5th January 2008 - Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel as far as Harberton.

Time 09:02, 54 degrees 48.63' South, 68 degrees 17.89' West, Heavy showers and some sunny spells, Water Temperature 9.2 oC, Air Temperature 7 oC, wind Northwest force 4 to 6

Spent today helping sort our the new passengers into groups for the landings. We have to assign all 480 passengers with a coloured disc with a letter on it. The passengers are then informed in the daily programme what time they will be going ashore at the various landings.

Yamana Indians near Ushuaia, photo taken around 1920.

I also visited the Yamana Indian museum. The Yamana were Indians who lived around Ushuaia when early European explorers came to Tierra del Fuego (land of fire). I got its name from Magellan how saw lots of fires burning on the shore as he passed through. The Yamana usually went without clothes, even in the depths of the very cold winter. They were unusual also in that they always carried a lighting fire on their beech bark canoes. The fires were lit on upturned grass sods in the centre of the canoe and apparantly the canoes were not very water tight so there was never any fear of the canoe going on fire.

A large midden outside a Yamana hut (Yamana Museum, Ushuaia)

They also left huge middens (mounds of mainly cooking waste and ashes) along the shores of the Beagle Channel and we came across some of them during our visits to the national park.

The Beagle Channel this evening.

They are similar to those found at home except they used to dump the waste just outside the hut and these middens grew larger and larger in size as other Yamana used them over the years. English missionaries set up a mission in Ushuais in the mid 1800's and by the first quarter of the 20th century the Yamana were all but wiped out, mainly by diseases brought by the European settlers. The wholesale commercial slaughter of seals and whales by Europeans around Tierra del Fuego all but eliminated the main source of protein and fat which supplemented their diet which consisted mainly of mussels, which are found in abundance in the Beagle Channel. Men and women had equal status within the Yamana Indian society.

Another view of the Beagle Channel which we pass through on the way from Ushuaia to Drake Passage. Many of the peaks on either side are over 1000 metres tall.

On the Drake Passage tomorrow, lets hope its not too bumpy. Thanks again to everyone for your comments on the blog, very much appreciated and sorry I cannot reply individually to you all. Congrats to Harry and everyone who took part today in the Great Island Birdwatch Race back home. A combined total of 106 species from an island 5 miles (8km) x 2 miles (3.5 Km) is hard to beat.


Wildlife seen around Ushuaia and in the Beagle Channel heading south.

Mammals
Fur Seal 1

Birds
Giant Petrel 25+
Black-browed Albatross 15+
Magellanic Penguin 250+
Rock Shag 10+
Imperial “King” Shag 250+
Black-faced Ibis 7
Kelp Goose 6+
Flying Steamer Duck 5
Turkey Vulture 2
Chimango Caracara 8
Magellanic Oystercatcher 2
Chilean Skua 8+
Kelp Gull 200+
Dolphin Gull 30+
Brown-hooded Gull 1
South American Tern 300+
Rufous-collared Sparrow 10+
House Sparrow 12+