Finding Penguins

There's lots to do in and around Ushuaia, and if you plan it well, you can find yourselves with two full days. 3 even if you can. Everyone does the Beagle Channel Cruise, but other options include hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park, glacier hiking, horseback riding, canoeing and more. Our group did a bit of a scatter, but this afternoon we were all on our included Beagle Channel Cruise.

A bit of a lazy morning, in hindsight, I wish we'd gotten up early and checked out the national park. There's a number of trails, though the bus only runs at certain times and we didn't want to risk missing the cruise later. So, around town we wandered. Heading out along the water, then back to the main drag. In and out of tourist shops from one end to the other. The weather held out beautifully, the weather gods returned and smiled upon us. The winds were still strong though and you'd be advised to have the thermals handy.

There's two tourist shops of note to check out. Both are on the main street, and you'll notice the first right away with prisoner figures all about it. Ushuaia, like Australia, was built by prisoners, the former from Spain. In the back of the first shop "La Ultima Bita", you'll find a large backyard display of prisoners of the past engaged in mining activities while authorities looked on and supervised. The second shop is on a corner a few blocks down on the opposite side of the street. I think they might be sister shops. The draw to this storefront is that they have rubber Ushuaia stamps you can mark your postcards with. Of course, we only stumbled upon this after we'd mailed our postcards.

Speaking of postcards, the post office charges an arm and a leg for stamps, check out some of the local shops for stamps instead. That said, as far as I know, none of my postcards have arrived yet and we're coming up on a month. Not worried yet as it took 5 months for a postcard to arrive from Petra, Jordan.

And speaking of stamps, don't forget to get your passport stamped with the "Gateway to Antarctica" stamp. There's another one for those who actually go to Antarctica, no cheating! So I am returning one day =) By the way, to tide your penguin needs til need, there's lots of penguin things to buy, you might find yourself going home with one, or two, or three, or who's counting anyway?

Back to our day, we headed down to the docks to board our boat to cruise through the Beagle Channel. It's about a 6 hour round trip and though picturesque, you may want to bring a book or cards, especially since we return in the night. And yes, it does get dark in March. The sail is a smooth one, grab a seat indoors but you'll find yourself outside for a good duration. We get some shore watching time, looking back at the city, pretty as it rests, nestled in front of mountains still capped with snow.

We pass by a Chilean town on our way south, but it's population still hasn't reached that of a city yet, so Ushuaia retains its title of southernmost city for now. We pass a sunken boat with history that I can't remember. Then sealions and birds that look like penguins. And a lighthouse. Finally we reach Isla Martillo.

Most of our small group braved the waves splashing up the front of the front of the boat, staking out a good photo spot for when we'd reach the island. It was windy, it was wet (and admittedly I stayed in a doorway til we were almost there). The boat slows as it approaches and dare I count hundreds of cute Magellanic penguins appeared before us. We were limited in our movements, but we made up for it in excitement and camera zooms and hundreds of photos.

Among the Magellanic penguins were a few gentoo penguins as well and two king penguins, a rarity who we learned might be scouting for a home for their own colony. We lingered and lingered until the boat slowly pulled away again, returning the way we came. So many photos...so many penguins...must get more...Read more