Ushuaia,
pronounced something like oo-schway-a, is the southernmost city in the world and
the only city south of the South American Andes mountain range. It’s located in southern Patagonia, at the
extreme south of Argentina, close to the border with Chile and not far from
Cape Horn. It’s known as ‘Fin del Mundo’
or the city ‘At The World’s End’ and can be exposed to some grim weather. Happily for us, the weather was kind (most of
the time) and we enjoyed some sunny, cool days.
With a population of only 60,000 the city is hardly large, but with
regular visitors from cruise ships in the summer months and avid skiers in the
winter, it has developed a thriving and lively tourist trade. Founded in 1884 by one Augusto Lasserre, its
small port is well positioned in the deep water of a wide bay forming part of
the Beagle Channel, named after the ship HMS Beagle, during its first
hydrographic survey of the area between 1826 and 1830. On its second voyage, 1831 to 1836, the young
graduate Charles Darwin was aboard. The
publication of his journal The Voyage of the Beagle resulted in fame that
established him as a writer. He also
started to develop his theories that would eventually be published in his work
On the Origin of Species.
That’s
all good stuff but as the Stella Australis nudged the dockside with the
slightest of bumps, we slept soundly.
Well, it was midnight.
Disembarking after another good breakfast and checking into the Arakur
Hotel brought our voyage of discovery to a close and opened the final chapter of
our holiday adventure. Perched on top of
its own small mountain, the hotel overlooks the town and the Beagle
Channel. We chose a mountain view,
having watched the sea and glaciers for the last four days, and were not
disappointed. Anyway, the sea view is
right there, from the bar.
The
town sprawls along the waterfront, extending into valleys between the
mountains. It’s busy with traffic and
nearly all the roads are narrow and one way, so there’s quite a lot of driving
around blocks to get to any given destination.
Parking seems to be a big issue but controlled by wardens who issue
tickets, not for fines, but for parking duration fees.
Dogs
are everywhere. Big ones, small ones,
in-between ones. They all seem
completely unconcerned by traffic and pedestrians. They stretch out asleep wherever they want
and the people step around them. The
population of Ushuaia do seem to be a very laid back group. Perhaps that’s where the dogs learn to be the
same.
We
took the opportunity to relax a little before the journey back to Australia. We did visit the old prison, which is the
reason the town grew from a few huts in the first place, and the memorial to
those who died in the Falklands war in 1982.
We found it interesting reading the way that events were portrayed,
presenting the British as the aggressors with no mention of the initial
Argentinian occupation of the islands.
Our main form of relaxation is to check out the local food and drink,
not that we’ve missed out on those delights so far. The Patagonia climate is cool and the waters
are cold and in our experience those conditions result in additional flavour,
particularly in seafood. We were not
disappointed. A speciality is king crab. These are monstrous fellows, two to three
feet across with big strong legs and a solid body. Caught fresh and very clean from the sea they
are pink on top and white underneath.
The colour does not change when they are cooked and the flavour is
subtle and delicious. It became
necessary to return to the Volver Restaurant, just to be sure that our first
impressions were correct. I’m happy to
report that they were. Sea bass is
another local speciality and we found it equally delicious.
Now
good food requires a good drink and we’ve already reported on Malbec, that goes
down just as well with fish as it does with meat. But sometimes a beer fits the bill and
there’s some good ones. The Patagonia
range is flavoursome but we preferred Beagle, and not for the dog connection. The Golden Ale is hoppy, similar to an IPA,
whilst the dark stout parallels a Mackeson (readers located in England will
understand). For everyone else, the
beers are not the usual bland lager, but nutty, rich and a full mouthful. Cheers.
Have
I mentioned that we’ve been incredibly lucky with the weather? Changeable is an understatement and we’ve
been privileged with days of clear skies and sunshine. On our last evening nature put on a
spectacular show, turning the sky red as the sun dipped below the mountains. As the old adage goes ‘Red
sky at night . . . Surely the shepherds
would be delighted. However, the proverb
appears to not apply in these southern latitudes. The following morning we were
greeted with cloud down to ground level and rain. Or as the driver who took us to the airport
put it “this is the usual Ushuaia weather”.
At least we can claim to have experienced it. The cloud remained constant throughout the
day reducing visibility to a few metres.
No photos, there’s nothing to see apart from grey mist.
So
our time in Ushuaia came to an end. The journey back was not without some
tension. Our flight from Ushuaia to Buenos
Aires was delayed for three hours due to the weather. However,
the Buenos
Aires domestic airport is on the opposite side of the city to the international
airport. Fortunately a car was ready to
collect us, although I think our luggage was almost one of the last to appear
on the conveyor. The traffic was dreadful
but we made the flight to Aukland with about 20 minutes to spare and then on to
Brisbane without further hassle. Total travelling
time was about 30 hours.
It's
not possible to single out a special moment; there were so many of them. Each day was different and each day was a
delight. I’ll just add this last photo which
for me sums up Patagonia. A clear blue sky,
snow capped mountains, glacier filled lakes and . . . where have those guanacos gone?
A
final last word. If you’re a vegan, don’t
go to Argentina, you’ll starve!
No comments:
Post a Comment