Days 8-11 (Part 3 Glaciers)

Day 10 and a trip to see the Pilota glacier in the Darwin range on the final full day on board


Yours truly approaching fjordwearing a polo shirt. Hardy explorer or prat?


On of the many waterfalls

Amazing site turning into the fjord and seeing the blue tinted "Pilota " glacier

One of the numerous cormorant colonies along the route

We all kept quiet to listen to the ice crashing into the see....fabulous!

Dressed a bit more appropriately

With Rachel and Liz. They are coming to the end of a four month trip in South America.....those Aussies do get around.And these two can drink red wine

On way back to boat

Getting back on board

Days 8-11 (Part 2 Wulaia Bay)

Wulaia Bay is on Isla Navarino, and is where Darwin landed on his travels. The indigenous population were the Yamanas, a seafaring people who live on the southern islands in the Beagle Channel. The were naked and survived the cold by covering themselves in sea lion and penguin fat. Any way they spent all their time squatting in canoes to catch food and consequently developed very strong upper bodies from the rowing and very week lower bodies, and on land found it difficult to move around. Darwin thought he had found the missing link between ape and man. There is one surviving old woman who belonged to the tribe and her son who apparently works on the cruise ship. He must have been the waiter who served me my wine with his feet, whilst walking on his hands. Boom! boom!


Arriving in the RIB



Walking up the mountain and looking down to the boat

Still on the way up. It was a beautiful day; very warm, and we walked about 600ft up the mountain. Most excercise since the trek in Tierra del Fuego National Park

Another view

This is as far as we went. Lovely walk, gorgeous view

On the way back down. A beaver dam....but no sign of beaver (titter ye not)

And a large tumbler of Johnnie Walker red label or a Coke for when you return frm the trek.

I had the scotch

Days 8-11 (Part 1 Going around The Cape))

The boat


My room for 3 nights

Leaving Ushuaia

Steps up to Cape Horn when leaving the RIB

Yours truly with usual daft grin

Church supposed to be open , but wasn't

A Chilean naval officer and his family live in the light house and maintain and presumably worship in the church

Me by the Albatros....a monument to the seamen who have died off the Cape (approx 10,000)

Going back to the boat

And again

The next three photos are out of order

A monument to somebody....(couldn't translate it)

View looking East from the Cape

Rachel and Liz

I was trying to find a way to get to Cape Horn and possibly Antarctica. There were no boats going to either place except for a cruise ship going the next day to Punto Arenas in Chile via the Cape. Went to the tourist office and got a last minute deal, thought f*ck it, it's my only chance, so paid the $*** and spent the wednesday morning chilling out in Ushuaia before boarding the boat in the afternoon. Very nice boat, after a champagne reception with the captain, went downstairs, sorry, below; to find out where I would be sitting for dinner. Told the steward I was English , so sat me on table 10. There were loads of American tourists on board, and I was dreading sitting at one of their tables.I'm sure some of them thought they were at the North Pole. When I sat down a steward announced to cheers to each nationality.....American 40, Canadian 25,Spanish 10, French 10.....Slovakian2, German 2, Swiss 2, Austrian 2, Australian 2, UK ..............1, lil ol' me

20 nationalities, 1 Brit. What happened to the exploring British spirit? I blame Gordon Brown.

Anyway I was at the best table.....3 couples, each from Germany, Switzerland and Austria and a couple of girls from Australia, Liz and Rachel (from Canberra) by far the youngest people on the boat....must have thought it was a gereatrics outing. It takes ages to download photos, so part 2 tomorrow and time to get something to eat (8.15 pm 24th Oct)

7th day and the Lord said "ye shall rest"

Spent the morning exploring the town and then went to the Irish pub met Tony and Pauline from Cork. Also met Nick, a Brit, who lives in New York and was going to Punta Arenas the next morning at 3.30am. We were still drinking at10pm so don't know if he made it. Don't remember much else

Day 6 already! Tren del fin del mundo and park

As usual, photos in reverse order
A horse


A bird


General view in park

View at lake, just started snowing

2 birds and what looks like a pile of horse shit

Southern edge of park, looking towards Chilean Tierra del Fuego

One of my attempts to photograph some of the amazing collection of birds in the park......harriers, woodpeckers, finches and all sorts of brightly coloured birds.... a twitcher's paradise. Trouble is you need a decent slr camera and a steady hand...the little buggers fly off before I get a chance to snap them.

Train arriving at the park

And , of course, the engines.

I walked for miles for the first time since I left UK.....aching like a good'un this evening.

I'm getting a place on a boat that's cruising around Cape Horn (where you can disembark) on wednesday, and it then goes through the fjords and glaciers of S.W.Chile,( stopping at a penguin colony), before arriving at Punta Arenas in Chile on saturday. So don't know what wi-fi will be available, so may be a break in transmission. So tomorrow hanging around here (Ushuaia), maybe taking a trek up to the lakes, before the trip on wednesday
Love Pete

Day 5 Beagle Channel

Thought I'd take a boat trip along the Beagle Channel as it was such a lovely day. The "Barracuda" was built in 1950 and until 1975 used to ferry people across the Rio Plata between Buenos Aires and Paraguay and Uruguay. Then it was brought down to Ushuaia (pronounced "ooswyer")to cruise around the islands in the channel. Lovely old boat....2.5 hr trip 14 pounds. Only 6 people on the trip, and the skipper and his wife who spoke fluent English.

Yours truly in front of the lighthouse at the approach to the port



In front of a colony of king cormorants

Sea lion colony

Leaving the port to go on the trip....photos a bit out of order.

Coming back in to port

I was going to El tren del fin del mondo in the afternoon, but went for lunch, found a bar and started watching an Argentinian football match on the tv and it got a bit late. So that's the plan for tomorrow...Tierra del Fuego National Park to do some trekking and go on the train. Following day probably venture in to Chile

By the way Dave, the water went clockwise today down the plug hole, so I guess it doesn't change depending on which hemisphere you're in.....sorry if you lost your bet

Day 4

Well, this is more like it! Much as I liked Buenos Aires, this is what the trip is mainly about...Patagonia.

Before I carry on, I'd like to apologise to any Argentinians that may have viewed the previous posting. When I said third world, mickey mouse, I was talking about the bank notes not the country. Much the same as the Euro notes.... not the quality of the English, sorry Dave H, British bank notes....thought I'd just clarify that

Wonderful flight courtesy of Argentine Airlines....smooth flight, very pretty air hostesses unlike the BA flight from Heathrow...no offence.

Bit odd though, I wasn't allowed to take my apples and bananas on the flight, but a young woman in the aisle next to me was compiling a scrapbook with an enormous pair of scissors....go figure.

I don't know what order the photos are being published in, but basically:

Coming in to land

View when leaving airport (after enormous rainstorm in the time it takes landing and exiting)

My hotel

An old LT bus (think I "spotted" this one in 1965 back home)

Beagle Channel (Named that thanks to Charles Darwin)

Hotel is brilliant! Quiet with really nice people running it ....I've just had a few drinks after being down town and I think the two brothers who run it are my best friends ever.

The town is a bit more touristy than I was hoping, never mind, it's a good place from which to explore the surrounding area. El tren del fin del mondo tomorrow and a hike around the national park.

Had a couple of drinks in an Irish bar (is there anywhere in the world where there isn't an Irish bar?)

There is also a bar called "The General Belgrano"....thought I'd give that a wide berth.
By the way Dave Filby, it goes down the plug hole ante-clockwise

Love Pete