Canal de Beagle! (as in Darwin´s ship... Ushuaia is the grey area on the left)
We´ve moved on from Puerto Natales and are now in Ushuaia, purported to be the southernmost town in the world (the Argentinian city fathers apparently are ignoring Chile´s Puerto Williams, but no matter).
Our exit was not without drama: we were misinformed about the departure time (7 am, not 8), sprinted to the bus company at 7:05, but ¨ya fue¨(already left), couldn´t get a refund or any help from the surly bus company lady, ran like crazy to catch a bus to a totally different destination, only arguing our way on with the help of our last $20 bill, wondered why we´d gotten on a bus to the wrong destination, were traded onto a bus to the right destination in the middle of the highway, were almost kicked off the bus at the Strait of Magellan, did some more pleading with the fortunately merciful conductor, persuaded him to go to some lengths to call the other bus company and coordinate with their driver -- and finally, somehow, caught up to and boarded our intended ride at the Chile-Argentina border.
Twelve hours after that first sprint, we arrived in Ushuaia. Did we mention Z´s got her first South American tummy bug? Well, anyway, we made it. Phew. Let´s hear it for the kindness of strangers.
Now you can use a world map to find your hotel!
This was presumably our last exit from Puerto Natales, but we realized that we actually visited the town no fewer than 4 times (PN, trek 1, PN, penguins, PN, trek 2, PN), so it seemed like it´d make sense to commemorate this grey but welcoming town.
Downtown, almost 10 pm
Cue Otis Redding´s ¨Dock of the Bay¨
Taking down the mighty Milodon (prehistoric sloth, whose millenia-old skin and scat were found nearby)
Get the Milodon to drive you... slowly...
If this wasn´t clear already, it´s central to the town´s identity
That shifty-eyed evolutionist gets a lot of mentions too
Man, the tool user
Blake, doing his best Barbara Woodhouse impersonation
Not very well trained but very well loved
Blake working on a milk mustache
Rebecca plotting...
Celebrating espresso
All traffic yields to the sheep
Aaaaa, the sheeeeep! ♥
ReplyDeleteThat bus ride sounds harrowing. Man. I think if I ever undertake a trip like this, I will make room in the suitcase for the Xanax.
Hope you feel better, Z.
Rebecca and I are definitely taken lessons from your amazing powers of effective transportation riding. (and we now check and double check and triple check our tickets, just in case) I'm stuck in bed in Bariloche with strep - uggh - yay for bringing Cipro with us. But, I now have time to leisurely read your blog! Had to google Barbara Woodhouse -- yes there are no bad dogs only annoyingly nippy ones who are just lucky they are so cute. -- Blake
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