Our five plane journey finally reached its destination in Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southern city in Argentina, and really the most southernly city in the world. The city is nestled on the Beagle Channel, where Darwin visited about 180 years ago and below the very southern tip of the Andean mountain spine, which tower over the town in an impressive fashion.
We spent the weekend in Ushuaia, exploring nearby Tierra Del Fuego national park and getting out on the Beagle Channel, all the while doing our best to stay warm in the cold weather. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing.
Day 1 - Hiking the Park
Our first day took us into the Park, for a couple of hikes in the ancient forest and along lakes and bays. Both hikes were great, with expansive views to peaks near and far. The sheer size of the mountains was amazing, and even more their wildness. It is so rare in this world to be looking across miles and miles of space and know that there is not as single person out there, nor any roads, nor any vestiges of civilization. There are few places left in the world that have this kind of true, unaltered wilderness and that scarcity makes them all the more precious. For example, we hiked about 18 kms in total and hiked about half of the trails available in the park. Yet we must have seen less than 1% of the park, which is not even one of the largest parks down here in Patagonia. Down here, the distances are vast, the lakes clear, the mountains steep and basically inaccessible to humans. May they stay this way forever.
Day 2 - On the Water
We went out on the Beagle Channel, which was blustering with about 25-30 knot wind coming due east down the channel from Chile. Thankfully, the tour was a go, before some nastier weather blew in during the afternoon and evening. It was fun considering the history of this channel and the importance of Darwin's trip in the history of modern science.
One clear highlight of the tour was the sea lion colony on an island in the channel. These lions were in various states of repose, snorting and lying around. But when they wanted to move, they skirted around with surprising dexterity for their girth and overall shape.
The second highlight was getting off the boat in the channel on windswept island in the middle of the channel. This island had been home to the Yagan people. They lived here for centuries and possibly millennia before explorers/conquistadors arrived 5 centuries ago. These original inhabitants, and other tribes in the area, were incredible. They carried around a small fire on their boats and lived basically naked with a covering of sea lion fat/oil as their only barrier for the elements. This covering worked to wick ubiquitous moisture off their bodies. Still, it gets super cold down here in winter and I really can't fathom how people could live that way, so tough. Standing on the island, shivering against the wind, looking across the bay and the steep mountains, seeing the coming weather - i was so impressed with the toughness of the Yagan people.
I am guessing this picture does not make you want to head to the beach.
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Looks beautiful. Sounds freezing. Hows Mu holding up?
ReplyDeleteGina, it has been stunning. Mu was hurting a bit in the cold way down in Tierra del Fuego, but as we came north and got hiking it has warmed up some and she has been giddy.
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