Adventures in South America

Back from Ushuaia

We arrived back from Ushuaia on Thursday afternoon… I think that was just enough time for us big city slickers.

The highlight of the trip for me was a guided tour that we took along the Beagle Channel with a tour group called Canal Fun and Nature. Here is a description provided by Canal Fun of the tour we did:

Gable Island, Ea Harberton: Rowing/Trekking/Sailing.
Experience a flood of Yamana history, landscapes, flora and fauna, colours and textures on a unique and striking uninhabited island. Rowing, walking, or coasting the waters of the Beagle in a semi-inflatable boat, this little visited part of Tierra del Fuego will leave you speechless. The adventure begins in the mythical Estancia Haberton. From here to Gable Island: rowing or sailing. On this incredible island, we make base in our cabin that dates from the beginning of the 19th Century, a picturesque shelter that we’ve modernized without altering its history. The lunch and discussions will submerge us even more in three hours, in which we unveil the mysteries of every corner, every tree and every species of animal. And the one thing missing to make this excursion unique: the sail up to Isla Martillos (Hammer Island) where we find the only penguin colony in the Beagle Channel.

It was about an 11 hour day. The van came to pick us up around 9 in the morning and we drove for about an hour to a river where we canoed. There were about 15 other people on the van and we were some of the younger people on the trip. There were a few couples from Canada, a woman from Washington DC, a man from Toulouse France and a few Argentinians. During the hour long van ride, one of our guides – Cecile told us a little about the history of Ushuaia. Once we arrived at the river, we were given water proof pants and boots to wear and then we canoed on a river for a couple of hours. Usama and I teamed up against Seth and Natalia and had a friendly race. We both came in DEAD LAST (so much for being one of the “younger people”). We then took a Zodiac boat over to an Gable Island to have lunch. There were cubes of cheese, bread, olives, salami, potato chips, wine, soda and water. A barbecue was prepared and a little while later grilled fish, potatoes and fresh tomatoes. We sat around, talked and got to know some of the other people on the tour. Many of the non-argentines were spending over a month in this part of the world – the woman from DC was working in Chile for a few months, the man from France was working in Ushuaia managing a high end hotel, and the 2 Canadian couples (who were about our parents age) were traveling around Argentina for a total of 6 weeks. We also spent a lot of time talking to the other guides – Berto who went to the Olympics in Seoul for canoeing (and was the best canoer in South America at one point in time) and Jaku who was very cool and we actually ended up inviting him to dinner. After lunch we trekked around Gable Isld while Jaku pointed out different types of trees and characteristics of the wildlife. This lasted about 3 hours. By this time, we arrived at a dock and Nat (and the rest of the group) were ready to see some Penguins. We climbed onto a boat that took us out to see them. Humans are not allowed on the island, but we were able to get pretty close and take some great pictures. Afterwards I think we went to Estancia Haberton and had coffee before it was time to get back on the boat and make our way back to Ushuaia. It was a very full day. We got back to the cabin around 8pm and made plans to meet Jaku for dinner at a restaurant called Kuar.

This was actually our 2nd night in a row at Kuar. In general, most of the restaurants we came across in Ushuaia were overrun with tourists and VERY expensive. This just confirmed that this is a city that caters almost exclusively to tourists. Kuar was one of the few restaurants we came across that were attractively decorated, not overpopulated with tourists and that had good food. Kuar is right next to the Beagle Channel and looks out over the water. It has a really cool bar where you can sit and watch the sunset. Jaku met us for dinner and we had a gourmet, leisurely meal.

Jaku is quite a character. He moved from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia 7 years ago when he was 19. He is definitely a person who is very in tune with nature and his reason for moving to Ushuaia is very interesting. He was inspired by a picture of a tree that he saw in the Buenos Aires newspaper 7 years ago. As his story goes, he took one look at the picture and decided that he was going to find this very tree and have his picture taken with it. That led to his to move to Ushuaia. He wanted to hitchhike all the entire way but his parents forced him to take a plane halfway. He is a former English teacher who is now a guide for Canal Fun and Nature. He lives on a mountain in a house that some friends helped him build… apparently it is about a 25 minute hike to his house, there is no running water, no electricity and no bathroom. Apparently those things will be added on eventually 

On Wednesday afternoon, Nat, Seth and I headed out to the Tierra del Fuego National Park (Usama was exhausted as he had hang out at a bar with Jaku and some of his friends until later in the evening. Seth, Nat and I went home after dinner). From the center of town near the docks, there are vans that leave every half hour that drive you to the park (its about a 40 minute drive). We hiked the Sendera Costera trek, which is a 6.5 KM, three hour long hike that takes you along the coast and as well as into the forest. The views were breathtaking. At the end we were sufficiently tired. We headed back to town, met up with Usama, and decided to hang out at the tea house at the foot of the Martial Glacier – Cabaña de Te. As you might have noticed by this point in time, we became creatures of habit in terms of food. We only found a few places that we enjoyed so we decided not to take too many risks. We sat around, enjoyed coffee, tea and pastries and enjoyed the view for a couple of hours. Afterwards we went to dinner at Chez Manu. Kuar was good, Chez Manu was amazing. It is one of the finest restaurants in Ushuaia, and is situated outside of town higher up in the mountains. It has a great view of the city and Channel below. We enjoyed the fresh seafood – King Crab Legs (Centolla – which this region of Patagonia is famous for) and Chilean Sea Bass (or Merluza Negra as they call it here). That was definitely our best meal in Ushuaia. As we were paying our bill, all of the lights went out in the restaurant. As we looked down towards the rest of the city, we were startled by the fact that the city which was so lit up moments before was now pitch black! We asked our taxi driver to stop by a kiosko so that we could pick up some candles. Thankfully, the power failure lasted about an hour.

We left to head back to Buenos Aires the next morning. I must say that it was good to be back. The cabin that we stayed at in Ushuaia was a little dreary – sort of an A Line frame house that had four entrances – one for each cabin. The walls were very thin – we were staying next door to a family that had a baby that cried very loudly and kept us awake most of the nights. The nature aspect of it was beautiful and enjoyable, but I realize that I am a city girl at heart.

posted by Kathy T @ 5:42 PM