Ushuaia and Glaciers of the Beagle Channel

Ushuaia, Argentina

Italia Glacier, Beagle Channel

Ushuaia, Argentina claims to be the most southern city of South America. It was founded in 1870 by Anglican missionaries to protect the native Yamana people. We were able to visit the outside part of the closed Museo Yamana which had replicas of dwellings and boats used by indigenous people. The Yamanas, who adapted for thousands of years to the nomadic fishing life of Tierra del Fuego, are gone now. They were victims of disease and hunting competition from whalers, seal hunters, and gold seekers. Jemmy Button was one of four Yamana taken by FitzRoy of the Beagle to England and then returned home on the voyage with Darwin. His amazing story was been told by Bruce Chatwin in his book In Patagonia, and others.

In 1896 Argentina established a prison in Ushuaia and in 1902 the Argentine navy moved there on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel and in the shadow of the Martial mountain range. We walked to the old prison/military base which is now the Museo Maritimo. Its exhibits show cells reminiscent of Alcatraz with lifesize models of some of its most famous residents--hardened criminals and political prisoners. This museo also included maritime history of exploration and some native points and baskets. Ushuaia is a jumping off point for Antarctica.

Later in the afternoon, we float through the Beagle Channel, where Captain Fitz Roy and Charles Darwin sailed in 1833. It's a narrow passage, with not much room to tack for the HMS Beagle between the northern island with the Darwin cordillera mountain range and ice sheets and the complex series of islands to the south. Six fabulous glaciers from the ice sheets to the north come down to the sea in quick succession as we slowly proceed westward. The glaciers are named for European countries: the Holanda, the Italia, the Francia, the Alemania, the Romanche, and the Espana. Even in the misty weather, the glaciers seem to emit a mysterious blue glow. Only one, the Italia glacier, actually falls into the channel now. Most of them are receding. As night falls we dine with friends in Il Adagio Itallian restaurant leaving the glaciers behind.