Today was our port day in Ushuaia. We had a tour to Tierra del Fuego National Park that one of our members had arranged. Our meeting time was 8:30 on the pier. We woke up early went for a pastry/juice coffee breakfast at Sabattini's and headed out. We found a young man standing at the pier holding one of Russell's signs. He cleverly printed up signs saying "Russell's Star Princess Tour". We were directed to a bus. Just before 8:30 our last member showed up and well all piled into a 20 seat van. The young man who was directing us was our guide Norberto.
The tour began with a drive out of town. One of the things our guide pointed out (throughout the tour actually) was the border between Chile and Argentina. Apparently they've been disputing it for years and have almost come to a war or two over it. There is currently a treaty that draws certain lines. For example, the Beagle channel divides the country as does the tree line on certain mountains.
Our first stop in Tierra Del Fuego national park was at a beach location. This is where you can buy a postcard stamped with the end of the world. We also took a walk through the forest there, with Norberto pointing out interesting plants. In feel it wasn't that different than home, which is somewhat interesting.
The sign at the beach. I believe the mountains in the distance belong to Chili. At least this year.
A woodpecker we saw on our walk. Apparently, they are rare to see. Glen got this picture.
One of the big themes around here is that it's the southernmost city in the world. So everything is "this is the southernmost blah blah". We got into it.
Isn't this fascinating? You think it's just common seaweed, seen in many places including the pacific coast. You'd be wrong, since this is the southernmost seaweed in the world. (Groan - I had to do it)
And I had to do it again - the southernmost picture of Glen in the world.
After that stop we went to a lake, whose name escapes me, but the border goes right through it. I asked what would happen if you got in a canoe or kayak and went across the lake. Apparently, you would be entering Chile illegally. Our guide did tell us that there's not a border patrol on the lake.
The lake. You're looking at Chili on the far shore.
Next was a break at a campsite. We were given the choice of walking over (about a 5 minute walk or taking the bus. Pretty much everyone walked. After a stop to use the restrooms, look at the shops and for some get a snack we got back on the bus for our final location - the end of the Pan American highway. Just before it, the driver pulled over so that those who wanted to could do a walk through the park to get there. We did that and it was very pleasant, took about 20 minutes. Along the way there was an overlook that you could see the end.
The end of the Panamerican highway as seen at the overlook.
Once we got there we took pictures, went along a walkway to see the Beagle Channel. As we were leaving, we saw a couple of motorcycles arrive - apparently they'd started in Alaska and ridden all the way down here.
The sign. I wonder if there's a similar one in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska?
Just to prove we really were here. This is at the end of the walkway at the end of the highway.
That really concluded our tour, so riding back Norberto gave us a map of downtown Ushuaia and suggested places to go. We decided to have lunch with Eric and Carol. We realized that we hadn't brought much money with us however. We ended up at an Italian restaurant, and had pasta. It was pretty good. Then back to the ship.
The ship was pretty empty and there were great views of the two so we spent about an hour taking pictures. Then it was down to the patisserie for coffee. I worked on the blog and read a bit. At about 4 pm, we heard the typical announcements you get in port, asking passengers to contact Passenger Service - meaning they haven't been scanned back in. At about 5pm, the ship sailed - an hour late. I heard later that a boat brought the missing passengers out. I hope they get charged for this.
The town, as seen from the bow of the ship.
We went up to Skywalker's and chatted with our friends for a while, and then got ready for dinner. As we got ready for dinner, the ship sailed through the Beagle Channel. Gorgeous, with lots of glaciers, mostly named for countries. Take a look.
One of the glaciers. The pictures won't do them justice, but here are a few.
The next. The glaciers are named for countries. This might be France. Or it might not.
This one is pretty impressive. By now, we're getting to be late for dinner.
The last, and best, the "melting glacier". You can see why it's called that. It was an amazing ride through the channel.
We were a bit late for dinner because of the glaciers, but Rich and Joan understood. After dinner I went to the country night and did a couple of line dances while Glen went to look for Menthos (something about torpedoes and the boat building competition). Once the party ended we danced a bit, but we have a very early start tomorrow, so we went to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment