USHUAIA, ARGENTINA

What a delightful, little town at the End of the World! We were blessed with a day of the best weather anyone who's traveled here frequently has ever seen! Even the locals were commenting how beautiful it was -- warm, no wind and bright sunshine -- a welcome change from the frozen subcontinent we'd just left. The bay was so still that everything was beautifully reflected in it. Ushuaia is an important duty-free port, and we watched several cargo ships being loaded with containers. Tourism is also important and they come to see the colony of penguins and the possibility of sighting orcas in the surrounding waters, as well as the wildlife in the National Park.

Ushuaia is located on the island of Tierra del Fuego, and claims to be the "southernmost city in the world." It started as a penal colony and, like Devil's Island, was considered escape proof. Prisoners and supplies were brought in by train, and the prisoners worked maintaining the narrow gauge railroad and cutting down trees which were then shipped back to the "city." In the early 1900's it was used for political prisoners, and in 1947 it became part of the naval base. Today it is a museum.

Unfortunately we only had 5 hours to spend here, so we took a bus tour around the city -- it took all of an hour and a half! We saw the "sleigh" houses which are small houses built on logs so that they could easily be moved from place to place either to get a better location near a stream, or to evade paying taxes! There is a large naval base in town, and a small private airport that we visited. The ski lift offers a panoramic view of the area. Lupins grow wild everywhere, bringing color to brighten up the town, as do the pastel colored houses. Incidentally, lupins are an excellent method of rejuvenating soil for other crops. A bust of Evita Peron stands in a park near the main square.

There are also large peat bogs, which were ancient lakes that are now filled with algae. Peat is dried and used for fuel and sometimes to build sheds and shelters. Some of the houses look neglected because of the harsh weather, but there are lots of happy dogs everywhere. The Tierra del Fuego National Park is home to many unusual birds and animals such as the rare Giant Patagonian Woodpecker (nearly 1-½ feet long!), the bright green Austral Parakeet with a crimson tail, hawks, steamer ducks as big as geese, and the large black-browed albatross. Most residents are nature lovers.

The 'Octopus' was docked across from our ship, a private 100 passenger yacht owned by Paul Allen, a Microsoft executive. Rumor has it that Cameron Diaz was one of the guests, and that our captain paid them a visit! It is thought that they might be going on an Antarctica charter, to explore a recent shipwreck.

It was certainly a lovely morning, and we were sorry to leave for our next port of call on the mainland, Punta Arenas.