Ushuaia

Usuhia, the capital of Argentine Tierra del Fuego, is considered the southern most city in the world.

Seen without ones rose colored glasses, it is a dingy sort of place where dramatic weather changes and temperature swings are part of the landscape, not to mention dress code.

Luckily, we travel with Hope, who has never once in her life doffed her peculiar pink spectacles. Her comment as we were driving through the city to our cabin was. "Wooow, now this looks like a fun place!"

The upside of weather that is in constant motion are rainbows. Who does not love a rainbow? This is the view from our cabin. That's the Beagle Channel on the lower middle right.

Girl had it right coming and going. The plan was four nights, we ended up staying three due to oft mentioned rescheduling issues, but I could have spent a week hiking the glaciers, checking out the bogs, boating on the Beagle Channel. Really, the place is stuffed to the gills with history and outdoorsy sorts of things to do.

The view from the other side of our cute little cabin over looking the Beagle Channel.

First a two second history lesson, Ferdinand Magellan (of the famed "Straights") was the first European land here in 1520. He named it 'Land of Fire" for the beach fires he observed the native Yamana building as a means of keeping warm and for cooking.

Charles Darwin and the Beagle circled the globe from 1831-1836, stopping in Tierra del Fuego, and ultimately gracing the channel with his moniker. That's it - your two seconds are officially up.

Climate-wise, Ushuaia is warmer than you might think given that it is described as the southernmost city in the world - reality check:  it is no further south than Belfast, Ireland is north, and temperatures rarely drop below -10°C. However, summers can be quite chilly, generally in the range of +12°C and, as in all of Patagonia, strong winds make you feel colder than the temperatures might suggest.

I confess that the entire time in Ushsuia, I was cold. Really cold. I dressed in layers (tank top, sweater, fleece, vest and then medium weight coat), but I seem to have trouble keeping warm, and despite what seemed like adequate clothing and despite no one else seeming to feel the chill, I could have used a winter coat. The issue, of course, is that we were spending four days here out of a three week trip, most of which would be in temperature significantly warmer. So, I packed what I thought I could get away with to reduce stress and strain of carrying luggage.

We rented a car here, which allowed us freedom to travel around the area. We hit a grocery shop first to grab some food and stock the larder for our time here (the cabin had a kitchen - no stove, but it had an electric frying pan, toaster, microwave and hot plate - that was more than enough for Jeff to work with), and then drove down a long dirt road along a gorgeous bay. And let the children out for an airing.

Our itinerary for the week included: (1) zip-line (yeah touristy things to do that kids love!), (2) boat ride to the Penguin island where we would walk forth among the penguins (no touching, please, this is wildlife, people!), (3) a chairlift ride up to the glacier and a leisurely stroll back down (4) an evening boat ride on the Beagle Channel to see the sights with a wee hike on Bridge Island, and (5) Tierra del Fuego National Park and The Train to the End of the World. We jammed a lot into our short time.

One small downside of our otherwise lovely cabin was that we had to supply our own dishwasher. In a world full of mechanized dishwashers, it seemed like a great time to add a few new skills to their repertoire.

Comments

[Debbie Hanson]

Again with the child labor. Gorgeous view from the other side of your cabin.