Argentina 2009

Thursday12November

This last day in Ushuaia will be by boat because we are going to sail on the Beagle Channel to see the sea lions!

It is 10 o'clock and we are on time for boarding with 4 other tourists.

The pilot takes us while drinking his yerba mate, very common in Argentina!

During the 20 minutes of navigation, the guide takes great care of us with explanations in Spanish-English!

Finally we arrive in front of this small colony of sea lions perched on its rocky islet.
A priori it's nap time! Unless they are hard at work......
Anyway, most ignore us, apart from a few curious ones who take a look at these weird humans...

Kelp Gull

Sea lions are also called "maned seal" (Otaria flavescens). We can clearly distinguish this mane in the photo on the right with the huge male watching over the whole troop.

Further on another islet, cormorants build their nests.

This name was given to this archipelago of small islands by the French captain Luis Fernando Martial during the expedition "La Romanche" in 1882.

On this other rock, an even larger colony is busy building nests

Twigs in the beak, this cormorant must find its nest... Easy or not easy ???  

We make a small stopover on an island to see the local flora more closely.

It is not a big rock covered with moss but a big compact plant named "llareta" (Azorella compacta)

360° panorama. You can navigate this panorama with the mouse and view it in full screen.

360° Panorama.

2nd photo: prickly heath fruit (Pernettya mucronata)
Left photo: a Chilean firetree flower (Embothrium coccineum)

End of navigation and return to Ushuaia with a small beer!

The carrier Hamburg Sud unloading the cargo CSAV Rotterdam

And there you go, we survived the end of the world and we must leave Tierra del Fuego for El Calafate and the Perito Moreno glacier!
On the way to the airport where a 1h20 flight awaits us!

The landscape changes and the temperature rises. We are 550 km further north...

The city of Calafate. We are here in the Santa Cruz region.

After picking up our new rental car, we find this small hostel where we have our own kitchen. The opportunity for Rico to make us pasta carbonara!