Ushuaia

Argentina

January 2007
3 days

Ushuaia (Oos-why-a)
15th to 18th January

Welcome back to our world tour where next we are bound for the bottom of the world. Flying out of Buenos Aires (Argentina) heading down to the very south of the country, Ushuaia is the most southern city in the world. If you get a globe, put a finger on Ushuaia then spin it around you´ll see that no other continent extends down this far. The only thing lower is Antarctica, a mere 600 miles further south! Leaving BA in a heatwave of over 32C we knew we´d be in for a shock climate-wise.

We´d left it very late to look for a flight and with Argentina only having a handful of airlines (and none of them being budget) our flight would not be cheap. Things got worse when we realised there were no economy seats for over a week so we took the plunge and bought two business class seats. Ouch! For the first and probably the last times in our lives we could, check in at our own special desk, enjoy wide seats with more leg room than you need, drink champagne before takeoff and use our own servant who bought us wine and food served on proper crockery.

You know that moment when you board a plane from the front and you go through first class to see those pompous asses sitting there, reading their free newspapers and looking back at you as if to say... hurry along peasants, get out of my nice cabin..... well when I do that I am instantly looking at them making assumptions about them... trying to guess what they do for a living and how rich they might be.... So it was weird to be on the other side this time, sipping my bubbly as they looked at me I was now thinking, I wonder what assumptions they are making about me!! Weird!

It was a smooth 3 hour flight and we enjoyed every minute of this luxury and had amazing views of the Andes on our right. We landed at a tiny airport with a small brick building with one conveyor belt running through it like a snake. The snake spat out our rucksacks and we went out in to the bracing icy wind to hop in a taxi. Driving along we could see grey skies, choppy waters and icy mountain ranges as we sped along the coast of this city that once was a small fishing town. As always at this point you are subconsciously making judgements about the place and I thought it looked drab!

Arriving at our hostel I felt better as it looked very new and homely and built mostly of wood with an alpine ski lodge feel to it. We were back in to dorm rooms with 6 bunk beds to cut costs after that flight. It was already 9pm and I noticed it wasn't dark yet. In Buenos Aires it had been getting dark between 7 and 8pm so I asked at reception and being so far down south we found out that it doesn't get dark until after 11pm... wow! It was almost like jet lag because you knew it was late but being light your body wasn't ready to accept it was time for bed.

We popped out for a stroll to get some air and get our bearings and headed down the hill towards the waterfront. As we passed the last street and the sky came in to view I almost wet myself with excitement. The sun was almost setting and from behind the distant mountain the sky had turned almost illuminous red lit up like a discotheque. I immediately knew this was no normal sunset as the colours were just so vivid and the light was splaying out in rays that produced an awesome image but not one we could capture convincingly on camera. I then guessed that similar to the northern lights in Europe, these must be the southern lights which are actually radiation from the sun bouncing off the earths atmosphere. I was right, and once again, this trip was allowing us to see the spectacular sights that the world had to offer.

Pingu
The next morning the sun had risen way before us even though we woke at 6am and were off on a tour to visit an island of penguins. It was a long drive in the minibus and we were well prepared will several layers of clothing and our Peruvian hats to boot. On route we were shown a tree here know as the &Quot;fallen tree&Quot; and it grew almost horizontal deformed by the winds, it look almost as if it would fall at an minute (see photo).

We boarded a small boat along with the other eight people from our minibus knowing that we were going to be the only people on this island except for a few penguin scientists who document variation of penguin behaviour with human contact. We bounced along on the choppy waters sliding around on the plastic bench, holding on for dear life. As we drew near the island we could already see hundreds of the little fellas dotted around on the beach and our excitement grew.

We were told a few rules such as no touching the penguins, keep voices low and no sudden movements. This was their home and we didn't want to scare them off it. We crept off the boat and were instantly surrounded by little Pingus! These species of penguins are only small, about up to your knee or so, and are grey in colour. The island was only small and would take you about 30 mins to walk its circumference. It was slightly hilly with mounds and bushes, and nestled in between were hundreds of penguin nests and in most right now were brand new babies.

Naturally the baby penguins were very very cute. Already a similar size to their parents but easily identified by their fluffy coating. We walked around for an hour taking photos and at one point we watched a large bird trying to creep up on a baby penguin. Its parents attacked the bird who then took off, starling them and as they ducked down we took a great photo that you should check out. It was an experience and was very special as we were the priviledged few in such a small group.

Off Roader
For something a little different the next day we booked a 4x4 excursion. With two other people in our Land Rover we headed off toward the lakes and forest in search of some terrain that would put this baby through its paces. Our driver was a cool guy and very capable with his vehicle. The weather started to turn bad the higher we climber and soon it was snowing and sleeting. But by the time we reach the woods it had started to ease off and we passed through the gate and we began the off road properly.

The sleet was a blessing as it had made the path more muddy which is want our driver needed in order to get the 4x4 skidding around. Another 4x4 was following in our group and we got great photos, us and them steaming through giant puddles and rocking left and right on ridges at up to 45 degrees. These were fitted with snorkels which meant they could be driven in to water up to the doors without the engines stalling. We reached the lakeside and drove straight in to the lake and along the coastline with waves crashing against us and the 4 wheels were churning away at the pebbles under the water motoring us along. This was great fun and not something you get to do back home with your Ford Focus!

Back into the woods and we were shown the devastation that was being caused by beavers. Back in the 1940s or 1950s beavers had been bought down from Canada to be bred for the fur trade in order to make clothes, hats etc. But due to the different climate over time the beavers fur changed and became useless for these purposes.... Some bright spark then decided to set the beavers free and now a half century later there are more beavers here than people. We make think they are cute but they are serious pests.

You know they build dams and in these numbers they had built so many that the rivers would flood causing water to build up and spread out into the woods. When trees are shown this much water they simply can't absorb it and die. This day we witnessed miles and miles of dead trees and it was hard to believe that this destruction was all caused by cute little beavers. We didn't spot any beavers as they are nocturnal. The guide told us that for every beaver tail you take to the police, you get money as an incentive for hunters to keep the population down, but the rewards are punitive and are not incentive enough to make a difference. So looks like the beaver is here to stay!

After the woods we were taken to a lake to try some kayaking. It looked choppy but we were told it would be OK so donning our life jackets and oars in hand we pushed away from the small beach and shivered in the freezing cold winds. We paddled for a minute and when we looked up the current had already dragged us away from shore and way down the bank.... The guide was shouting at us to paddle back up this way but no matter how hard we tried we could not fight the tide or current. Others were having similar difficulties so I thought it best to just try and get it closer to shore and then drag it back up the beach. After much paddling and with aching arms we got the boat to the sand nose first where Sarah was sitting, with my end still out in the water. I told Sarah not to move whilst I stood up and walked to the front with the intention of jumping off and then dragging the boat up to shore. Standing behind Sarah with my oar ready to prop me up if I stumbled I leapt for the beach and in doing that my foot pushed the boat away... Sarah panicked thinking shell be out on the lake alone so grabbed my oar just as I had stumbled back and was using it to stop me falling in.... My balance was ruined and my feet went in to the water one by one up past my ankles and my trainers were instantly filled with freezing water.

I was fuming! Half annoyed at my own stupidity and furious at Sarah for grabbing my oar, a tirade of foul language flew from my mouth at Sarah in front of the others. I threw down my oar and steamed off for the sanctuary of a nearby hotel to try and warm up. My feet were going numb, so once in the hotel I removed my trainers and socks and rung them out.... The others came in a few minutes later by which time my temper had subdued... Luckily our next stop was a restaurant for a large barbecue and beers and they had wooden stove heaters that dried out my socks and shoes in no time. It was then that I made my mind up to get new boots as these ones had been on my feet every day for over 4 months and were now ever so smelly. All in all a fun day out!

Ushuaia is actually on an Island off the southern coast of Argentina and was once the Argentinian equivalent of Alcatraz. We visited the old prison, which is now a museum where you can get your passport stamped saying you´ve been to the bottom of the world, which we forgot to do. Its also tax free so I thought it rude not to go buy a few pairs of Adidas trainers and some new hiking boots to replace those that had got wet that day in the lake. These were all a real bargain at a quarter of the price of the UK.

On our last day we did a 3 hour hike up to the Martial Glacier. We took a taxi to a hotel at the base of the mountain and from their boarded a chair lift for 15 minutes. Once there the hike began, and an hour and a half later we were up to our shins in snow and could almost touch the base of the glacier that we could see melting in to rivers before our eyes. From up there we had a great view down over the city and could see the harbour and the huge vessels that sail off for Antarctic cruises. We would have loved to have done this but these cruises cost over two thousand dollars a piece so we declined.

So thats about all from down here and we'll leave you with a few cool facts, excuse the pun, about Antarctica....

* Antarctica is actually the 7th and most inaccessible of the continents and is about the 3rd largest.
* It contains 70% of the worlds fresh water
* A Glaciologist could easily give you a glass of water that froze in the times of Jesus Christ.
* If all these ice sheets melted world ocean levels would rise by 60 to 65 metres.

So if that's not reason enough to stop driving your car and heating up the world what is?

***** ENDS ******