Ushuaia Argentina and Punta Arenas Chile
Yesterday (Monday January 25, 2010) we visited Ushuaia Argentina, the self proclaimed “City at the End of the World” (reachable by car, on an island associated with a continent… etc… etc…) Today we visit Chile’s southern most city, Punta Arenas… Both are found on the maze of waterways which mark the southern most regions of South America…
In Ushuaia, everything is known as “end of the world” we rode the “train at the end of the world” we visited the post office at the “end of the world”… (but there is a post office in Antarctica, so maybe some claims are shall we say, wishful…)
The train was cute… steam powered, tiny cars running on 50cm track (about 18” gauge for those of you addicted to the English system of measurement…) It had originally been a 60cm gauge industrial line, carrying inmates from the local gulag into the hills to cut firewood and lumber… It was abandoned in 1947 or so… and rebuild in the 1990’s with rolling stock found in South Africa… Since then they have rebuilt the original South African steam locomotives and built several new steam locomotives, using the designs and principals of Porta, a recently deceased Argentine engineer of rare skill, and great understanding… so, to some of us (at least to me) this was a pilgrimage.
Having ridden the line, we boarded buses to drive the last several miles of the Pan-American Highway, which ends in a national park nearby… there is a gravel parking lot, a wonderful view of a bay, and the post office at the end of the world… It was crowded… we didn’t manage to get inside…
Re-boarding the bus, we rode back to town where we walked about… looked at souvenirs, purchased a couple of maps, then found coffee and pastries…
We were back aboard the ship by noon for sail away… as we sailed westerly in the Beagle channel… past glaciers and ice fields… They tell us there are only 30 tidewater glaciers left in the world (the glaciers of Antarctica and Greenland end at tidewater but are classed as continental glaciers…) We view the Italia Glacier, one of the 30… there are endless others which don’t quite reach tidewater… fog rolls in as the sun recedes… it is spectacular…
Overnight we slip into the Pacific Ocean, then back easterly in the Cockburn Canal into the Strait of Magellan…
Tuesday, January 26, 2010, At dawn we dock at Punta Arenas, a Chilean City on the Strait of Magellan… Its windy, we need two tugs to aid us as we tie up…
Once the ship is secure, the ship’s shore excursions depart… T and I have booked a trip to Magdalena Island… 30 miles or so to the north-east… home of a Magellanic penguin colony… The “local” ferry is a double ended landing craft… with passenger accommodations along one side… It can accommodate 20 or so semi trucks, but today its just the cruise ship passengers…
The wind is strong, the seas are rough if not too high, but the ship is heavy and rides well on the two hour trip to the island… Once there they ground the ship, drop the end door and we walk off onto the island…
Let me tell you about Magdalena Island… It’s just over 200 acres… its windswept… its rocky and sandy… there are no trees, or bushes… and little grass… (Described as “herbaceous vegetation” by the brochure) but there are penguins… maybe 100,000 or so… plus a lot of local seagulls…
There is a path, well marked by stakes and ropes, designed to prevent us humans from bothering the penguins… (there is nothing to prevent the penguins from bothering the humans) it runs along the beach and up to the light house on the ridge… we were not allowed to climb to the light house… the winds were too strong and too dangerous…
The penguins were everywhere… on the beach, near the beach, on the hill side, along the path, and on the path… We climbed as far as we were allowed to… on the way back one of the penguins took exception to Tina… he attacked her… he walked on to the path, around several other visitors and pecked determinedly at her leg… He got her jeans dirty… He left a slight bruise on her leg… Not getting a great reaction he abandoned the attack and wondered off. We have photos… We are considering a song with a three part harmony…
Back aboard the ship… back across the strait… back to the harbor where Veendam awaits… then a cab to town… we walk about… we buy trinkets… we sit in a café with beers and the local lomo and hot dogs (with mayonnaise and guacamole, the local style) and tell brave stories of penguin attacks…
It is blowing a gale… it is occasionally raining… we grab a cab and return to the ship… we find that with the high winds they have a tug pushing on the ship as she sits at dock… to prevent the mooring lines from parting… The tug has been pushing against the side of the ship since noon… the ships thrusters are working as well… it is an extreme example of the difficulty in navigating in the southern waters… The tug reportedly costs $5,000 per hour… ultimately it will spend 7 hours pushing against the ship as the ship sits at dock.
About 6:00 the wind died, the tug backed off… Our passengers returned from their shore excursions… at 7:30 we dropped our lines and drifted away from the dock, headed for Valparaiso… The sun sets, the sky the faded gray of the southern hemisphere… Now south west of town, in the strait of Magellan… Across the channel, the Silver Sea is pacing us…
Goodnight
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