Here’s a map of our travels around Tierra del Fuego with the rental car: And here’s another map of our flights and bus rides (which added more mileage that didn’t compute on my mapping program); Miami is off the map. We went 20,000 miles! P.S. We’re in Buenos Aires overnight, flying out tomorrow to Miami. … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Patagonia & Falklands
Living at the End of the World
We have often been reminded here in Ushuaia that we are living at the southernmost city on earth – the “Fin del Mundo” – the “End of the World.” As in: Cafe del Fin del Mundo; or Resto-Bar del Fin del Mundo. It’s a lot like Key West in that regard (Southernmost Motel, Southernmost Bar, … Continue reading
Leave It To Beavers
Today, Tuesday, found us back on the trail at a national park; this time, Argentina’s Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. We drove into the park on N.R. 3, the national highway, all the way to its end – the southernmost point in the world that you can travel on a public road. The road ends … Continue reading
Out Foxed, Dog Gone It
On the way into Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, we saw a fox trotting down the road. By the time we stopped the car and got my iPhone out to take a picture, he had scampered off into the brush, yet still close enough to see. There are two kinds of foxes in Tierra del … Continue reading
Estancia Harberton
We have a rental car here in Ushuaia, which enables us to get out of the city. Argentina has much to offer in its natural landscape, but the cities – outside of the tourist areas – tend to lack most of the public infrastructure that we take for granted in the USA, like decent roads, … Continue reading
Tierra del Fuego
The better part of Saturday was spent in the Mount Pleasant airport, 35 miles from Stanley, waiting for our flight back to Punta Arenas, Chile. The plane was full of returning journalists, Russian fishermen and scientists from the Antarctic Survey teams. The flight was uneventful and we got to our hotel around 7:00, took a … Continue reading
You Ate What?
Thursday morning, before Gavin left, Derek offered us the choice of hen’s eggs or Gentoo Penguin eggs. I opted for the Gentoo eggs, over medium, with a side of bacon. One Gentoo egg was the equivalent of three hen’s eggs. The whites had the consistency of silicon and the yolks tasted like fish. Let’s just … Continue reading
Kings
Volunteer Point is mainly known for its King Penguin population. Kings are the largest penguins in the Falklands and the second largest in the world; adults are normally three feet tall. They are not migratory and the Falklands lie at the northern perimeter of their range. There was still daylight left when we first arrived … Continue reading
Volunteers From America
Our flight Wednesday from Saunders Island back to Stanley took about an hour, including a stop at Pebble Island to drop off a kitten and some cat food to the residents of the settlement there. We had a great view of Stanley as we approached the airport. The Malvina Hotel that we stayed at on … Continue reading
Problem Solved
We were picked up by David around noon Wednesday and driven back to the settlement to wait for the FIGAS plane to take us back to Stanley. On the drive, we listened to the news analysis of the election results: 94% voter turnout; 99% of the voters saying “Yes” to the referendum question of “Do … Continue reading
We Three Kings
After we warmed up for about an hour, we decided to go sit on the hillside to just observe the penguins for a while before turning in for dinner and bed. There are a handful of King Penguins here at The Neck, though the larger colony of Kings is at Volunteer Point on East Falkland … Continue reading
Blown Away
The Falkland Islands are 5,400 miles from our home in the Florida Keys; Saunders Island settlement is 100 miles from Stanley town; and, The Neck is 10 miles from the settlement. Not feeling remote enough, on our second day at The Neck, we decided to hike around Mount Harston to the ponds near Elephant Point, … Continue reading
Hip Hop
Not long after we made it down to the beach, a number of Rockhopper penguins came swimming and waddling ashore, surprising a lone Gentoo penguin in the process. I must admit that I have a hard time grasping the whole concept of a bird that can’t fly, but is able to swim. I mean, what … Continue reading
Rockhoppers
After watching the albatross for about an hour, we retraced our steps around the hill to the Rockhopper Penguin colony as clouds passed overhead. The sun soon returned and we sat and watched them for a little while, but very little rock hopping was going on here… …but it was worth spending some time here … Continue reading
Albatross
After dropping off our stuff in the Portakamp, we decided to go see the Albatross rookery that Suzan said we could find by following the fence line around the hill to the other side. Our path was blocked, however, by a huge colony of Rockhopper Penguins, another migratory species. These guys will be the subject … Continue reading
Saunders Island
We were met at the runway on Saunders Island by Suzan Pole-Evans whose husband, David, purchased the island in 1987 with his father. Saunders Island is the site of the original British settlement of the Falklands in 1765 at a place called Port Egmont (since destroyed by the Spanish), just a short walk up the … Continue reading
A Whale of a Tale
The FIGAS flight was a little delayed, so Rob offered to take us to a little bay near the runway to see more elephant seals while we waited for the plane. There were several pairs playing in the shallow water, alternating between leaning into one another like lovers… …and rearing back and slamming one another … Continue reading
Penguins
After our tour of Elephant Beach with Rob, Lorraine drove us to Leopard Beach on the southern end of the island to see the penguins. There are large colonies of Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins here on Carcass Island. Gentoos live permanently here, but the Magellanic are migratory, coming to the Falklands only to breed in … Continue reading
Elephants!
After lunch, Rob drove us to Elephant Beach on the north end to look at the Elephant Seals that we had seen from the air as we had approached the grass landing strip that morning. At our first stop, there were a couple young males lying about (you can see them to Dale’s left and … Continue reading
Carcass Island
Landing on the grass runway at Carcass Island, we were met by Rob and Lorraine McGill and taken for a ride over the hills to their settlement on the southern side of the island. We are staying in the McGill’s farm overnight (as are Alicky and Michelle). Rob (a 4th generation Falkland Islander) and Lorainne … Continue reading
FIGAS
There are two main islands in the Falklands, aptly named East and West Falkland, separated by Falkland Sound. But there are also numerous out-islands, though not many are inhabited. To reach the out-islands, the Falklands government maintains a small air service known as FIGAS, the Falkland Islands Government Air Service. Other than by private boat, … Continue reading
Don’t Fly to Me Argentina
We spent the last two days getting from Torres del Paine, Chile, to the Falkland Islands, but we’ve arrived and are now checked in to our accommodations, the Malvinas House Hotel, overlooking Stanley harbor. Yesterday, Friday, we took the 5-hour shuttle ride to Punta Arenas, Chile, from Torres del Paine. The day turned cloudy, windy … Continue reading
A Big Paine
Our third day in Torres del Paine (pronounced “Pah-ay-nay”) was spent doing a 12-hour tour called the “Full Paine.” For us, this excursion was the biggest challenge of all because it was so difficult to be inside a bus or ferry boat instead of being outdoors in this beautiful part of the world. But the … Continue reading
Enchanted Valley
For our fourth and final day at Hotel Las Torres Patagonia, we opted for the all-day horseback ride through the Enchanted Valley to Campamento Serón, a distance of 12 km each way for a total of a little more than 15 miles roundtrip. Once again, we were lucky to find ourselves as the only adventurers … Continue reading
A Different Kind of Island
After earning our keep shoeing horses, Paola walked us to the estancia’s organic garden. Along the way, we passed the original, stone manor house, built sometime in the 1920s, which is not visible from the modern hotel buildings. In the early 1990s, the manor house was converted from a residence to a dining room to … Continue reading
The Road Less Traveled 