Previews of pictures for Feb, 16
Punta Arenas. Penguins on beach, sign you probably can't read.
February 15 Ushuaia/Tierra del Fuego.
No one agrees on the pronunciation. Most say You Shway ah.
Ushuaia claims to be the southernmost city in the world. Imagine my surprise when one of the first things I saw after getting off the ship was a bed of pansies. Of course it is summer down here. A balmy 50 degrees
Ushuaia once was the location for an Argentine prison for serious criminals. The site was chosen as escape was virtually impossible. A railroad was built by the forced labor and today is a tourist attraction known as Tren del Fin del Mundo, Train at the End of the World.
After our catamaran cruise in the Beagle Channel (more later) we had about an hour to wander the town. I’ve never been to Alaska but Ushuaia was what I think of when I think of Alaska. The town had a definite “frontier” feel to it. Other than the obvious cruise ship passengers (think blue fleece jackets) and backpackers (think long hair, beards and proper clothing), most of the people in the streets looks Indian, with darkish completions, and dark straight hair.
The streets went uphill from the docks. Many of them had a series of steps built parallel to the sidewalk so if you wanted you could walk steps instead of the incline of the sidewalk. As you can imagine, most of the souvenirs in the shops proclaimed that we were at the end of the world. Once again, all we bought was a post card.
The Beagle Channel.
Our Cruise Specialists Shore Excursion left at 11 am or so and after a short walk down the pier we boarded a motor catamaran for our 4.5 hour cruise. The boat was very comfortable and easily accommodated our group with plenty of extra seats. Alan opted for the upper deck and stayed outside most of the day. The rest of us alternated between the warmth of the cabin and the outer decks. The temperature was in the high 40s and sunny so it was quite comfortable even with the breeze/wind on the decks.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and kept us informed of the species of birds and seals we were seeing. The boat was able to get very close to shore --close enough for us to smell the seals. We were served coffee, tea and cookies (those on the HAL tours weren’t).
After a couple of hours we arrived off a house, shed and dock on what looked like a small island. Out came a small boat powered by an outboard engine. It brought the postmistress who once safely onboard proceeded to give us all a free stamped post card, and a “ passport’. We all wrote our cards (we were able to buy extras from the catamaran as well as stamps from the postmistress), she cancelled them, and collected them in a sack for mailing from the local post office. (HAL tours didn’t get that service either.) I wonder how long it will take for postcards to get to Massachusetts from the end of the world.
We saw birds!!!!! And seals!!!!! And more birds! And more seals! And a lighthouse. And a tiny rusted bit of a shipwreck.
The next day our neighbors across the hall laughing told us that on their HAL tour they approached a rocky island and spotted hundreds of penguins. After taking about 200 pictures (their estimate), some of the penguins flew away. Well……penguins don’t fly. What they were seeing were blue eyed cormorants. They are similar to our northern hemisphere cormorants but are black and white like penguins. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post pictures of the cormorants and seals.
After our boat trip we wandered the little town for the hour we had left and returned to the Prinsendam for the 5 pm departure.
At 5:15 the cruise director came over the PA system and announced that we were almost ready to leave but a couple of people had not yet returned….one of them being the captain. It seems there was a little paper work to clear up.
At 6:00 another announcement --virtually the same. And at 6:30 with the added comment that it was a Sunday and almost nothing official gets done on a Sunday in Ushuaia. Finally about 8 pm we left the dock.
And thus ended day 45.
No one agrees on the pronunciation. Most say You Shway ah.
Ushuaia claims to be the southernmost city in the world. Imagine my surprise when one of the first things I saw after getting off the ship was a bed of pansies. Of course it is summer down here. A balmy 50 degrees
Ushuaia once was the location for an Argentine prison for serious criminals. The site was chosen as escape was virtually impossible. A railroad was built by the forced labor and today is a tourist attraction known as Tren del Fin del Mundo, Train at the End of the World.
After our catamaran cruise in the Beagle Channel (more later) we had about an hour to wander the town. I’ve never been to Alaska but Ushuaia was what I think of when I think of Alaska. The town had a definite “frontier” feel to it. Other than the obvious cruise ship passengers (think blue fleece jackets) and backpackers (think long hair, beards and proper clothing), most of the people in the streets looks Indian, with darkish completions, and dark straight hair.
The streets went uphill from the docks. Many of them had a series of steps built parallel to the sidewalk so if you wanted you could walk steps instead of the incline of the sidewalk. As you can imagine, most of the souvenirs in the shops proclaimed that we were at the end of the world. Once again, all we bought was a post card.
The Beagle Channel.
Our Cruise Specialists Shore Excursion left at 11 am or so and after a short walk down the pier we boarded a motor catamaran for our 4.5 hour cruise. The boat was very comfortable and easily accommodated our group with plenty of extra seats. Alan opted for the upper deck and stayed outside most of the day. The rest of us alternated between the warmth of the cabin and the outer decks. The temperature was in the high 40s and sunny so it was quite comfortable even with the breeze/wind on the decks.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and kept us informed of the species of birds and seals we were seeing. The boat was able to get very close to shore --close enough for us to smell the seals. We were served coffee, tea and cookies (those on the HAL tours weren’t).
After a couple of hours we arrived off a house, shed and dock on what looked like a small island. Out came a small boat powered by an outboard engine. It brought the postmistress who once safely onboard proceeded to give us all a free stamped post card, and a “ passport’. We all wrote our cards (we were able to buy extras from the catamaran as well as stamps from the postmistress), she cancelled them, and collected them in a sack for mailing from the local post office. (HAL tours didn’t get that service either.) I wonder how long it will take for postcards to get to Massachusetts from the end of the world.
We saw birds!!!!! And seals!!!!! And more birds! And more seals! And a lighthouse. And a tiny rusted bit of a shipwreck.
The next day our neighbors across the hall laughing told us that on their HAL tour they approached a rocky island and spotted hundreds of penguins. After taking about 200 pictures (their estimate), some of the penguins flew away. Well……penguins don’t fly. What they were seeing were blue eyed cormorants. They are similar to our northern hemisphere cormorants but are black and white like penguins. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post pictures of the cormorants and seals.
After our boat trip we wandered the little town for the hour we had left and returned to the Prinsendam for the 5 pm departure.
At 5:15 the cruise director came over the PA system and announced that we were almost ready to leave but a couple of people had not yet returned….one of them being the captain. It seems there was a little paper work to clear up.
At 6:00 another announcement --virtually the same. And at 6:30 with the added comment that it was a Sunday and almost nothing official gets done on a Sunday in Ushuaia. Finally about 8 pm we left the dock.
And thus ended day 45.
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