01 Buenos Aires to the End of the World

So here I am at Ushuaia - the end of the world. And using a dodgey keyboard where the punctuation is different from that marked on the keys. Have moved from about 4 degrees C in London to 34 in Buenos Aires and back to 4 in Ushuaia - though much warmer this morning.

Slight scare at BA airport, when 2 cash machines refused to cough up for my card, but it was only because they had run out of cash. Travelled on the free shuttle bus with a group of Brazilians, wandered around the Sunday street markets at La Telma, watched tango and vistied the Casa Rosa government building on Sunday afternoon, had breakfast next morning with 2 Peruvian guys, and did a walking tour of BA with Amy, an Australian girl, who was on day 1 of a year´s tour.

Casa Rosa (Pink House), Plaza del Mayo

                                                                   
Guide was a mine of information, and explained to us that pink colouring of the Casa Rosa building was a result of limestone being mixed with bull´s blood and oil, to waterproof it. Unfortunately, it doesn´t seem to be a very healthy building, since in 1952, Evita, Peron´s 2nd wife died of cancer at the age of 33. She was from a poor background, and much loved by the ordinary workers because of the tremendous amount of work she did to improve conditions for them, resulting in a 14-day funeral for her. Peron himself also died of cancer and now the current president, Christina, is in hospital, having had a thyroid operation, with suspected cancer - is it an asbestos roof or something? (Update April 2012: false alarm, thankfully for her, it wasn't cancer after all, and she is back in work.)

We were taken to a sort of trade union building where Evita´s body was embalmed immediately after her death. Her desk was still there, and a museum has been made out of two rooms, with Evita´s story told by a movingly emotional octogenarian who remembered her funeral.

Boca miniatures - sold in street markets

Since I wasn´t in BA on a Thursday afternoon, I didn´t at this stage see the procession of mothers who march round the Plaza Mayo every Thursday afternoon, highlighting the fact that 3000 young people went missing in the 1970s under the military regime. Besides suffering the loss of their sons and daughters, they had the additional heartache of not knowing what had happened to them: were they alive, or were they dead, and if they were still alive, where were they? In time, evidence of a concentration camp was uncovered under a city highway bridge, and the excavations, together with photographs of some of the missing, are there to be viewed by anyone walking past there.

(April update: In the event, my trip was unexpectedly and unavoidably extended, so I was to see the March of the Mothers at the very end of March, after I was supposed to be home.)

Went to the Boca area on the afternoon before leaving for Ushuaia ¨- colourful houses, but away from the main tourist areas there was extreme poverty, with houses in pitifully poor repair. Crime was reported to be rife, with tourists being warned away from these areas, unless guided; so Amy and I played safe and stuck to the main streets. More tango . . .

Typical house at Boca

More tango in the streees at Boca

Tango - the professionals and . . . 

. . . um . . .

USHUAIA

Arrived without incident at the Antartica hostel, after sharing a taxi with a young couple from BA: he was an environmental engineer, and she was a  student paeleonthologist - never met one of those before. Hostel was a warm, friendly place. Spent the first morning getting orientated and sorting out onward bus ticket to Punta Arenas for Saturday, then went on the penguin trip in the afternoon: lived up to expectations, with lots of photographic opportunities.
http://www.hosteltrail.com/piratour

On the way to the boat, we stopped at the Acatushún museum where they collect, clean and assemble bones from dolphins, whales and other marine mammals.
http://www.estanciaharberton.com/museoacatushunenglish.html



The museum is situated in the grounds of Estancia Harberton: a farm founded by an English-born orphan called Thomas Bridges, who was found on a bridge 'somewhere in England', adopted by a missionary, and later taken to the Falkland Islands. Later, he gained Argentinian citizenship - but not before marrying a lady from Devon.

http://www.estanciaharberton.com/historiaenglish.html

On Martello island we saw mainly Magellan penguins and their chicks, with just one King penguin, and about 40 with yellow beaks but smaller than the Kings and bigger than the Magellan ones.

Now all stand in line for your photo . .  .

Hey, you've got something on your back! (Hope it's not a theft scam - see Post 18)

Adult with chick

The day ended perfectly, spending an evening set up for me by Emily Chappell, Mark and Fiona´s daughter, when she realised that I was going to be here at the same time as her friends Vicky and Henrique. They are just about to begin a cycling trip from Ushuaia to New York by bicycle, and will be following me up the Carretera Austral - but more slowly: www.woollypigs.com

Thursday and Friday, Jan 12th and 13th

Beautiful days. Hostel lent me a bike to cycle to the Tierra del Fuego National Park on Thursday. Vicky and Henrique were spending the morning transferring from their small hotel to a campsite that was full of cycle tourists, but I met them in the afternoon, on the way back.

Hey, Henrique: that tums' not going to last long!

Vicky's mascot

Had my first taste of a ´ropa´ gravel road. Got showered with dust every time a bus passed, making a nonsense of the morning´s shampoo. Almost a Mozartian powder hair effect. . .

WANTED CONVICT? (Henrique is well prepared for the dust.)

Walked up to the Martial glacier on Friday, having arranged to meet Vicky and Henrique early evening to cook and eat pasta. Later, who should turn up but Sue and Willie Jack: neighbours until just a few weeks ago. Almost more social life at the ´end of the world´ than at home!  Tomorrow, the big trip starts for Vicky and Henrique, Sue and Willie head off for the Antartic, and I get the morning bus to Punta Arenas.

Tierra del Fuego National Park

Martial Glacier

The path up

View over Ushuaia on the way down from Martial Glacier