28th December - Ushuaia, Argentina. Time 22:27, 54 degrees 54.65 South, 67 degrees 20.33' West, Sunny spells, clouding over later, showers and drizzle later, Wind Southwest force 5, Water Temperature 8.7oC, Air Temperature 19oC.


San Martin, main street in Ushuaia


Even Santa Claus is a penguin!


More penguins


And more penguins - a wall mural.


Penguins everywhere.


Get the idea.


Even the local flying club has a giant penguin painted on its hanger.



The Nordnorge with the Marco Polo in the background.


Me standing next to the Malvinas war memorial (thanks Sarah!)
The pale areas are a map of the Malvinas/Falklands cut through the stone.

Spent today catching up on a few small jobs and then wandered around Ushuaia. There were seven passenger vessels docked at the pier this morning, all heading for the Antarctic. The largest was the Celebrity Infinity, a huge liner with over 2,500 passengers. This line will not be landing any passengers on the Antarctic. Also present was the Nordnorge, which rescued the passengers from the MS Explorer which sank in Antarctic waters before Christmas. Ushuaia is a real tourist town with the main street, San Martin, packed with tourists moving from souvenir shop to the next. There is a lot of construction going on and new roads are being built. The unsurfaced roads are very dusty and large clouds of dust are regularly whipped up by strong gusts of wind. I also noticed clearings appearing in the large forest which provided a spectacular backdrop to the town. The houses being built look like wooden chalets with no obvious sign of planning. If this continues to spread unchecked it will spoil Ushuaia's magnificent setting. I also came across a stark reminder of the Falkland's/Malvinas war. There is a large monument at the west end of the town with all the names of those Argentinians that were killed, most of whom were young and conscripted.
We are now heading out of Ushuaia with a new compliment of passangers and will spend tomorrow at sea heading for Deception Island. I have added some images to my previous blog entries. Bye for now.


Wildlife Seen around Ushuaia town centre

Cruise Species List Thursday 28th December 2007

Mammals
none

Birds
Giant Petrel 1
Magellanic Penguin 3
Rock Shag 5
Imperial Shag 30+
Kelp Goose 2
Upland Goose 4
Flying Steamer Duck 5
Crested Duck 100+
Turkey Vulture 1
Chimango Caracara 8+
Southern Lapwing 7
Chilean Skua 1
Brown“Sub Antarctic“Skua 5+
Kelp Gull 40+
Dolphin Gull 20+
South American Tern 50+
Austral Negrito
Blue and White Swallow 2
Austral Thrush 6+
Correndera Pipit 1
Long-tailed Meadowlark 2+
Rufous-collared Sparrow 5+
House Sparrow 15+



Note: A + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.