Ushuaia- The End of the World

So yeah, we've been in Ushuaia the last few days. The so called "End of the World". This means it's time to do a post... except that as posted just a bit ago, the Safari, Blogger interface bugs are killing me! Below is a view of Ushuaia from the sea! It is a very picturesque city, but suffers a bit from being a big port for the journey to Antarctica. The big cruise ships descend here and raise prices for us poor travelers! Just why is it all cruise ports have some rock they are hawking as a unique find, and charge outrageous prices for? No, they don't have Tanzanite here, instead it is Inca Rose or somesuch. Which of course comes from the far north of Argentina, so it is a bit like selling Real Maple Syrup in San Francisco!
In Tierra del Fuego National Park we went hiking. The main trail followed the coast dipping in and out of the forest. Its a good park with quite a few good trails. Mostly we just saw Upland Fuegan Geese (to distinguish from the Kelp Goose), rabbits... looked like two varieties, one being a small cottontail, and beaver sign... so the exotics win out again! There are also Red Fox to complete the messed up ecology.
The forests of Tierra del Fuego are very "otherworld-y", meaning that at times they look like what I'd imagine for Lothlorien, other times more like Fangorn.
Birds, birds, and more birds. The fun of cruising the Beagle Channel is endless. Actually, it did make me wonder where the word "Beagle" came from... turns out it is just from the dog breed! So yeah, the British ship that Darwin was on was named for a small dog. They think that the origin for the dog breed name may have something to do with words for things like "deep throat" and "big voice" in old french, or old english.
Watching nesting pelagic birds turned out to be way more interesting than I might have thought. Never been so interested in all of the shorebird types, but nesting colonies have a real appeal. Got to see some returning with squid to feed their young! We also saw lots of Terns, Sku, and Petrels.
These lazy guys are everywhere, but you'd feel left out if they didn't have them on the tour!
Just another pretty coastal shot. Just read through some of my above comments, and while accurate, I feel like they are somewhat colored by my bad experiences trying to wrestle with posting this thing! Really, this whole visit has been really good, we hit great weather, and the hiking was wonderful! Don't let my cynicism lower your opinion, it's a great place, and if you can you should come to check it out. It has a very "pioneering wilderness" feel to it. Fresh!
Looks fishy doesn't it? Yeah, but not going to plunk down the $270 to find out. I'll be waiting a few more weeks to wet a line. Have I already made too many cynical comments...well, in case I haven't, can I add that "way too rich" anglers are screwing up the world for the rest of us!!! As a side note, the $270 US also can not be split by two anglers, it is a per person fee!
Just thought this was a pretty shot to end on. Cheers until the next post. Hopefully I can have my system worked out by then!