Can anything live up to the experience that is Antarctica?
Chile and Argentina will try!!
Ushuaia
Everyone had told me that Ushuaia is a dump – a jumping off place for cruises and flights to Antarctica. But I found a thriving community with a distinctive lifestyle and some good shopping especially for visitors.
We decided to do the journey on the train to the end of the world – narrow gauge railway built by convicts, reminiscent of the Wilderness Railway at Strahan in Tasmania. It takes passengers to the post office at the end of the world in the national park. It was a pleasant journey and I enjoyed the destination and did send a couple of postcards. But the journey itself was not as impressive as Strahan.
For me the highlight was a conversation with Georgia, our guard, a young Italian who had been given the opportunity to come out and work for a few months. She was happy to practise her English and explain about her work here.
Back in the town we found a lovely coffeeshop on the front above a very classy jewellers: coffee, cake and wifi – a killer package! Wifi on the ship is painfully slow and expensive. In fact, these last few days of blog will not be uploaded until I’m somewhere with free internet – and I suspect that will be at the hotel in Santiago.
Punta Arenas
This small town tries hard to promote everything it’s possible to promote. It was from here that trips went out to Antarctica and to the Torres del Paine National Park. But for most of us, it was a local tour and maybe a local wander.
For me it was ‘The Tycoons of Patagonia’ featuring a cemetery, a town house (called a palace) and a great visit to an establishment on the edge of the town, run by the descendant of a Scottish family. He and his wife have refurbished a large barn as a wedding/function venue but also have old cars and demonstrations of traditional sheep-shearing for tourists. There were the obligatory empanadas and pisco sours, of course.
But the highlight was walking through the town in the afternoon and happening across three young people. I stopped simply to ask directions, but easily got into conversation with them as they waited for a school activity. I had been attracted to them because one of the young men was playing the saxophone: he hopes to be able to travel one day as a member of a military band. He is clearly a gifted musician. I hope his dreams come true.
And they directed me to the street where I found the Chocolotto cafe: with amazingly rich dulce de leche churros and really good coffee.
Living the Journey 