Ushuaia and a Couple of Sail-by’s

Currency: “officially” 878, realistically 1000 Argentinian pesos – $1

Jan. 15-22, 2024

The Falkland Islands gave us a rainbow –

which meant it was raining, which in turn meant it was too windy and stormy to tender into port. Both our ship and the Celebrity Eclipse in front of us had to sail on by. 

We continued on and around Cape Horn,

past most of the island of Tierra del Fuego, and onto Ushuaia – the town “at the end of the world”.

The lovely city is very reminiscent of towns and cities in Alaska. The two areas share similar climate, and a similar time period of settlement (Ushuaia in 1884 (54.8 degrees south), Seward Alaska (60 degrees north) in 1903). 

Walking around the city is easy, though hilly, with plenty of shops to wander through when the weather turns unpleasant. A city tour via a 1950’s double decker bus for $10pp offers an easy overview. The 1 hour and 15-minute tour takes you around the town, though at times you wonder if the ancient engine will make it over the speed bumps, let alone up the steep roads. 

Luckily, after a rainy early afternoon, the weather cleared up for our horseback ride through the woods and over one of the shorter mountains, down to the rocky beach. The slick, slippery trails from recent rains would have challenged a regular horse, but the sure-footed steeds had little difficulty managing the terrain. 

Letting the horse do all the work builds up an appetite, so we met friends Liam and Alan for some wine and “snacks” at the wine shop called Don Fidel (just down the hill from the Irish Pub I’d identified earlier in the day (no matter how small the city, there is always an Irish Pub)). I’m not a red wine person, but Argentinian Malbecs are really lovely with few tannins and a slight velvety texture. 

After over a week at sea, we had an overnight in Ushuaia, and on day #2 we took a boat tour along the Beagle Channel (named after the HMS Beagle) out to a lighthouse next to sealion and cormorant breeding grounds. The packed catamaran sailed us along the channel for three hours, making sure we could get good close-up photos of the wildlife, and a brief stop on one of the islands for views. 

With only an hour between the end of the tour and all aboard, I returned to the ship while John ran into town to grab a few supplies before setting sail. 

We were supposed to tender in to the city of Punta Arenas –

but it, too, gave us a rainbow and another sail-by took us into the Chilean Fjords a day early.

Chile has 43,471 islands (which still only places it 5^th in number of islands worldwide), the largest – Tierra del Fuego is mostly parkland, and most are small stony outcrops that create an archipelago along Chile’s western and southern borders, many dotting the fjords where the southern section still contains their glaciers carving through the mountains.

History lesson: 

No history of Argentina could be complete without discussing the often rapid changes in their government. 

Argentina created a “de facto” government in 1811 to manage the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata (which governed modern day Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Southern Bolivia). The junta was beset by infighting, and attempts by royalists to reassert control. The Congress of Tucuman in 1816 officially declared full independence from Spain, and set up Juan Martin de Pueyrredon as “supreme dictator”, though they initially desired a monarch. In 1819, they ratified a constitution, but fighting factions caused the government to fall into disarray, allowing Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia to split off. A new dictator, Juan Manuel de Rosas took over in 1829. This pattern continued well into the 20^th century – constitution, election, military dictator. The most famous of which, due to his dynamic wife – was elected President but also dictatorial Juan Peron (1946-55, 1974-75). His wife Eva, the famous and popular actress, brought the workers to his side, and under his administration pushed for better working conditions, social reform, and women’s suffrage. Unfortunately, those in power do not accept dissent easily, and many of differing opinions were disappeared, imprisoned or exiled. His popularity declined after Eva’s death, and a coup attempt in 1955 left 300 dead, and another was successful a few months later. He fled to Spain, and was re-elected in 1974, but died in office a year later. 

Argentina has maintained a stable democratically elected government since 1983, with the latest president elected in November 2023 – Javier Milei, who inherited high inflation and unemployment. (Of interest – one of his proposals to stabilize the economy is to convert from the Argentinian peso to the US $ – joining approximately 10 other countries who use it as their currency.)

Next stop – Valparaiso, Chile!