South America Blog: Day 9
Saturday, January 23 (Ushuaia, Argentina)
We crossed the Chile-Argentina border and arrived in the wonderful phony vowel dump bingo of Ushuaia, Argentina around 10 a.m. Ushuaia is located on the southern side of the island of Tierra del Fuego, and it's the southernmost city in the world, with a population of close to 70,000. It isn't the southernmost permanent settlement. Port Williams, where our ship will stop briefly to clear customs, is at least one small town slightly south of Ushuaia.
We opted for a bus tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park, and chose the afternoon offering so we could sleep in. Emergency procedure drills for the crew shortly after arrival at the port would have stymied our efforts to sleep in, were we not already up by happenstance.
The park is located just west of town along Route 3, the only major road in this part of the country. Once we passed outside the city and entered the park, the scrubby vegetation that we had become familiar with on this trip gave way to sub-Antarctic forest. Given the extreme latitude, there is not a wide variety of flora and fauna here. In fact, the guide mentioned that there are only 5 types of trees prevalent here.
Our first stop was by the banks of a lake. At the small dock was a tiny shack of a post office, which billed itself as the "post office at the end of the world". I thought it would be the perfect place to get a postcard for Craig, as Shelley had promised to send one to him. The shack was manned by an old dude with a bushy handlebar moustache. It was every bit what one would expect such a place to be like. He dutifully stamped each postcard twice, and sent them on their way. I snapped a few photos as evidence of the visit.
Our next stop was the visitor centre, which looked almost brand new. To save Shelley's knees, I worked my way to the top and took some panoramic shots of the forest and lake, with snow-capped mountains in the background. Shelley went exploring and found many bunnies, who obliged her for some pictures. When we returned to the bus, we discovered that it was having some mechanical difficulties. Our tour guide led us on an extra hike to Lago Roca for some more scenic vistas. The area is an active campground, popular with locals. Although a replacement bus was summoned, our bus was revived in time to resume the journey.
Although we fell behind schedule due to the mechanical delays, we still had time for the last stop on our tour, Lapataia Bay. Nearly far enough west to be back in Chile, it represents the end of Route 3. The particular significance of this spot is that marks the end of the Pan-American highway, which apparently runs all the way to Alaska. The sign there also proclaimed that we were 3,039 km from Buenos Aires, which indicates that we still have a long way to go on our cruise.
Returning back to the city, we only had about 45 minutes before the embarkation deadline. Leaving Shelley behind, I took off for a quick peek at the city, camera in hand. Ushuaia is a very modern city, as the Argentinian government has only made efforts in the last 20 years or so to develop it as the capital of the Tierra del Fuego territory, and a tourist destination in its own right. I found it much more appealing than Punta Arenas. Ushuaia was a penal colony until 1947, not surprising considering the degree of isolation in the days before roads connected the city to the rest of the country. The buildings were mostly modern and well-kept. The climate in Ushuaia is surprisingly mild, considering it is only 750 miles from Antarctica. Although the temperature does not typically exceed 15 Celsius in summer, the average winter temperature is only around freezing, making the area very habitable year-round.
After dinner, it was our 2nd karaoke night. Shelley had fallen asleep, and even the tickle alarm did not succeed in waking her! She did eventually wake up, but she passed on karaoke, so I decided to go by myself. For the first 30 minutes, hardly anyone was there and no one got up to sing. I had lost the card where I had written down some potential song choices the first time, so I was busily going through the book recreating it. I sung The Way by Fastball (since I figured Shelley probably didn't know that song anyway) but the highlight of the session was unquestionably Vladimir from Russia. He sang Losing My Religion by R.E.M. and Runaway Train by Soul Asylum in a thick Russian accent while seemingly constipated. His female companion stood up at the edge of the dance floor and gyrated while he sang. If he put out an album of cover songs, I would totally buy it.
Back in the room, we watched some Supernatural, and drifted off into oblivion.