Today we had a tour of Punta Arenas on foot. Despite togging up for the trip there was a bitter wind which seemed to penetrate every layer of clothing. Apart from that it was mainly sunny with a few clouds. The place we are staying is south of the centre, maybe a fifteen minute walk from the centre. Our first stop was the obligatory statue of General Bernardo O'Higgins. Virtually every town in Chile has one and he is typically depicted on horseback. Sadly there w...

Neither of us slept well as we were both aware that we had to be up early to catch the bus to Punta Arenas. Joan was also aware that the local government settlement had been announced the day before, and after a plea on Facebook, Caitlin sent her the spreadsheets. Dire news for the north. The taxi came and hurtled around the street as if it was in Grand Theft Auto and dropped us off at the bus departure point. Despite its length the journey passed quickly. Initia...

Today the bus actually turned up. Admittedly it was late as some earlier passengers were late leaving their hotel. We just had to wait in the rain but the driver did apologise on their behalf. The Parque Nacional is only about 12 km form Ushuaia so it didn't take long to reach. we bought tickets at the station and board the rain which is a 500mm gauge and not the original gauge which was 600mm. The tren al Fin del Mundo was originally built to carry the prisone...

Today we had booked a tour to the Parque Nacional de Tierra del Fuego. As instructed we waited in the freezing cold for a bus to pick us up. After an hour of waiting, we were beginning to wonder what was going on. The flat we are staying in is linked to a guest house on the next street and Joan just happened to se a man come out and get in his car. (It isn't staffed 24/7). She approached him and it was David who had first greeted us here. Kindly he rang the tour ...

Today we had booked a trip to see the wildlife on the Beagle Channel. Joan has always wanted to visit Ushuaia since watching the Voyage of the Beagle on the TV in the 1970s. She has always been interested in Captain Robert Fitzroy who funded Darwin's trip on the Beagle. Peter Nicholls' book Evolution's captain is a very readable account of this complex man. The trip was in the afternoon so we took an early lunch before walking down to the departure pier. On the...