Ushuaia

I originally tried to make this page from my droid with a slow internet connection to throw up a few pics. That wasted a lot of time and battery power but alas it didn't actually get any of the pics up here to post. Now we have left Ushuaia, another self proclaimed "fin del mundo"or end of the world. This one is on the southern end of Tierra Del Fuego. It hosts a number of "farthest south" things, like clubs, microbreweries, etc. It is quite scenic on a sort of flat spot between the mountains and the Beagle Channel. Claudia totally hooked us up with a place to stay - a municipal dorm place where visiting athletes stay. We were joined there by a group who were getting ready to swim the Beagle Channel. We taught 4 classes there and spent a lot of the rest of the time trying to figure out how to transport our bicycle box. This once useful luggage had become an albatross around our necks. Both of the bus companies assured us that we could not take it as luggage because their buses did not have room. flying would have worked with one airline had the plane not been full to Bariloche and the one to Rio Gallegos was too small for the bike box. Finally we found a trucking company that would take it, so after a round of paperwork with the Aduanas (customs) we finally shipped it off. The next morning at 5 am when we got on our bus to Bariloche (first leg to Rio Gallegos) we were extremely annoyed to see an entirely empty cargo bay with room for at least 6 bike boxes. GRRRRR. (the company was Marga, feel free to avoid them in the future.)

Back to Ushuaia, one afternoon after classes we had a proper Argentinian picnic with mate and  pastries (they had a name for them, but I forget). Another afternoon we packed up our packs and hiked up out of town past the ski lift and went up a nearly non-existent trail and up to a ridge top.

oops. time to move