Ushuaia, Argentina~ 2/24/09 (6am-6pm)

Happy Mardi Gras everyone at home!

Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world and one of two main cities on the island territory of Tierra del Fuego. Surrounded on three sides by towering peaks, the city is located on the border of the Beagle Canal and offers unforgettable scenery and a National Park framed by the sea, forests, lakes and mountains. This protected land includes the beautiful Lakes
of Fagnano and Roca and the southernmost sub-Antarctic forests. Once a small fishing village,

Ushuaia is today a welcoming, busy town with a growing population, at present numbering about 50,000 inhabitants. *(see picture I took about 730am of Ushuaia above)

We (Kay, Debbie, Allan, Annie, Shirley, Jean, Jeanette Ruth and I met in the Splendor Lobby at 8am and disembarked soon thereafter.

All of us were layered & bundled up because the ship told us it would be very, very cold & windy here ~ well . . . the sun was out, the sky was a gorgeous clear blue, and the sea was as flat as glass.

We headed towards town and found tethered to the pier several catamarans.

We choose one called Canoero Catamaranes of Ushuaia ~ (http://www.catamaranescanoero.com.ar/) or (reservaslosyamanas@amet.com.ar) or
(tel: 54-02901-433893/15513291) which would take us on a 2.5 hr Beagle Channel Sailing Excursion leaving at 930 am offering the classic Sea Lion Island with a multitude of Cormorants & the Les Esclaireurs Light House for $40.00pp.

This company also has a 6 hr excursion to see all of the above plus the Magellanic Penguin Rookery for $60.00pp.

What was supposed to be a freezing cold day turned out to be the most beautiful crisp day . . . People began to shed jackets, gloves, hats and other layers of clothes and leave them on tables & chairs as the air turned warmer and they all headed outside to the front of the vessel or up above to take a multitude of pictures.

They regularly served us free Mate, Regular Tea or coffee plus jelly filled cookies and coffeecake cut into squares as we slowed and almost stopped to take pictures of the sea lions, cormorants and the Lighthouse as well as most beautiful scenery.

We got great shots of the Carnival Splendor passing it on the way back in to the pier.

Once we disembarked everyone headed off on their to explore this pristine little town on a hill and found a Casino & shops filled with” End of the World” souvenirs, handicrafts, and a most beautiful stone set in all metals called Rhodochrosite. My favorite color was the Rose color.

Ruth made her way pretty good on her scooter ~ Up the steep hill to get to the main street thru town. Most all curbs had ramps but some shops including the internet café had a step up and in so I hurried in to add pictures to our last blog and start the next one. Internet charges here are $3.00 / hr.

A trivia fact about Ushuaia ~ for most of the first half of the 20th century, the city was centered around a prison for serious criminals. The Argentine government set up this prison following the example of the British with Australia or the French with Devil’s Island; escape from a prison on Tierra del Fuego was similarly impossible

All passengers did as they were told & boarded the ship getting ready for sail away at 4pm.

We watched from our dining room table as a Princess ship sailed into the Harbor and let down anchor and also saw 2 ice breaker ships heading out to cruise in the Antarctica. Brrrrr!!

And to our surprise ~ you guessed it ~ we were still sitting tethered to the dock until = 11pm. They said there were gale force winds and we were safer staying at the dock than sailing. We were also informed around 9pm that we would be missing our next Port ~ Punta Arenas, Chile and would be getting more time sailing in around & thru the Strait of Magellan with commentary from our Naturalist, Dirk.