Base Naval Ushuaia

We arrived at “The end of the World” this morning, the nickname for Ushuaia, Argentina. Argentina is 5000 km long and has 23 provinces. Ushuaia is the capital of the most southern province, Tierra del Fuego and the last mainland civilization before the Antarctic.

It was 6 degrees but lucky for us it wasn’t raining or snowing. This is their summer and it doesn’t get much warmer than today. Sunrise 4:51 am and Sunset 10:05 pm The setting for this town is beautiful but they are snowbound for 9 months of the year. In port there were several ships preparing to head to the Antarctic and we also saw a group of hikers going to hike in Patagonia. Ushuaia is 300 km. from Buenos Aires and has a population of 80,000.

We had a tour of Tierra del Fuego National park on the Argentine part of the island. Within Tierra del Fuego Province is the eco-region of the Patagonia Forest and Altos Andes, a part of the sub Antarctic forest. Established on 15 October 1960 and expanded in 1966, it was the first shoreline national park to be established in Argentina. Tierra del Fuego National Park named by the Spanish, means Land of Fire. This was because the Yámana native population kept fires going all the time to keep warm, even using coal in their canoes.

The park contains mountains, lakes, rivers and valleys. It is bounded on the west by the Chilean border, on the north by Lago Fagnano and Roca lakes, and on the south by the Beagle Channel, which forms the shoreline. Both Chile and Argentina share the management of this park. It encompasses an area of 63,000 hectares and represents two eco regions: the Altos Andes and the Patagonian Forest. While the former eco region is made up of hills and slopes, the latter has high and jagged mountains, glacier valleys and semi-deciduous forests. The landscape of the park is the result of glacial erosion, which has created bays and beaches against a backdrop of rugged mountains and valleys. Forests of Antarctic Beech, Lenga Beech and Coihue in the lower elevations of the park are home to many animal species. An orange, golf ball size, fungus growing on the trees is called Indian bread which you can eat right off the tree, but not after it falls off the tree.

Argentinian President Juan Peron introduced Canadian beaver to the park hoping to create a fur trade, but the fur was not good. There are no predators, so the increasing population of beavers has created a major problem because their dams and the creation of bogs kills off the trees. Both the Chilean and Argentinian governments are cooperating to get rid of the beavers but have not been successful.
The park is the southern terminus of the Pan-American Highway that runs from Alaska to here.

The Beagle Channel in Tierra del Fuego National Park is named after the British ship HMS Beagle, which sailed with the naturalist Charles Darwin aboard in 1833–34. The channel separates Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego from the islands of Nueva, Picton, Navarino, Hoste, Londonderry, Stewart, and other smaller islands to the south. The biggest settlement on the channel is Ushuaia in Argentina followed by Puerto Williams in Chile, two of the southernmost settlements in the world.

Humans inhabited Tierra del Fuego as far back as 10,000 years ago. The Yámana (Yaghan people), living in the harsh environment, survived on the natural resources of the sea. They lived on its beaches and made voyages into the sea in canoes made of Lenga Beech, hunted sea lions and collected shellfish. They lived in huts made of tree branches and trunks and clothed themselves with leather made from sea lion pelts. They smeared their body with the fat and grease of these animals to waterproof their skins as they were always in the water fishing.
The southern group of the Yaghan people (also known as Yámana), occupied what is now Ushuaia, living in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island.
Waite H. Stirling, an Anglican missionary, settled here in 1870 and started to convert Yaghan tribes.
Trouble for the Yaghan people began in 1880, when European missionaries entered the area accompanied by gold prospectors, following rumors of large gold fields, which proved to be false. European settlers brought diseases such as measles, causing a rapid and nearly complete extinction of the Yaghan people. The Yaghan tribe was reduced to 3,000 people in 1880 and to less than 100 by the 1990s. Many of them were killed by European settlers' "shoot exercises" and deliberate poisoning of the sea lions, the staple of the Yaghan diet. Following the death of 84-year-old Emelinda Acuña (1921 – 12 October 2005), only one native speaker of the language remains, Cristina Calderón of Villa Ukika on Navarino Island, Chile who was 91 on May 2019. What can be seen of the Yaghan people and their settlements today are mainly relics in the form of piles of mussel shells overgrown with grass near the seashore.

The Boundary Treaty of 1881 stated that Argentina would be entitled to the eastern portion, while Chile would have the western part of the Tierra del Fuego A dispute, started which almost resulted in war between the two countries in 1978. However, with the intervention of the Vatican the issue was resolved. on 2 May 1985. Under this treaty, Chile retained control of all the disputed islands and Argentina was entitled to the navigation rights and maintained their limited presence on these islands.
Effectively, the island was divided between Argentina and Chile.
We visited a museum/restaurant and gift shop called Alakush. Excellent display of the life in the area.
The buses were late leaving the museum because everyone wanted to buy souvenirs and they had only limited internet and had to do most transactions by cash which left the group scrambling.

This afternoon we had a rather pathetic bus tour around town. Don and I hopped off the bus and did our own tour of a former prison, now a museum, that was really interesting.

Argentinian President Roca established a penal colony in 1902, on nearby Staten Island, which resulted in its development. Then followed the establishment of a prison in Ushuaia. In late 1909 and early 1910 a railway line called the Southern Fuegian Railway, or the End of the World train was established as a narrow-gauge steam railway, replacing an old wood track railway drawn by bullocks. The steam engine driven railway was built over a length of 25 km from Maipu Avenue on the waterfront into the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The line connected the prison camp with the forestry camp. The primary purpose of the railway was as a freight line to serve the prison of Ushuaia, and hence was known as the "Prison Train," As well, it was used to transport prisoners to the camps and transport the logged timber from forests. The prison was built to hold 350 prisoners but ended up holding 750 or more. Interesting that they paid the prisoners and if they actually were allowed to leave, they received that payment. The prison was closed in 1947, and the railway was finally closed in 1952, following the reduction in forest resources and an earthquake that damaged the tracks.

40 years after it had been closed as a Prison train, it was revived, refurbished with modern amenities and claimed to be the southernmost functioning railway in the world. It now takes tourists to the Tierra del Fuego park.

Tonight, we had a big barbecue extravaganza under the cover of the closed glass roof on the pool deck with dancing. It was billed as an Argentinian Asado ( BBQ) and Dancing under the setting sun.( It couldn't be under the stars since the sun doesn’t really set until 10:05), The music was great but unfortunately, Lee was aching badly due to her hip and we took a pass on dancing. If you know how much Lee likes to dance, you can imagine the discomfort she was in.Les mer