After two very rough days we arrived in Ushuaia. We were scheduled to pass around Cape
Horn, but the captain chose to give it a miss and stay closer to land, due to the really
rough weather.
As we came into Ushuaia, we noticed all the snow on the
surrounding mountains, including lots of fresh snow on the trees. It was 37 degrees, overcast, and we had a
hiking tour ahead of us.
We boarded a bus at 9:00
and drove about twenty minutes to Tierra Mayor Natural Reserve. When we got there, we went to a cabin, where
we were outfitted with waterproof boots.
The two-and-a-half-hour trek was quite challenging. There was a bit of snow to walk through, but
mostly mud and some peat bogs. There was
a lot of scrambling over rocks and up hillsides. The hike was 5 km long. We saw evidence of the beavers, which were
introduced here many years ago. They
have really destroyed a lot of land.
Neither of us fell in the mud, but the majority of our companions did,
some more than once. But most people
were good natured about it.
After the hike we had lunch in the cabin, returned our muddy
boots, and reboarded the bus. They let
us off downtown, where we strolled the downtown area.
After its early days as a colonial outpost, Ushuaia became a
naval base, then later a penal colony.
The hope was that the prisoners would stay and populate the town, but
that plan failed. The next plan was to
introduce beaver, muskrat, and rabbit for fur production. That project also failed, and resulted in the
terrible destruction of much of the land by the uncontrolled beaver population. Today Ushuaia is a manufacturer of electronic
equipment. The current population is
80,000. It's the capital of the state of
Tierra del Fuego and the most southernmost city in the
world. It is the southern end of the PanAmerican
Highway.
Ushuaia reminds us a lot of Alaska,
complete with gorgeous snow-capped peaks as a backdrop. By afternoon the sun had come out and it
had warmed up considerably.
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