Cocktail Total: 1 glass Proseco
Sunburn Status: Almost back to normal. I haven't seen much sunshine since we've been on the ship.
Sleep: 6 hours
This morning we arrived in the Port of Ushuaia, Argentina ready to enjoy what the locals reported to us was by far the sunniest and warmest day they have had all summer. What luck! (It was in the upper sixties and sunny.)
There are two stories that explain how this corner of the world was given its dramatic name, "Tierra Del Fuego," which translated means, "The Land Of Fire." In one version, it is said that when Magellan sailed into this land he saw from his ship the smoke from several fires burning along the shore. The fires were lit by the native "Canoe People" of the land. The native tribes were afraid of Magellan's ships and they used signal fires along the shores to warn neighboring tribes of the ship's arrival in the bay. These signal fires inspired Magellan to name the land "Tierra Del Fuego." In a second version of the story, the name "Tierra Del Fuego" was given to the land by Magellan because the native canoe people (who wore little to no clothing despite the inclement weather) tended constant fires to keep warm.
If I were given the opportunity to name the place today, I think I would call it "Tierra Del Vientos," or "Land of the Winds," because the wind blows constantly here and this is reflected in the landscape. Also, there are no more native people to light fires along the shore, as the Spanish brought European diseases with them to this land that wiped out the tribes within a few decades. The trees here all grow in the direction of the prevailing winds and the shores are windswept and rocky. Its a beautiful, but extreme land.
Tierra Del Fuego is an archipelago surrounded by the South Atlantic Ocean, the Straight of Magellan, and the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean. The city of Ushuaia resides on the Argentine side of Tierra Del Fuego - however most of the main island actually belongs to Chile. Ushuaia, with a 55 degree south latitude, holds the distinction of being "the southern most city in the world" and calls itself "the city at the end of the world." As the world is round and has no real end, this expression does not make any practical sense, but it is a cute marketing tool that is widely employed by the people of this charming seaside town.
While the city is full of charm today, its origins were a little more sketchy. In the beginning, the city was basically founded as a penal colony - and this began its population. The Argentine Navy once operated a penal colony on Isla de Los Estados - a small island off Tierra Del Fuego's eastern coast. Later -- late into the nineteenth century, Argentina set up Presidio (Prison) de Ushuiaia which functioned during the Devil's Island era. Like its infamous cousin Alcatraz, and other similar prisons built in harsh environments, Presidio Ushuaia was considered escape proof. Ironically, the first prisoners sent to the island to serve their sentences had to build their own prison walls. Later, prisoners were used to clear the land and also to build a railroad for the small city. The train brought prisoners in, and left with wood supplies destined for cities in northern Argentina. Until the early nineteen forties, nearly everyone in Ushuaia worked for the prison in some capacity, or was held captive in it. In 1947, the prison became part of the Argentine Naval Base, and is now a museum. Today, Ushuaia is a thriving port, and a popular stop for expeditions needing to gear up for missions to Antarctica. Also, tourism is a big business, as is farming, and other entrepreneurial businesses. To top it all off, Ushuaia is a duty free port, and today, is Argentina's fastest growing city with a population of over 100,000.
We began our day in Ushuaia by climbing aboard a tour bus and driving out of the city and into the Tierra Del Fuego National Park - just twelve miles away. The park, created in 1960, protects the southern tip of the Andes Mountains from Lake Kami (Fagnano) to the Beagle Channel. The islands are home to a limited variety of fauna with only about 20 species of mammals and about one hundred species of birds. The most abundant and easily seen wild animal on the island is the Fuegan Red Fox. We encountered one of the foxes while in the park. He was totally at home among people and couldn't care less that we were there watching him. The fox was totally engrossed in stalking a rabbit (which are very numerous on the islands) and didn't once lose focus on account of us. The fox seemed almost tame. As they are a protected species on the island, they have no natural predators, and are at the top of the food chain. The other animal common to the island but is more seldom seen because it prefers to live high in the hills is the Guanaco - an Andean cousin of the Llama. There are no reptiles or poisonous insects on the islands, and no predatory animals (like bears or pumas) either.
The forests in Tierra Del Fuego are mostly filled with Llenga and Beech Wood trees which tend to be covered in light green "old man's beard" mosses and lichens. There are also many freshwater lakes in the region, often surrounded by pete bogs, small alpine plants and flowers - including orchids, and grasslands. Many Upland Geese make their summer homes here - we saw several nesting pairs on our walk. The freshwater lakes in the Tierra Del Fuego National Park remind me a lot of Alaska's alpine lakes.
After spending a couple of hours in the park, we returned to the town of Ushuaia to wander around the busy streets in the sunshine, and to write postcards from "the end of the earth," as you must do while in Ushuaia, to prove that you have visited. Ushuaia is my favorite port so far and I wish we would have had more than just a few hours to explore it. It is a lively hillside town that is covered with small gardens of well tended lupine and wild poppies. They grow very tall because of the extended daylight hours here in the summer months - just like in Alaska. All of the buildings are brightly colored and there are murals painted along many streets. There are wonderful shops of every kind along the main street, and interesting cafe's to spend your time in. The people are all very friendly, and there is a wonderful chocolate shop called Laguna Negra Chocolates that you must visit if you ever find yourself visiting the southernmost city in the world. Also - there is a great little genuine Argentine Leather shop on Calle Calafate in Ushuaia, in which I went on a little shopping spree. After looking all over Buenos Aires without finding genuine Argentine Leather products - who would have guessed that I would find them in Ushuaia? But I did.. and with no tax, and the dollar valued at four pesos, the prices were unbeatable.
I hope I get a chance to visit this great little town again sometime.
More soon…
This morning we arrived in the Port of Ushuaia, Argentina ready to enjoy what the locals reported to us was by far the sunniest and warmest day they have had all summer. What luck!
There are two stories that explain how this corner of the world was given its dramatic name, "Tierra Del Fuego," which translated means, "The Land Of Fire" In one version, It is said that when Magellan sailed into this land he saw from his ship the smoke from several fires burning along the shore. The fires were lit by the native "Canoe People" of the land. It is said that the native tribes were afraid of Magellan's ships and they used signal fires along the shores to warn neighboring tribes of the ship's arrival in the bay. These signal fires inspired Magellan to name the land "Tierra Del Fuego." In a second version of the story, the name "Tierra Del Fuego" was given to the land by Magellan because the native canoe people (who wore little to no clothing despite the inclement weather) tended constant fires to keep warm.
More soon…
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