Argentina page 5
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The train snakes its way into the Tierra del Fuego National Park. During the summer, there is a park entrance fee. During the winter, it is waived... although most of the park is inaccessible in the winter.
This area is called the "tree graveyard". All these trees were felled roughly 80 years ago by the convicts in order to construct the village and for firewood. This would be a good ad for deforestation if the view wasn't so spectacular...
The end of the line... at the end of the world...
The museum at the end of the world... I like the way they use strikeout in their sign... its very 1337... (don't worry if you don't understand)
oh, a grocery store... how quaint
If I had known that these were here, I wouldn't have put myself through that gut-wrenching sea-voyage through the Beagle Channel
Looks like humans aren't the only species who can become dependent on the bottle...
The entrance to the maritime museum... this ship has seen better days.
The security is just there for show...
The museum was filled with beautiful models of the many famous ship that sailed through (and occasionally crashed in) these parts. The photos don't really do the models justice, and they actually turned out a bit boring anyway, so I won't bore you to death with all of them.
This one is significant because it was Roald Amudsen's ship... he was the dude who was the first to make it to the South Pole.
The museum itself is housed in an old naval base.
Parts of it looked a bit like a prison to be honest, but it gave the exhibits a very 'personal' kind of space.
In the streets of Ushuaia that day, there was some kind of protest march. Now, I know all the guidebooks say to stay away from large gatherings of people but c'mon... these guys had DRUMS!
The sun sets over the city.. and all is calm, even the water. The whole town is really quite picturesque.
The moon, the stars, the spire of a church and... some corrugated iron warehouses, how very romantic.
Well, I'm on the Tierra del Fuego... why not order a dessert - del fuego?
I took the bus north to Calafate... those who have been paying attention (I wasn't) will know that Tierra del Fuego is an Island. Apart from having to get my passport stamped four times (out/in Argentina, in/out Chile) we also had to cross the Straights of Magellan...
About a hundred years ago, this crossing was pretty deadly... the boat we were in was pretty big... but... these waves still rocked the boat in a manner that made me queasy...
Calafate (24/5/07 - 26/5/07)
El Calafate was originally an important stop for the southern pass through the Andes. It is conveniently located about a day's walk from the Chilean side and in a natural meteorological depression, useful in this very windy area. The name Calafate comes from a plant, which was one of the only things that grew here at the time and which early travellers used to set up their tents close to to shield them from the harsh winds. The recent paving of the inbound road that connects to the famous Ruta 40, and the construction of the airport has seen the population explode in the last six years. Hotels are going up constantly, although they still struggle to cope with demand during peak season. Now it is quieter... and the existence of the infrastructure was very useful... "hello, I was wondering if I could go on this tour tomorrow?" being a common line uttered by myself.
I arrived early in the morning, and after waking up the receptionist at a hostel somewhere in town, I went to sleep for about three hours and woke up to this beautiful sunrise over Lago Argentina, the largest lake in the Argentine Lakes district. It varies in temperature between 2-6 degrees celsius for the whole year and it is a freshwater lake
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