life. Up till 1996 they still raised cattle on the ranch, but that year they had a record snow of over 6 meters and it killed all the cattle. The ranch is still in the Bridges family and is family run. We had a great lunch of empanadas (cheese and meat) and a beer. Great lunch for $14.

After lunch we went to the museum of bones of birds and marine mammals called Acatushún. This was started by the botanist from Ohio. It has all sorts of great information on the mammals in the ocean around this area. The little building in the picture is the bone house where they keep all the bones that they are working on. They said it was quite aromatic. We had a wonderful tour.

We then returned to Ushuaia by bus through the Provincial Route J and National Route N. 3, making a stop on the way to see the iconic flag trees. If you have seen our Polar Bear pictures, they have flag trees in Churchill, Canada also. The trip back was 90 km, 45 on a dirt highway and 45 on a paved highway. It was a wonderful day and returned back to Ushuaia about 5:30 PM.