Ushuaia Part 2

 Pulling into port at the furthest town in South America we are not alone. There are 5 other cruise ships in port including a Seaborne and Viking ship. The town has every tour operator and taxi driver standing outside the port exit looking for customers.   

The major shopping area is uphill one block. What is amazing is the number of outdoor sports equipment stores. There are seemingly more outdoor equipment shops than souvenir shops. What we haven’t found is a bank so we have no Argentinean Pesos 

This afternoon we have a three part tour of Tierra Del Fuego.  We start with a train ride through the park actually seeing the areas that were logged by the first prisoners that were brought to the area   The stumps are still present because the area is so cold there is no regrowth.   The next part is a drive through the park and arrival at a catamaran to take us through the Beagle Channel and back to the ship.   I will talk more about the waterways in another post. 

I am unsure what I thought was Tierra Del Fuego. I knew it was part of Patagonia but expected dry conditions with no or very little plant life.  Actually Tierra del Fuego is a huge peninsula. The national park is an evergreen forest in many places so thick you can hardly see. Several lakes are within the park and the southern portion is bound by the Beagle Channel. The peninsula was split longitudinally with Chile getting the western portion and Argentina the eastern. 

The weather today has been rainy sporadically and overcast. We have seen the sun a little in the morning. The wind is cold and of course today we only wore one layer. Hard to believe it is summer.