LAST TOUR LAST DAY - THE BEAGLE CHANNEL AND TIERRA DEL FUEGO

Dec 12, Monday.  On our way down to breakfast this morning we looked out the window and saw our local mountain covered in snow.

The view from the hotel window.  The snow level was only a few meters above our hotel's altitude.  It was a portent of things to come.

We were picked up at the hotel around 8:30, driven to the dock, and boarded the Francesco for our trip along the Beagle Channel.  It was spitting rain, but not too bad.  The islands around Ushuaia are not very far from the channel itself, so we arrived at the channel pretty quickly.  

Our first tour stop was a cormorant breeding island.  There were two types, the ones below are Imperial Cormorants.  There was another type the name of which escapes me.

All these birds nesting on a small islet in the Beagle Channel.

Our next stop was an island that was the home of southern sea lions.  They looked and acted a lot like California sea lions.

Most of them were in the water.  Clearly, they were smart creatures and the water was a lot warmer than the land.

A dusky petrel.  A large sea bird 

An anarctic dove.  They are apparently very curious.  A number of these had landed on the roof of the boat to watch us.  

A small flock of anarctic doves above the boat

The photo below is looking back at Ushuaia.  The weather was definitely taking a turn for the worse.  In one of our first stops in Patagonia, a guide told us that the weather was glorious. It was.  He told us that the weather in the region is notoriously awful, changes quickly, usually for the worse. So no matter how terrible the weather becomes, tours are never cancelled.  You just brass it out.

Another Dusky Petrel 

Imperial Comorants

The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse in the channel.

Another island of nesting cormorants.  This one had both species, imperial and a close look alike.

Another islet of sea lions

Charlie and I were just cold in this photo.  Note - our hoods were still down.

Cool white sea bird on the edge of the sea lion islet

These are Steamer Ducks.

Then came the highlight of our Beagle cruise, an island of nesting penguins.  There were two types:  Magellanic Penguins (black and white) and Gentoo Penguins.  We believe there was a King penguin amongst the Gentoos.  Unfortunately, it then began to snow.  You know you're in trouble when antarctic birds start to hunker down to keep out of the wind.

Magellanic penguins

Coming out of the water

Gentoo Penguins in a snowstorm.

I think there's a King Penguin to the left.  They are a little under a meter tall and that one seems very large.  Notice the snow flake.

Interesting factoid:  Tierra del Fuego - Land of Fire was called that because the early explorers saw fires set by the Yamana indians.  The edges of the island glowed with the bonfires and hence: land of fir.

After our penguin viewing we sailed a short distance to an estancia (ranch) which was the first one established on Tierra de Fuego.  It was owned by Thomas Bridge who was an orphan from Bristol England.  He had been adopted by an Anglican minister, became a minister himself, and eventually benefitted from the Argentinian desire to protect territory from the Chileans.

Thomas Bridge's home.  It had been brought from England.  Dis-assembled with every piece numbered, then reassembled at the estancia.  The arch at the front is whale jaw bones

A view toward the rest of the property along the water

Inside the barn.  Curved pieces of wood were used at the ribs on boats.  The trees were naturally bent by the winds here.  Using the naturally bent wood was much easier than trying to create your own bends.

Another view of the property.  In the center, notice the huge piles of wood.  They had built up enormous stashes of wood to keep people warm.  There we were touring in windy, blowing snow - big wet snowflakes.  I was absolutely chilled to the bone.  (I had gloves, my toque, and a lined jacket.)  You would have thought I tried to go naked/native.

We had lunch at the estancia.  There were two lovely wood-fired stoves at both ends of the room.  I stood by each one in turn.  So did most everyone else.

Our next stop was a marine museum.  It turned out to be fascinating.  One of the woman owners of the estancia, Anita Goodall, was fascinated by the nature that surrounded her in Tierra del Fuego.  She had been a botanist, wrote a book about the flora and fauna she saw, and inspired this museum.  She died at 80 last year.  Bones from whales, porpoises, dolphins, sea lions, and birds were taken to the museum.  They have been preserved, studied and displayed at this place.  

Another one of my orange backed birds.  I found out they are called Sobrepuestos (one cloak put on top of another).  Very common in Patagonia

Our tour guide showing us a condor head.

Some upland geese and their chicks.

Around 4:30 we boarded a bus to take us back to Ushuaia.  Along the road we stopped to see the flat trees.  These solo trees have been buffeted by southern winds so long and so often, they end up looking like the photo below.

We stopped next near a beaver dam and lodge.  The Argentinians are really not fond of Canadian beavers.  They wreaked destruction all over Patagonia.

After the stop to see the beaver dam we soon drove to Highway 3.  It is the only road that crosses the Andes in the area and gets to Ushuaia.  The highway was lined with snow covered bushes and trees.  It really looked like something from a Christmas card.  This was only a week and a half before Christmas.  But.....this is the Southern Hemisphere.  They are going to get to their SUMMER Soltice in a little over a week.  We stopped at an overlook to see Lago Escondido.  Hidden Lake.  Yikes!  The wind was blowing about 100 km/h, the edge of the road was covered in more than an inch of icy snow.  Charlie and I held hands to get to a stair case that led to the overlook.  No romance here, we were trying to keep one another from blowing away.

View of the road from the stairs.  Imagine the view with howling winds and you've got the idea.

 We got back to the dock area.  The guide who had been with us all day, Gaspar, said we could take the hotel shuttle back up the hill.  It was 6:45.  BAH.  The shuttle would get to the dock at 7:30.  We must have not looked pleased.  He texted his company, and we got a ride up the hill.

Lovely dinner.  Warm room.  We go home tomorrow.

TOUR OF TIERRE DEL FUEGO NATIONAL PARK

Dec 11, Sunday.              Night and day from our room.

 We had a half day tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park.  We were picked up at the hotel around 8:20 then set off on our drive.

The first white people to arrive were the English.  They came on the first voyage of the Beagle (named after the queen's dog breed).  Darwin showed up later on the second voyage of the Beagle.   Later they established some Anglican missions to convert the indigenous population.

Our first stop was a train station (Train to the End of the World) AKA the convict train.  It was very difficult to get settlers to come to Ushuaia.  Today's weather was around 45-50° F and this is almost their summertime.  Around the late 1800's someone got the great idea of opening a prison here to get cheap workers.  The prison eventually held a few hundred convicts, some were quite serious offenders others just bad guys.  The cells were made from cement and were basically impossible to heat.  The train was used to transport convicts to 1.) work on the railroad itself and to 2.) clear fields of trees.  The convicts opted to work rather than sit in their frozen cells.  Few escaped.  There really was no way out of here.  Tierra del Fuego is an island.  The weather ranges from cold to extremely cold.  One poor soul, in a desperate attempt to flee jumped into a river with his handcuffs on.  A body was found on the beach near the Beagle Channel several weeks later.  The King Crabs had eaten the flesh from his body.  The prison was closed by Peron in 1949 who decided the vicious nature of treatment of the prisoners was too much.  The train remained to help the lumbering industry until 1952.

Charlie outside the train station

From inside the car

Engineer of a different engine than ours with his ubiquitous mate.  Argentinians drink this stuff religiously morning, noon, and night.  Pedro, our guide today, told us that it is slightly caffeinated.  When the mate is mixed with warm water it make you hold liquids, but when it is mixed with cool water it is a diuretic.  (Just quoting) Young children get their mate mixed with warm milk.

The steam train controls.

Typical scenery along the train route.  Small streams, forests, bogs, and small lakes.  It really was beautiful.

Charlie standing by the engine of our train at a stop called Cascaras Macarena. (Macarena waterfall).  Our train was filled with tourists, surprise, surprise.  The problem is as a group tourists are bizarre.  One odd bird began to climb onto the engine so her husband could take her photo.  When they called her off, she hopped in the doorway for more photos - at least 4 times.  It took us a while to get a free photo without the red coated creature.

The rest of the train

A fellow train tourist took our photo

Cascaras Macarena

The trees in the photo were cut by the prisoners many years ago.  They have not grown back.  The shorter stumps were cut in the summer, the longer stumps were cut in the winter.

At the end of the line, the engine was detached and backed down a side track.  We didn't see the rest - for example - what happens to the cars?  Does the engine back up and attach to what had been the back end of our train?  I think that's what happens.

After we left the train we drove a short distance to Ensenada Bay.  The tide was down and we could see the shoreline covered in kelp, mussel shells, and various other tidal creatures (limpets, for example)

Upland geese in the grass near Ensenada Bay

A red necked goose on the sand.

Next stop on our tour was Lago Acigami.  The Chilean portion of this lake is called Lago Roca, the Argentineans call it Lao Acigami.  The area is divided between the two nations is a peculiar triangular wedge of Argentina with Chile owning the outer bits.  Very odd.  We took a bit of a stroll along the shore and spotted some wonderful waterfowl.  

An ibis

Lago Acigami

An information center (with a museum, coffee shop, gift shop, overlook tower,  and park offices)  The original indian tribe that inhabited this area was called the Yamana tribe.  They ran around with absolutely nothing on except a ceremonial band around the heads of the men.  Brrrrrr.  They hunted sea lions with harpoons.  The women watched the children and dove into the bays looking for mussels.  When the Yamanas first met up with the English they ran away.  Later they went to the missions, wore clothing, and in an attempt to continue their livelihood sea lion hunting and gathering,  got sopping wet, and many died of pneumonia.  Later Argentinian leaders had many of them killed.  There is one left.  

Two black headed swans and their 3 chicks.

Somebody had a bright idea in 1946 to bring Canadian beavers into Patagonia to begin a fur trade.  With no natural predators the beavers ran amok, decimating forests, damming up streams, and being a general nuisance.  The irony is that the beaver fur here isn't very good, so they weren't useful for anything but destruction.  Since 2011 the Argentinean government has been trying to get rid of them-they're still here.

A beaver dam

The beaver dam's consequences.

Our last stop Bahia Lapataia.  This is the southern-most point of the Pan American Highway.  Begin in Alaska - stop here.

The break in the distance goes to the Beagle Channel.

There are parrots here.

On the way back to the hotel, I managed to get a view from the road up to the hotel itself.  You can't see the big black mountain behind this place, but I'll try another time.

 The photo below is from the lobby - one of the sitting areas near the window.  A view, a comfy seat, WOW.  

One more tour on our trip,  Tomorrow - a boat ride on the Beagle Channel.