Day 15/37: Monday, February 10, 2020: Chilean Fjords

Day 14/36: Sunday, February 9, 2020: Ushuaia

We spent the night at dock in Ushuaia. This morning, I got up and went to the gym before breakfast. We have a 9:00 am excursion to visit the old prison and then take a ride on the Tierra del Fuego Southern Railway. The weather in Ushuaia is very Spring-like. Highs in the 60's and a bright sunny day. We were told this is very unusual in a place that gets an average of 23" of rain per year.

Ushuaia is the southern most city on the planet. It is 1,000 km north of Antarctica, on the Beagle Channel, and historically been an important access point for exploration of the continent. 

Our short van ride to the prison museum took only about 15 minutes. There we were told we had an hour to look around. We could have spent several hours looking around. The prison has five wings with a central rotunda. The five wings were built over the years by the inmates, as was all the other facilities.

The first group of 14 convicts arrived in January 1896 in a temporary jail of wooden and tin huts. The idea was to colonize the area with convicts volunteers. In 1902, a military prison was established west of Ushuaia. In 1911, the military prison and the jail were merged on the site of the Ushuaia jail. By 1920, the prison had been expanded to include five pavilion with 380 cells. At its height however, as many as 800 prisoners were housed in the facility. Over time, the prison became notorious for its remoteness and cruelness. In 1947, the Argentinian President abolished the prison and the facilities were transferred to the Navy who established a Naval Base in 1950.

All but one of the five pavilions have been restored. One was left in the condition it was in when the prison was shut down. The museum encompasses two restored pavilions and you can walk through the preserved pavilion.

The central rotunda.

One of the pavilions has been turned in to a gallery of Argentinian art, displaying works celebrating what Argentina is known for including gauchos, the Tango, the brutality of the military dictatorships, the original native inhabitants.

The preserved pavilion was a very sad place, heavy with memories.

There were other parts of the museum as well which dealt with the maritime history of the area and the role of Ushuaia in the exploration of the Antarctic continent.

We then took off toward the Tierra del Fuego National Park. We stopped at the Bay Ensenada Zaratiegui , also called simply Ensenada Bay. It is a bay on the northern margin of the Beagle Channel which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It has been confirmed as a sovereign part of the Argentine Republic after a long border dispute with the Republic of Chile concerning the trace of the Beagle Channel. The island in the foreground of the picture below is Isla Redonda (Argentinian) while the land mass beyond is Chile. Taking the channel to the left takes you to the Atlantic, to the right is the Pacific.

The shore is covered with mussels. The tide is out, but these guys are alive and tethered to the rocks of the shore.

An old pier now serving as a mussel sanctuary.

We reboarded the van and proceeded to the park where we boarded the train (https://www.trendelfindelmundo.com.ar/es). The Southern Fuegian Railway (Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino) or the Train of the End of the World (El Tren del Fin del Mundo) is a 500 mm (19 3⁄4 in) gauge steam railway. It was originally built by prisoners as a freight line to transport timber to the prison and the city of Ushuaia. It now operates as a heritage railway into the Tierra del Fuego National Park and is considered the southernmost functioning railway in the world.

The locomotive pulling our train of cars was a steam engine powered by diesel fuel. The speed was probably 5 mph at most. The trip was over 7 km (the original train covered a distance of 14 km) and after about 30 minutes of moving, we stopped briefly for some photos. The remainder of the trip, back to the starting point took another 15 minutes or so.

Along the way, the tree stumps left by the convicts were still visible. They cut trees every day all year round and would cut them off at the "ground". During days with snow on the ground, they would cut the trees off at the level of the snow. Today, there was no snow, so the height of the remaining trunks varied widely.

It was a short drive back to the ship.

We had talked about having lunch in Ushuaia when we got back to the ship. However, the Princess cruise ship, with about 2,000 guests disembarking, made us decide to eat lunch on board before walking into town.

We were hoping to find a shoe store (I need some new tennis shoes) and a pair of workout gloves for Maria. But, this was Sunday, so most of the stores were closed. We did stop at the same rock shop I visited back in December. Maria got a tiny carved penguin and a small carved giraffe.

We had a tasty ice cream before heading back to the ship. We both visited the gym in the evening.