Memories of Fin del Mundo…

I arrived in Ushuaia on Sunday evening, and Pablo, Ezequiel and Agustin, were flying home to Buenos Aires on the Tuesday, so we had just one day to spend together in town before they left…

View from the sidewalk restaurant where we ate most of our meals... Snow-capped mountains surround the town...

After a quick breakfast, Agustin went into town and came back brandishing tickets for a boat ride out into the Beagle Channel… First we had to sort out my rear tyre, which I had pumped up yet again just before locating my friends the night before… We went down into the industrial area and found a “vulcaniser” who in a matter of minutes had the puncture repaired. (See next post for details…)

This unusual building stood across from the port area... I bet no snow gathers on that roof...!!

This beautiful schooner motored into the bay as we were were heading out into the channel... Ushuaia is a regular stopover for the tall ships that journey around the globe, ferrying tourists and volunteers alike...

There are many things to see and do down here...!! Trekking being one that I was loath to try... There are far more civilized ways to get about...!!

On the dockside, a large sign reminded tourists of the "illegal occupation" of the Falkland Islands by the dastardly British Imperialists...!! Pablo had a few choice words to express his unhappiness with the British... "Ronnie...!!. Malvinas belong to Argentina...!!" he said, punching his chest...!!

The large motorised catamaran that we went out into the Beagle Channel on, was filled to capacity, and behind us, at least another two similar sized boats were taking on passengers as well…!!

These trips are very popular in the high season, which starts in December and runs through to the end of March… In a good year, when the weather plays ball…!!

Today was the first really sunny day Ushuaia had seen for a week or two, and although a cold wind blew most of the time, the sky remained free of cloud for most of the 5 hour trip…

Seeing a sign about the illegal occupation of the Falkland Island, or Malvinas as they are known by Argentines, we joked about hi-jacking the boat and making directly for the Islands, to hoist the Argentine flag…

“They won’t suspect a thing…!!” I urged my friends… ” We could get there, raise the flag, proclaim it for Argentina, and then be back before the dinner bell rings…!! ARE YOU WITH ME, MUCHACHOS…!!”

They were a little dubious that my cunning plan would succeed but I assured them that South Africans had a long and proud history of mercenary activities, and I was more than willing to lead the charge…

“Now there might be a bit of shooting, and some of us might die….!!” I continued, “But we do so for ARGENTINA…!!”

The thought of some “rough play” seemed to dampen their Nationalistic spirit somewhat, and they quickly changed the subject by pointing over my shoulder and saying, “Ronnie…!! Look, el faro…!”

Lighthouse at the End of the World... Also known as Les Eclaireus, guides ships through the Channel...

This conical  lighthouse is made of bricks, and stands ten metres high and 3 metres wide at the base… It is perched on the tip of a small rocky island that guards the channel and route into Ushuaia… It is unmanned and operated by remote control. It came into service in 1920, and is the most photographed lighthouse in South America…

One for the photo album... Tourists jostled each other at the railing to get a photograph of this famous landmark...

The Beagle Channel, named after the vessel HMS Beagle that carried Charles Darwin around the southern tip of South America in 1833, and up to the Galapagos Island which he made famous… The channel is 240 km long and 5 km wide at it’s narrowest point, and is dotted with many rocky and uninhabited islands, home to colonies of Sea Lions and Elephant Seals, as well as a host of bird-life, from penguins and gulls to a variety of cormorants and smaller birds…

One of the many islands that play host to colonies of cormorants and sea lions... This is Isla de Los Lobos...

The large bulls guarded their harems jealously, waddling over to spar with any other male Sea Lion that came too close...

Out boat took us in close to many of the islands to see the birds and seals that had made them home, and then we were advised to garb a cup of complimentary coffee, while our vessel took us to the penguin colony that was situated a further 25 km down the channel towards the Atlantic…

The huge catamaran rode directly up onto the beach, and again, passengers crowded the railings on both the upper and lower decks to get a look at the birds… The penguins are obviously habituated to this, as they hardly moved out of the way as the boat nosed it’s way amongst them… Some of the birds actually waddled over with beaks open, hoping to be fed, but the crew had already warned all on board that this was not allowed…

The boat "beached" itself on the shore of the penguin colony, and we were treated to close up views of these remarkable birds...

"Er... Now which is the way to my nest...??" This is a Gentoo Penguin, one of only 40 recorded on the island...

"Maybe my nest is back there somewhere...!!"

We were beached there for about 20 minutes, and saw that there were just the two species of Penguin on this particular island; the Magellanic Penguin, of which there were about 3 000 birds here; and the Gentoo Penguins, of which only 40 have been recorded here…

We were lucky enough to see three of the Gentoo Penguins wandering in amongst all the others…

We watched a few birds coming in from their fishing expeditions out in the channel… The speed with which they swim is astounding…!!

They zoom directly onto the beach, surfing the small waves and getting their webbed feet up under them at just the right moment, to allow them to waddle out of the water and onto the beach… Some did not judge things as well as they could have, and crashed into other birds who had stopped to preen themselves… It was comical at times, and had the people on board in stitches…!!

A long line of birds were marching up a path that led higher up into the dunes behind the beach… I was reminded of the “March of the Penguins” movie as we stood watching their slow progress… So ungainly on land, and yet so graceful in water…!!

Agustine promptly did what he does best when there is not much excitement on offer...!!

"Bewe understanding this sign...?? Who is Bewe, and what is he/she doing with the stairways...??"

It took a few attempts to get the boat reversed and into deeper water…. The Captain had been a little over zealous with his beaching maneuver…!!

We eventually backed off the beach, and headed back to Ushuaia… It took over an hour to reach the harbour, maybe longer, and we were lucky enough to find an empty booth in the large dining area of the boat, and took possession of it before the crowds could rush in ahead of us…

As we neared Ushuaia, we went out onto the deck to get some fresh air… And “fresh” it certainly was…!!

A cold wind was blowing down the channel, and the previously clear sky was fast filling up with ominous gray clouds…

A few of the passengers standing nearby, engaged us in conversation, asking where we had been and where we were going… The riding kit that we were wearing was vastly different to all the cold weather gear the other folk sported, and this had made us stand out from the other passengers…

Bikers on Board...!!

Dormant volcanoes line the Beagle Channel... This is on the Argentine side of Terra del Fuego...

Pablo and Augustine re-enact a scene from "The Titanic"... "Tonight I sleep with my back to the wall...!!" muttered Ezequiel...

Back on Terra Firma, we walked over to where we had parked the bikes, and then rode them over the sidewalk to where the official “Ushuaia -Fin del Mundo” sign was situated, and then had a quick photo-shoot to commemorate our success at having reached the End of the World…

I had not had a chance to take the “official” photo the previous evening, as I wanted to get off the bike as quickly as possible to give my rear tyre and shock a break…

A proud moment for Los Machos...!!

We spent the early evening shopping for souvenirs at the many outlets catering to the tourist trade… My friends had girlfriends to appease, and could afford to buy a number of things that would easily accompany them on the flight back home the following day…!! I did not have the luxury of space on my side, and had to be satisfied with a few post cards and a fridge magnet for my sister…!!

"Hey, Ronnie...!! Look... They did not spell your name in full...!!" The boys suggested I go in and ask for corrections to be made...!!

Argentina markets this place to the hilt, in many posters, referring to it as the “Gateway to Antarctica”…Which, in effect, it is… Most expeditions to the icy wastes of Antarctica begin right here in Ushuaia… The supply ships stop here to refuel and take on the scientists and other support crews who work and live at the various bases scattered along the Weddell Sea, 1200 km south of Ushuaia…

I met a biker who was considering flying his bike to Antarctica on a Russian Antanov Cargo plane out of Punta Arenas… The cost to fly both himself and his bike, was in the region of $8 000…!! Once he got there, the idea was to ride the bike down the loading ramp, and a few hundred metres along the runway, then turn around and ride it back up into the plane before flying home again…!! It would all be over in less than a day…!!

I allowed my ego to entertain the thought of joining him, but only for a few minutes, before shaking my head in the negative… I thought of all the many things I could do with $8 000, versus the “bragging rights” of being able to say that I rode the Big Fella on all seven continents…

It had never been part of “The Plan”, and to spend that much money on a single day would prevent me from reaching Alaska, and completing my ride…That was far more important to me…

I wished him “Good Luck” and walked away, before he could begin discussing the flight schedules which he had memorized…!! I knew that the longer I talked to him, the greater the urge to join him would be…!!

“You’ll never get the opportunity again, Buddy…!!” I heard him say as I hurried to catch up with my friends… I pushed my fingers into my ears and kept walking…!!

Not often you see more veggies than meat on my plate... But then the "meat" was part of a section of the "lower track" of a cow, and I was not prepared to take a bigger piece than this...!! It was soon replaced with some REAL meat,,,!!

Back at our hostel, I checked my mail and was delighted to receive a short message from Carl and Roberto, the guys whom I had left at the Chilean border the day before. It read :

“Hola Amigo…!! Where are you? We are at the Hotel Monaco, Calle San Martin.  Roberto’s bike started working just as I came back from telling you he broke down, so we were about an hour behind you at the border crossing and ended up getting into town at about 9 o´clock last night…”

I sent a reply congratulating them both for making it to Fin del Mundo, and then arranged for them to meet us for dinner at “La Gringa” a little place close to where we were staying…

After introducing Roberto and Carl to the gang, we settled down to enjoy dinner together, and exchange “war stories”… Both Roberto’s and Carl’s bikes were in need of repair after their ride down Ruta 40 and the last section of ripio leading to San Sebastian…

We arranged for them to take over the beds which would be vacated by Pablo and the boys the following day and they duly arrived early the next morning, looking rather worse for wear… They had gone to a local biker hangout, and only got in to their hotel at 7.00am…!!

I rode out to the airport to say goodbye to my Argentine buddies, after they had delivered their bikes to the transport company who would get them back to Buenos Aires “in a couple of weeks”…!! They had used up all their leave time, and could not afford to take the extra week it would have meant to ride back home…

Final coffee break at the Ushuaia Airport... I would miss my friends with whom I had shared the hardships of Ruta 40 with...

Out for the count in Ushuaia...!! Carl and Roberto catch up on some sleep after a long night on the tiles...!!

We sat drinking coffee, and once we had drained our cups, got up to say our goodbyes… Much hugging and cheek kissing, back-slapping and laughter… And then solemn handshakes and promises to meet in Buenos Aires in a weeks time…

I left them waving to me from behind the window of the departure lounge… As I rode past them, I gave a long blast of my hooter, saw them smiling back at me, and then I was away on the short trip back to town…

By the time I got back to “Laguna”, Carl and Roberto had already checked in, and were sound asleep on their beds…!! The Big Night Out had caught up with them in a Big Way…!!

Later that afternoon, we rode into town to find something to eat, Carl’s bike stalling at every intersection, and sounding for all the world like a tractor…!!

While we had been out on the boat, they had ridden into the National Park to the west of town, to get to the “official” end of the road… While crossing a wooden bridge, Carl had fallen heavily, and his engine bash plate and crash bars had been bent up against the engine…

We were not sure if there was any internal damage to the engine, but judging by the noise the motor was making, things were not all that good…!! In fact, this would be the last time that he rode the bike… The following morning, it refused to start and he gave up all hope of getting it going again, without spending a bucket of cash to do so…!!

The cost of spares and repairs here in Ushuaia is exorbitant…!! The locals trade on the fact that once you arrive with a bust bike, you had little choice but to spend whatever it took to get it going again…

One local bike shop wanted $1000 for a rear tyre, that cost less than $200 in Buenos Aires…!!

I had no intention of getting ripped off in Ushuaia, and went about preparing the Big Fella for the trip up to Buenos Aires, without troubling the local mechanics…!!

©GBWT 2012