11.1.1 The Beagle Channel

samfloy~5 February 2013 /Latin America/Travels

Almirante Brown, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Tuesday, February 5, 2013

OK so it was more to the ‘right’ than ‘down’.

The Beagle Channel (named after Darwin’s boat) is a passage of water with Argentina to the north and Chile to the south.

The boat trip we took was for four hours and completed a good tour of the region.

We saw wildlife (see photos), of sealions and a penguin-like animal called a
comorant. There was also a Lighthouse. Indigenous people once lived here, but were pretty much wiped out after a number of missionaries in the 1800s convinced them to wear clothes (as opposed to rubbing on sea lion fat on their bare skin) which got wet and caused them to die of hypothermia.

The passengers on the boat were mainly the first set from the plane.

The company clearly predicted this as we were well supplied with tea and biscuits.

In between stopping for snaps and having a walk on an island where indigenous people used to live, I got chatting to a couple from Buenos Aires.

As their son is also 21, they listened with interest to my stories and reveled in telling me where to go in their country.

Most of the rest of the boat were Argentine, and also keen to offer up must-sees.

It ended up with most of the people there shouting names of places which I attempted to note down.

My phone now has these suggestions.

The experience made me feel a bit like Ian (see 9.4) – being the token foreigner not speaking the language too well.

Only I am not as witty. And have a less impressive camera.

Our tour guide spread out the map of the area during one of the talks, and I noticed The Falklands (or Malvinas) were listed as Argentinean territory.

Assessing my company, I thought it best to keep quiet.

There was a quick stop for DPP opportunities though with my rucksack (and hence llama knitwear) still being Lost in Transit, the exposed islands were all the colder. Once complete, and after a brief talk (no noteworthy Fun Facts) we headed back for the mainland.

Feet back on Ushuaia it was a short walk to the hostel to start actioning all the recommendations that were saved in Drafts on my phone.

Argentina left/ Chile right
Wildlife #1
Missing my knitwear
G (randparent) Adventures
Catering for the Gs
Wildlife #2: in motion
Getting a DPP
Don’t mention the Malvinas…
Wildlife #3