Ushuaia
argentina: notes from the road
Puerto Madryn: This is, surprisingly, a Welsh settlement . . . fleeing the economic devastation of England's Industrial Revolution, Welsh settlers immigrated to Argentina in search of cheap land. Led by Viscount Madryn, one group of settlers sailed for Patagonia, founding the small city of Puerto Madryn in 1865. Life in Patagonia, however, was not easy. There were lonely prairies, brutally cold winters, and unrelenting winds. Still the Welsh survived, and today visitors can still see their legacy in Puerto Madryn and its surrounding communities. Puerto Madryn is your gateway to one of South America's largest breeding grounds for birds and mammals - Tombo National Reserve and it is an important stop from Princess Cruise Lines. November 2007"More News from the Bottom of the World:
Ushuaia, Argentina
I stayed up late, because the plane got in late and woke up at 5:30 a.m. when a tour group in the hotel got up. They did not give a damn about who was sleeping. Yelling in the halls. The rooms had thin doors. Luckily I had to move because the hotel was sold out. The new hotel is quiet and has a great view of the harbor.
"The first day I visited the Martial Glacier. It is small so I had a hard time trying to find it. The best one is Moreno in El Calafete. This town is small enough to walk everywhere. No beggers either. Yesterday, I cancelled a boat trip because the boat was too crowded. Too many tour groups. Just as crowded today and it rained and snowed most of the trip. Then the sun came
"Just got back from a train trip to the National Park. Going over it started to rain again, coming back everything is white with snow and is still snowing. It was a cold but a nice trip. The sun shines till about 9:30, when it is out. Also back in B.A. there was a soccer match that was reported that about 20 guys with guns came into a teams dressing room and told the team to lose. They take their soccer seriously. Then there was another soccer match that got held up for fan trouble for about 20 mins.
"I read in today's Herald, a game that is going to be played soon will not have any fans in attendance, because of possible trouble. I can not believe that."
Ushuaia
Ushuaia is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, and the world's southernmost city. It is located on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, in a setting surrounded by mountains and overlooking the Beagle Channel which has island hopping tours via catamaran.
We sailed through the islands of the Alicia Archipelago, an area inhabited by a large colony of imperial cormorants. 
We saw local wildlife, including the black browed albatross, the scua (a type of gull) and funny-looking steamer ducks.
The tour included Seal Island and the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. Ushuaia had about 64,000 inhabitants
as of 2005.
The city was originally named by British colonists after the name
that the native Yámana people had for the area. During the first half
of the 20th century, the Argentine government set up this prison following
the example of the British with Australia: being a remote island,
escape from a prison on Tierra del Fuego would have been impossible.
The prisoners thus became forced colonists and spent much of their
time cutting wood in the lands around the prison and building the
town. They built a railway from the forests to the settlement, now
used as a tourist train as the Tren del Fin del Mundo (End of the
Earth Train), the southernmost railway in the world. Since the main
supply center was very distant, the prison had a press, a photography
lab, shoe makers, bakers, medical service, and chemistry to cover
the needs of the population.
From Alaska to Tierra del Fuego: Across the Americas in Two Years
Michael Boyny
Pioneers arrived attracted by commentaries on the existence of gold in the area, including immigrants from Wales.
In 1947 the central government closed the prison, and the building was acquired by the Ministery Of Marine to create in 1950 the Base Naval Ushuaia Almirante Berisso. The seventies marked another moment in the history of the city when industrial promotion began. Argentinians from different provinces were attracted by the possibility of working and since then, Ushuaia´s population has been constantly increasing.
March 8, 2008
Here are a few photos of last night (above left). This is why I like Buenos Aires.
Early in the morning and there is life and safety. These photos are on Santa Fe and Libertad at 1:45am. Unfortunately prices are going up. My morning expresso was 3.50p, now is 4.50p. Most restaurants raised their prices at least 10p.= $3.
April 2008
am in El Calafate. On the Glaciers, well near a couple anyway. There are around 300 of them.
The strike is still going on: No meat, chicken, diary products. The stores and restaurants are running out quick, even way down here. There are lots of trout to eat though, which makes me glad that there aren't many fish eaters in this country . . . more for me.
Tomorrow I am heading to Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast. This city was settled by the Welsh.
Evolution's Captain, Peter Nichols
Evolution's Captain is the story of a visionary but now forgotten English naval officer and the chain of events without which the name Charles Darwin would be unknown to us today. Captain Robert FitzRoy's first voyage aboard the HMS Beagle had concluded with the kidnapping of four "savages" from Tierra del Fuego. But when his plan to bring them back to England to civilize them as Christian gentlefolk backfired, the second and most famous voyage of the Beagle was born. In naval terms, this second voyage -- with twenty-two-year-old Charles Darwin in tow -- was a stunning scientific success. But FitzRoy, a fanatical Christian, was horrified by the heretical theories Darwin began to develop. As these ideas came to influence the most profound levels of religious and scientific thinking in the nineteenth century, FitzRoy's knowledge that he had provided Darwin with the vehicle for his sacrilegious ideas propelled him irrevocably toward suicide. Follows the story of Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the HMS Beagle, who enlisted Charles Darwin as a companion for a journey originally intended to return natives to their homeland and whose fundamentalist views clashed with those of Darwin, who made his famous discoveries during the voyage. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude