Sunday--February 27--Ushuaia

Sunday--February 27--Ushuaia

Morning came quickly and I needed to have my bags ready because I was changing hotels.  7:15 a.m. wake-up so I could have breakfast before my 8:00 a.m. pick-up.

My room was on the third floor so I could walk up the stairs to the restaurant for breakfast.  Maybe because it was early and Sunday, but no one else was in the restaurant.  The food was out but I didn’t see anyone.  A few minutes later Antonia appeared and told me she thought Patricia ordered the wrong tour for me.  After a bit of a discussion I decided to leave whatever Patricia ordered.

Tierra del Fuego National Park is a national park on the Argentine part of the island of Tierra del Fuego, within Tierra del Fuego Province. It was founded in 1960.

Located close to the city of Ushuaia, the national park stretches 60 kilometres (37 mi) north from the Beagle Channel along the Chilean border. Its 630 square kilometres (240 sq mi) include parts of the Fagnano and Roca lakes, the second of which opens into the Lapataia Bay on the southern coast, a popular point for treks. The park has dramatic scenery, with waterfalls, forests, mountains and glaciers. Parts of the park are closed to protect the environment.

The National Park is 15 kilometers away from town and there is no public bus that goes there.  Of the options Antonia explained:  take a taxi (about 100 pesos) or a special bus (about 70 pesos) or take the transportation with a guide (that was only 50 pesos more  about $10.00), so I thought that was a better idea.  The transportation was one fee (120 pesos), the National Park was another (60 pesos) fee and the Train was a third fee (120 pesos).  Altogether the day was about $70.00.  I wasn’t sure what I was getting but it turned out to be a nice day.

It was a 10 person van that picked me up.  Ruben was the driver and our guide.  When I got in the van there were already 6 people and we picked up 2 more before driving to the National Park.  When we got to the train, only the one couple (from Brazil) and I went on it.  The other 6 people decided they would just walk during the time we were on the train.  

me at the tren del fin del mundo

The Southern Fuegian Railway or the End of the World Train (Spanish: Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino (FCAF) or El Tren del Fin del Mundo) is a 500 mm (1 ft 7 ³⁄₄ in) (narrow-gauge) steam railway in Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina. It was originally built as a freight line to serve the prison of Ushuaia, specifically to transport timber. It now operates as a heritage railway into the Tierra del Fuego National Park and is considered the southernmost functioning railway in the world.

The train ride was cool. 

In the late 19th century, Ushuaia on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego developed as a penal colony, with the first prisoners arriving in 1884. In 1902 work began on a proper set of buildings for the prison by inmates, and a railway on wooden rails was constructed to assist the transport of materials, mainly local rock, sand and timber. Oxen pulled wagons along the narrow gauge of less than1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) (metre gauge). In 1909, the prison governor informed the government of the need to upgrade the line and Decauville tracks at a 500 mm gauge were laid in 1909 and 1910 for use with a steam locomotive. They connected the prison camp with the forestry camp and passed along the shoreline in front of the growing town of Ushuaia. It was known as the 'Train of the Prisoners' (Tren de los Presos) and brought wood for heating and cooking as well as building.

The river is named Pipo, after one of the convicts who tried to escape but died from the cold temperature of the river, (glacial water).   The trains are still made at this depot.

train guide in rear

The train has a guide who gives the history of the train and the area (in both English and Spanish) as the train makes it way along the tracks.  

Midway through the hour ride we stopped at Cacada Macarena, where you could also get a snack or coffee or souvenirs.  I’m not sure if this is a tourist trap or not, but I was doing the macarena (ha).

just so you know I wasn't making up the name

When the train continued after our stop we saw lots of horses

baby horse feeding on mom

River Pipo

 and the tree “cemetary”.  

tree cemetary

The trees were cut down by the convicts to use to build things in Ushuaia.  This type of tree “beech” does not grow back easily or quickly.  There is a secondary problem with the beavers who are building dams.  This causing the flow of water to stop which also hurts the trees.  The beavers, who were introduced by Canadians, are a big problem for all of Patagonia.

I just love the clouds

When the train ride was over, Ruben was there to pick us up.  He told us we were going to drive to the visitors center, which also had a cafeteria, a small room with information about the things in the park and yes another souvenir shop.   

After the visitors center, which offered a great view of the lake, we made three other stops in the park.  

El Capitan in Tierra del Fuego

Each time we stopped Ruben took us on short walks around the area.  One area reminded me of El Capitan Canyon.

There were wood cabins next to the river.  Ruben told us that on one side of the road camping was free but on the other side you had to pay.  If you paid you could use the showers and toilets.  He also said it was a great place for fishing.  I went walking along the shore and found a piece of “river” glass.

One of the stops was at a beaver’s dam where they have a plaque that says “man’s error”.  

dam built by beavers

Ruben told us that there are scientists working on what to do with the beavers.

Then we went to a place with this sign.  Ruben said it is either the beginning or end of Route 3, which is the Pan American Highway going to Alaska.

The beginning or the end of Route 3, the Pan American Highway

Our last stop was at the Post Office at the End of the World. 

post office at the end of the world

Ruben told us we could get our passports stamped and/or buy a postcard.  I don’t usually carry my passport but since I was moving hotels I didn’t want to leave it with my luggage so luckily I had it with me.  

my passport being stamped

The man who runs the shop does it independently.  Ruben told me that a few years ago he was having trouble keeping the post office/store open because he didn’t have much business but now things were better.  

The postman

It’s a one man show and he’s here every day.  There is a charge to have your passport stamped. I also bought and sent a postcard to myself that has a stamp from “the end of the world”.  We’ll see if I ever get it.

Well, it was nearly 1 p.m. and this was a great day.  Ruben took me back to my hotel.  He told me he just got his license to be his own company and here is his website.   

Ruben Jofre (on facebook) or Tres_x@live.com.ar

I told him I would put it in my blog.  He was a good guide and I highly recommend using him.  His tours are only for the National Park.

Ruben took me back to my hotel and I walked around the corner and half way down the hill to my new hotel.  Hotel Austral wasn’t as plush as Alto Andino but I also wasn’t paying as much either.  This place had more of a homey feeling.

After I settled my things I went out to get something to eat.

  

It was Sunday and I was very excited to see if I could watch the Academy Awards.  When I returned from lunch I noticed 

the hotel had a t.v. in the lobby/restaurant that was on.  The channel they were showing was CNN Argentina.  I noticed they were talking about the Academy Awards and went to ask the people of the hotel if they thought I could find a channel that would show it.

I went to the room got my computer and brought it to the lobby.  I find it’s better if I type on a table rather than on my bed in my room.  

While I was in the lobby I met two women from England.  They were at least 10-15 years older than me and had lots of travel stories.  They told me they had taken the 2 day bus from Bariloche to El Chalten.  The worst part about this story, and for them, was that on the first day the bus didn’t have a toilet and stopped only every 4 hours.  Oy.  Could I really do this?  They painted a horrible picture of this experience; no toilet, no air conditioning, the driver had the door open to give ventilation.  This wasn’t sounding good. 

One of the women, said, oh you can do it just be sure you get yourself some food and water before you get on the bus.    I was having second thoughts about this part of the journey. 

These women were very funny and told me they were blogging and had the idea to start something for “granny” travel.  They feel there is a market for “mature” people traveling.  They were doing it on somewhat of a budget.  They also had gotten the “last minute” price to take the Crusero Australis from Puerto Merino.  They had good travel experience and I appreciated the information they gave me.  Have to see if I can change my plane ticket.

It was time to try to find the Academy Awards show.  I turned the channels on the tv in the lobby and was able to find the red carpet show, the only thing was it was dubbed in Spanish.   It was rather hilarious to see the celebrities stop to talk and hear it all in Spanish.  Although I know I missed some comments, I was excited to be able to watch.  It didn’t start until 10:00 p.m. and for the first hour I watched in the lobby with my computer on.  O.k. I was facebooking.  But it was very exciting because my friend Lorna’s brother in-law was the producer of “The King’s Speech” and I wanted to see if he won.  

Around 11:30 p.m. I was getting tired and lots of people came into the lobby and were very loud so I went to my room.  I got in bed and hoped I would stay awake to hear the “Best Picture” award.  I did fall asleep but woke up in time to hear “The King’s Speech” won.  Yeah.  So exciting for Lorna and her family.

I needed a good night’s sleep and didn’t have much planned for tomorrow.