Bill and Lynne Grand Tour

Ushaia

We landed in Ushuaia to the most spectacular scenery - the Beagle Channel surrounded by mountains on both sides. Everything you have heard about Argentinian lamb is true. We chose our first restaurant because, through the window we could see a log fire in the center of the floor with three whole carcases of sheep grilling slowly. I was glad they treated the King Crabs more circumspectly behind closed doors as they are enormous and cover a large part of the table top before being dismembered.

We took a small steam engine to the End of the World in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The railway was introduced to ferry the logs when the area was still a penal colony. You can see the stumps covering the valleys. Those cut down during the winter are a few feet taller than those cut at ground level during the summer. It shows the depth of the snow. The train ran at 7 kilometers an hour with an English girl giving the commentary and you have time to enjoy everything she described. Bill and I were the only two passengers on the return journey. The others were met by bus at the station and taken on to other sights. I felt like Mrs. J.P. Morgan in my exclusive carrige at the back of the train.


Cape Horn

We embarked on the Mare Australis and sailed down the Beagle Channel to Cape Horn. The weather was remarkably good so the Captain took as around the Horn which was much appreciated. One of the guides had regaled us the evening before with stories of surviving 30 foot waves. Our expeditions on shore were conducted in Zodiacs and it was thrilling to navigate the ice floes right up to the Piloto Glacier and sit watching for chunks of ice to fall off while the nesting cormorants entertained us. Some of the floating chunks were the size of the Zodiac so maybe I was not that disappointed that the big one did not calve while we were there. On the previous excursion two dolphin kept pace in our wake as we returned to the ship. It was a relief to laugh as we had just completed an hour and a half hike up the side of a steep mountain and then sat still and quiet for a few minutes. The silence is total as there are no inhabitants for miles.


Piloto Glacier

On the last morning we rose at six to visit the Magellan Penguin colony. They are as tame as the animals on the Galapagos. We watched them digging furiously at their burrows, pointing their bills skywards while they brayed like donkeys - calling their mate, we understand and gathering kelp and grass to line their nests. The fedglings waited patiently on the beach for mom and dad to return with food.


Penguin Colony

We landed at Punta Arenas, Chile at the end of the Magellan Strait and leave for the Atacama Desert next. The port must have a large British contingent as we had no trouble replacing the 110 volt kettle I had blown on the 230 volt current with the transformer still lying on the dresser where I had left it.

LS