Ushuaia (again, catching up...)

Again, I'm using the French version and my pictures rather than my memory. So it's already crystal clear to me that this blog will be precious for me when I get back.

I arrived alone in Ushuaia after over two weeks spent together with Nora.

Felt strange being on my own again. but nice surprises were awaiting me. On the touristical side, a museum, a boat trip on the 'end of the world' canal Beaggle, and an extraordinary national park. On the emotional side, a meeting (through the couchsurfing website) with a couple of great guys and a very nice girl.

The museum explained that the town was founded as a penitenciary, for extreme conditions prevented any attempt of escape, and the governement needed to maintain some presence in this strategic harbour to declare it an Argentinian territory.

Ancient pictures and other testimonies of the live and working conditions of the prisoners were frightening.

On the boat trip, maybe it was just the idea of being in this mythical part of the world, the most southern town, close to the meeting point of the two largest oceans, but I felt moved by the bay that shelters Ushuaia and the sailors who dare venture in some of the coldest seas of the world. I read the tale of fishers or scientists whose boats got stuck in the ice, and ended up anxiously waiting for an icebreaker boat to come and rescue them. gives you the creeps...

The trip was also another occasion to approach some animals, such as sealions and cormorans (flying cousins of the penguins), who happily live together.

The national park was amazing, revealing an incredible variety of landscapes in ony a four hours walk. I'll take some tim later on to add apost with pictures on this park.

Last but certainly not least, thanks to couchsurfing, I met Clara who allowed me to surf her couch for a few days and left me the keys of her house. We had breakfast together before she went to work and long conversations at night when she got back. Feeling home far away from home was a moving experience to me. And those conversations with Clara sure opened some doors.

Also, I met Esteban and Alejandro, a couple of guides who welcomed me at their place twice, for a drink and for a dinner. We spent these moments as if we were close friends.

N.B.: getting trouble with my picture management application... have to upload them in full size and that's a nightmare...