Please be sure to read the 2 previous parts of the story before starting in on this one.
Day 20 – June 29, 1991
Upon rising, my eyes burned badly from the pollution on our bus ride yesterday. We caught a cab to the airport, and soon were airborne. One hour 40 minutes later we landed in Buenos Aires. We thought we’d try a new hotel, so another cab ride took us to the Phoenix. For the $20 room rate, we were promised heat, but the radiator never even got warm. No worries, all we’d do there anyway was sleep.
Walking the Peatonal Florida, we had a great time being tourists. Poking our heads into shops, eating ice cream and pizza, we spent a wonderful day. After buying gifts for friends and family back home, we contentedly made our way back to the hotel. Only one night here, then away we go tomorrow.
Day 21 – June 30, 1991
An easy cab ride took us back to the Aeroparque. As we waited for our flight, it was impossible to ignore the awesome pall of pollution hanging over the city – perhaps an inversion layer? We finally boarded our flight, but late. After an hour, we landed in Bahía Blanca, merely a stop along the way. Airborne once again, we flew another 2 hours 20 minutes and touched down in Río Gallegos. By now, we were far south in Patagonia. One more hop, this time to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. The flight this time only lasted 40 minutes, but what an adventure! We came swooping in over the Montes Martial whose peaks reach about 4,500 feet, dropped out of the clouds, then over the Beagle Channel and over Navarino Island in Chile, then back over the rooftops of Ushuaia to land at Aeropuerto Internacional Malvinas Argentinas. Landing here is always dramatic, as you must drop from the mountaintops down to sea level in just a few minutes. It takes an experienced pilot to pull this one off – several have failed, crashing upon landing.
At 55 degrees south latitude, this place is about as far south as you can go without being in Antarctica. When we stepped off the plane, we were hit by an icy blast. When I was last here, I had stayed in the home of a family. On a hunch, we caught a cab directly to their place and I knocked on the door – the lady of the house recognized me right away. I explained that I was here with a friend and would it be possible for us to stay with them for a few days. She didn’t hesitate, and asked us in to wait in her living room while she got a place ready for us upstairs. Soon, we were all settled in, in the same room I’d occupied back in the summer. It had 2 comfortable single beds, and a window looking out over the Beagle Channel. All she asked was $16 US per night, and we were happy to pay it (prices tend to be higher here at the bottom of the world). After a supper of provisions we’d bought along the way, out we went for a walk. Ending up at a bar, we enjoyed a submarino (hot milk in which you melt a bar of dark chocolate). The weather was damp and overcast – hopefully that won’t last.
Day 22 – July 1, 1991 (Canada Day)
It’s easy to tell it’s winter – it takes until 9:30AM or so to have much daylight, and by 6:00 PM it’s dark. Today the weather was clear and below freezing – all the old snow in the streets is frozen rock-hard, making for slippery, treacherous walking, especially on the steeper sections (of which there are many).
There were touristy things we wanted to do while here in Tierra del Fuego, but needed a car to do so. The price of a rental was exorbitant, so we quickly dismissed that. While we visited the outstanding museum, we started talking with a young fellow who said he and his father would act as tour guides – for a modest $50 fee plus gas, they’d chauffeur us anywhere we wanted to go on the island in their comfy 4-door Renault sedan. It was settled, then – the day after tomorrow, we would ride.
Day 23 – July 2, 1991
Today, we went on a boat tour. Boarding the “Ana B” down at the harbor, we spent over 2 hours cruising around the Beagle Channel. The highlights were visits to a sea lion colony and a bird colony, but as the trip progressed the water became more choppy. Rather green about the gills, we were glad to disembark – terra firma never felt so good.
We went back to the museum – they had many bird specimens on exhibit, and I was able to positively identify 7 of the species seen today. Most of the rest of the day was spent just lounging about and taking it easy.
Day 24 – July 3, 1991
After another good night’s sleep, our ride arrived. Gabriel Muñoz (the young fellow we’d met at the museum) and his father Rubén showed up at 10:00 AM in their nice new Renault. It was a very cold, crisp blue-sky winter day. Soon we found ourselves on Highway 3, heading east.
There’s something interesting that happens in this area. As you know, the Andes are the world’s longest continental mountain range, running about 4,500 miles from the Caribbean all the way down the western side of South America and ending in Tierra del Fuego. The range runs north-south throughout its length, but when it gets as far south as the area of the Straight of Magellan, the Andes swing to the east. As the range crosses the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, it passes along the north side of the Beagle Channel and Ushaia. This is the only place along its entire length where Chile is south of Argentina and not west. And Ushuaia is the only city in Argentina that is west of the Andes. The range continues east to the toe of the big island, jumps 15 miles of the Atlantic Ocean across Le Maire Strait, and dies a natural death as it crosses Isla de los Estados. This island is extremely difficult to reach, and it would be a world-class adventure to get there. There was a lighthouse on it, which was the subject of a Jules Verne novel with the title “Le Phare du Bout du Monde” (“The Lighthouse at the End of the World”).
So where was I? Oh yeah – I was telling you about our road trip. We left Ushuaia and went through Garibaldi Pass. Past sawmills on the shore of Lago Escondido, then miles later we came to the town of Tolhuin. After Ushuaia and Río Grande, this town of 3,000 souls is the largest in Argentine Tierra del Fuego. They tried to set up a plywood plant here, but it never took off. We stopped at the Hostería Kuiken for lunch and a few souvenirs. What a beautiful spot – it sits on the shore of Lago Fagnano. This lake is 100 KM long, and its far western end is actually in Chile.
We were in a winter wonderland – fresh powder snow sparkled in the sun, and the temperature was well below freezing. We made our way back out to the highway and started back to Ushuaia, when all hell broke loose. We were probably doing 50 to 60 miles per hour when we hit a stretch of black ice. (Those of you who inhabit regions where winter is a reality know what I’m talking about). The car went into a horizontal spin – we were all yelling, expecting the worst. After a few rotations, Rubén wrested control once again and we came to a stop on the shoulder. Both scared and relieved, we realized we’d dodged a bullet. A slower, more cautious drive returned us to Ushuaia. We thanked our guides and walked into town for a last meal. Our time in this very unique city had been, on the whole, very restful. If you can do it, make your way down to the bottom of the world and spend some time – there’s a lot to see and do.
Day 25 – July 4, 1991 (Independence Day)
After a leisurely start to the day, Monica, the lady of the house where we were staying, drove us to the airport. Our flight took off on time, and as we gained elevation over the Beagle Channel, I could see way over into the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego. I had a good clear view of something that really got my heart pumping.
A mere 20 miles west of Ushuaia, in the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego, is the eastern edge of Alberto de Agostini National Park. This is a world-class, glaciated realm of rugged peaks reaching into the sky. Many of its glaciers calve icebergs directly into the sea. As I looked west from the airplane window, the major peak nearest to me was Monte Darwin, at 7,999 feet. Not far from it stood Monte Shipton, now considered to be the highest in Tierra del Fuego, at 8,460 feet. A bit farther west rose Monte Sarmiento, with an elevation of 7,369 feet. These peaks were all seen by Charles Darwin as he sailed through the area in 1831. Jules Verne mentioned Monte Sarmiento in his book “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. These 3 peaks and many others in the area are considered world-class challenges for climbers. Ah, so near yet so far – maybe in another lifetime?
All of that was soon lost to view, and we landed in Río Gallegos after a 40-minute flight. Staying on board, we took off once again and flew for 2 hours and 15 minutes to Bahía Blanca. We flew over endless miles of treeless plains and wild rivers, dotted here and there with estancias whose sole raison d’être was to grow sheep and cattle. Such a vast, empty land. En route, they fed us a nice meal and lubricated us with good Argentine wine. After a brief stop in Bahía Blanca, our plane took off on the last leg of its flight. The sun set soon after we were airborne, and an hour later we touched down at the Aeroparque in Buenos Aires. We were about to start the next leg of our trip, and it would be very different from what we’d done until now.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the story, coming soon.