Puerto Natales to Ushuaia

27 Feb

Travel day today.  Our first long bus trip of the journey so far, leaving at 7.00 am.  Scheduled for 13 hours down towards Punta Arenas - transfer at a petrol station in the middle of nowhere then on towards Tierra del Fuego and across the border to Ushuaia.

Well that was the plan!

We should have known when we were waiting at the petrol station for our second bus.  The wind was coming in hard, strong enough to knock you about hard - Lyndon had to be manhandled into shelter. Anyway, after an hour's wait, our bus arrived and we all trooped on.  Got to the ferry port pretty much on time around midday, but that was the end of that.  The strong winds meant no chance of the ferry running for hours.  

We're on but there are some who will wait a long time yet!

We eventually got going after a 6 hour delay and we're now at the Chilean border.  Passports all collected by one of the bus crew and (hopefully) inside being stamped now.  I reckon we'll have to get out at the Argentine border but we'll see. Around another 4-5 hours on the road once we clear the formalities. This is a beautiful country. It's a really arid landscape quite flat mostly with big, big skies.  Saw a few Rhea this morning but so far on the island it's been Guanaco and sheep.

28 Feb

We arrived at 02.30 and trudged up the very steep, but mercifully short, hill to our apartment.  Fortunately the hostel has left our key in a lock box so we can get in whatever time we arrive.

Keys were left as planned but we got in to find the apartment hadn't been cleaned, dirty linen on the floor, the bin in the bathroom not emptied etc.  So out came the sleeping bags and we crashed.  Thankfully we had nothing booked for the day so we recovered, sorted out the apartment.  The wrong one had been prepared apparently.  The cleaner was mortified, lots of disculpe, disculpe.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't her fault!

Bit of a struggle going shopping in the local supermarket when Lyndon tried to pay by card (we have no Argentinian pesos) - they had to enter the 'identity card details' and 'the computer said no' to a UK passport.  So Lyndon took the items out of the bag, left them on the check out and walked away. In a huff doesn't begin to cover it!

Went to the main street and after a couple of attempts were able to withdraw some pesos.  Discover to our alarm that vaping is not legal in Argentina so John can't buy the nicotine juice that he needs to keep him from the cigs.  We find one place that sells the stuff but it's probably knock off, and anyway the 'best before' date is 2019…

Visit the Irish bar - The Dublin - for beers and pizza in the evening. Good service and reasonable prices.

1 March

Off for a tour of the national park today.  Alejandra, our guide, arrives in a taxi at 08.30.  We're on our own with her and the driver today which is cool.  She's friendly,  full of knowledge, and intent on imparting it all!  First stop is the train at the fin del mundo.

The railway was built by prisoners who chopped down the trees  to build the prison and railroad, and provide firewood.  They lived in unimaginably tough conditions and extremely poor treatment including punishments that amounted to torture for minor offences in the prison.  They were a mixture of the worst of the worst and others who had elected to come to the end of the world to serve their sentence.  They were able to save a small amount of money and send it home and also learn trades.  Some decided to stay in Ushuaia after their release and help build the growing town.

Next it was into the park proper and the photographs speak for themselves.  It’s a stunning place even if a very end of summer feel as you tell by our clothing!

Indian bread - a staple foodstuff on the local yamana tribe when Europeans first explored down here, and before they were all but wiped out as a people.

March 2 - Beagle Channel and El Faro del fin de Mundo

There has been some snow overnight and the views are frankly ridiculous!

Out into the Beagle channel and we are very lucky to see a lot of wildlife, some expected some not so much.

Magellenes penguins

We saw a number of whales taking a breather and then diving - this wasn’t expected and gave us our first close up glimpses of these amazing creatures in South America

Not actually the Lighthouse at the end of the world (that’s about 160 miles away) but the one used on the cover of the Jules Verne novel so it gets acclaim.

Not sure these two improve the view!

You should be grateful that the smell cannot be photographed but the sea lions were fantastic!

This guy was enormous and pretty much had one end of the islet to himself - big daddy!

Lots of fighting and establishing the pecking order was going on.

A lovely (but chilly) day - we meet a retired GP from the UK and her husband and pass on titles of 'must read' books to them.

Tomorrow it's an early start, we catch the 03.00 bus to Rio Gallegas.