Ushuaia

Ushuaia is a pretty place. Snowcapped mountains surround the city at the edge of the Beagle Channel. Tourists come into this port from cruises with calls on Antarctica and other islands dotting the Austral waters.

That said, I believe there are many other places in the world I would rather live. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel lucky to be here. But a short trip of two days would do. The weather down here is a little less than desirable. In fact, Laura told me the government pays people mounds more money to live on Tierra del Fuego just because of that fact. Ushuaia was originally colonized as a penal colony. Do you think they’d build a prison on the banks of Iguazu falls? I think not. hehe Without fail the wind blows through the city and whips through the valleys in which I work daily. The wind moves the storm clouds which calls for rain every day. Will there be heavy rain just as we start our nest checks? Probably. Will the rain pick back up again just as I am headed from the city center back to CADIC? Probably. Will it give us a break as we have to push the car for the upteenth time because it never starts on it's own? I sure hope so.

My waterproof pants have again failed me. I bought a pair for my work up in Nome, Alaska which were soon destroyed by faulty construction. My new pair was double the price. Double the quality, right??? Well, they are very nice and I wouldn’t trade them in for anything. (I did get a full refund from REI from the first ones, so it was just like buying those again.) But they just can’t hold up to the wind and rain here. After yesterday’s nest checks, my jacket (down jacket that is only water resistant), my longsleeved shirt underneath, “waterproof” pants, and warm pants beneath those were all soaked through. My left foot was nice and dry, but my right foot was a little wet from a small hole in the borrowed rubber boots.

I live in CADIC which resembles a Soviet bomb shelter in its numerous long hallways and little light. At least that’s what I would picture as a bomb shelter, granted this sprawling complex is above ground. I believe the design lends itself to keeping those who live and work there out of the weather, which would be quite important in Ushuaia. I share a room with both Alicia and Amos. It certainly makes things more interesting.

I have to correct that last paragraph. I sometimes live in CADIC. The other time I live over an hour outside of town in Harborton. It is basically a ranch dating back to the 1800’s by an English orphan adopted by a minister. They have since trimmed down their stock of animals due to poor weather and theft. Now they give tours (me too!). One of the buildings on the property houses a museum full of marine mammal bones. You know the smell when you find a skull or some other body part that has mainly decomposed but still needs a little more time? Yeah. The museum covers the bottom floor in a big warehouse looking room. Then there are the bathrooms (two for tourists, one for all of us) and the kitchen. Behind that is the “lab” which houses more bones which aren’t on display. The number of bones is amazing. There are bones from over 2,500 whales, dolphins, seals, etc and even more of marine birds that have washed up on the shores over the years. (Think of ocean currents and the fact that Tierra del Fuego is the only part sticking out into the southern circulation.)

Upstairs are four bedrooms where the girls volunteering at the museum stay. It is carpeted and heated and all together quite quaint. Then if you go through a door, up some more stairs (now above the warehouse type room), and some more stairs you come to a door that is about four and a half feet small. This is our room. It kind of reminds me of slave quarters back in the day. Perhaps the room that Anne Frank stayed in was a bit like this. Who knows. Against one wall are all the paint buckets, sealants, and general toxic smelling things. To each side of the room is a cut out to the eaves of the attic with more general storage. Then there are two beds with a non-functioning computer on a desk separating them. No pillows, no sheets, nada. Oh, no heat up there either. If I hadn’t brought my sleeping bag against recommendations, I would have froze. The whole building lacks electricity. Supposedly a generator is to come on to provide basic light from about 9-12pm. It’s broken.

So that’s Ushuaia for you! I miss you all!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!