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Dec. 27, 2006 Greetings from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Ushuaia is also the capital of Argentina ’s Tierra del Fuego province. ‘Ushuaia’ is an atypical Spanish word, pronounced as if written Usuaia, that is, oo-swi-ya, with ‘oo’ as in ‘food’ and ‘swi’ as in ‘swipe’. The latitude is about 56º south, which is the end of the line, unless you sail to Antarctica . There are many cities at a higher northern latitude though; for example, Oslo is 60º north and Murmansk is 69º north. ‘Tierra del Fuego’, in addition to being the name of one of Argentina ’s 24 provinces, is the name of an archipelago under the condominium of Chile and Argentina . La Isla Grande , itself shared by Chile and Argentina , is the largest island in the archipelago, and this is where Ushaia is. I began on December 18 in Buenos Aires , but first I went west to the city of Mendoza , in order to see Mount Aconcagua , the tallest mountain in the Americas . I mentioned this in another article. I stayed in Mendoza 4 days, and then caught another bus for Río Gallegos, the capital of Santa Cruz province on the very southern end of the Argentine mainland. This was a 41-hour bus ride and cost US $105. The great-circle distance is 1311 miles , but the mileage on the somewhat circuitous route we followed must have been 1500 or more. I was shocked at the barrenness of southern Argentina , which is called Patagonia . Much of it resembled nothing that I’ve ever seen unless it was the Gobi Desert , which I crossed in 1997. For hours we looked out at flat, treeless wastelands as far as the eye could see in all directions, passing through the provinces of Mendoza , Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz . There were no dunes however, only plains covered with sagebrush and tumbleweed. At some point, down where the South American triangle narrows, we crossed the continent, from a little east of the Pacific, to the city of Rawson, at the mouth of the Río Chubut, on the Atlantic shore. Then we followed along the Atlantic coast more or less till we got to Río Gallegos. Though it is summer in Argentina , it was cold, cloudy and windy in Río Gallegos, a small city with dusty streets, corrugated-metal depots and pumice-block buildings. I was very uneasy about arriving in such a place on Christmas day about 1 in the afternoon. I saw no cabs or hotels nearby. Asking to be directed downtown, I started walking. Quizzing a couple of people along the way, I found my way to a pensión. I slept in an eight-bed dormitory with 3 others who looked like day laborers. On Tuesday, December 26, I bought a one-way ticket to Ushuaia for US $37. Leaving Río Gallegos for the 375-mile bus ride, we almost immediately entered Chile . We drove on to Puntas Arenas, still in Chile , where the bus rolled onto a ship that crossed a narrow spot in the Straits of Magellan. Half an hour later, we rolled back out of the ship, proceeding eastward till we reentered Argentina . Then we continued on through Río Grande to Ushuaia. Most of these places can be seen on this map of Argentina . http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/argentina_pol96.jpg Once we had left Río Gallegos, the terrain started improving, and we were soon in a region of green hills and dales. In some places wildflowers, white and yellow, covered the field like a carpet. There were numerous herds of sheep, especially, but also cattle, horses and guanacos. This is the first time I have seen these South American cameline animals in their natural habitat. Here’s a picture: http://www.clinamen.cl/Fotos-Clinamen/Guanaco.jpg After crossing onto La Isla Grande , we entered gorgeous green mountains, with a very distinct tree line and streaks of snow all over the peaks. We passed through thick green forests of southern beech, genus Nothofagus, no longer considered a genuine beech, but still called by the name. There are also forests of winter's-bark trees, Drimys winteri, native to Tierra del Fuego. Here is a typical scene: http://www.paigee.com/images/Argentina/ar27.jpg Ushuaia is a port and all geared up for touristry. It reminds me of towns in the Italian Alps that I visited in 1974, but with the added bonus of frontage on the sea. This is really a beautiful, beautiful spot. http://www.patagonias.net/IMAGES/Pictures/Ushuaia.jpg ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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