03/07/2001
  Ushuaia - Fine del Mondo
  S 54°48    W 68°18
  + 86

Today is a day full of confrontations and meetings.

We have so many things to do.

We have an appointment with the "El Diario",  Ushuaia's daily newspaper (!). We have this uncanny feeling that its  one and only journalist is not taking us that seriously but he's still agrees to meet us at the airport this evening for an interview.

Meanwhile, Theo is at the dentist's.. and his filling is taking more time than planned. As Proactive as ever, the team decides to carry out the virtuals vote without him. Well... not the whole team since  Marco chickens out at the idea of having to skin dip in such cold waters and  Maya needs to record the event on her video camera... only Aleko and Vale have enough balls to go ahead. The young taxi driver (see the video) shakes his head in stupefaction and mutters under his breath  " you're crazy... you're crazy" while he drives them to a beach on the outskirts of Ushuaia. Reality  hits them when Ithaca volunteers to test the water's temperature. Click on the photo and check out what happened. 

The team then meets up for a warm lunch and then goes off to meet local VIPs. Such as the Anthropologist Ernesto Piana based in Ushuaia for the last twenty years or again  the 25 year old husky breeder. Curious ? Read the section "others" to find out more.

 It's already  time to leave... but the rules of the game are clear and we must follow them even if we would really want to stay longer in this magical place. Today we've experienced all four seasons in just one day: bright sunlight, murky clouds, rain outbursts and snow !

At the airport, the rude journalist (see above) doesn't show up and we head off to the departure lounge for the flight Aerolineas Argentinas 1655 for El Calafate. We leave the Isla Grande Del Tierra Del Fuego to land in a new landscape of Toundra 

Dusk has fallen and we decide to start our exploration as soon as the dawn breaks tomorrow. Buenas noches amigos ! 

Close your eyes for a minute and meditate on the following information: outside  temperature: 7°C , temperature of the sea: 5°C and last but not least, a  nasty Artic Wind. 

"Locos !" (mad). Poor "Serena" stares at  us in utter amazement and fear: " don't do it... people have died from this". We can't comfort her for  there's no turning back... the virtuals have chosen, we have to take a  dip in the Bay of Ushuaia.  We get into a taxi and head of to a beach with Ithaca and Nicole.

"To the beach for a swim". The taxi drivers almost crashes in disbelief: " No ... really ?? You want to swim here... but it's suicide !" Nothing can stop us and we both are now comfortable with the idea ... after all Vale is from the mountains (can't beat the Alps) and I have Viking blood rushing through my veins.

We drive on for several kilometers and decide to stop at a beach of pebbles overlooking Ushuaia. Vale puts on her newly acquired ozzie wet-suit: I'm not so fortunate since I  have my trunks for only protection. Will this be enough to face the burning kiss of the freezing waters ?

We start laughing nervously as Ithaca goes to test the water and comes back in a flash. Vale and I decide to do it in one go... the first meters are terrible: I can't feel my legs anymore... we need to get this over and done with ASAP and dive under screaming. My brain seems to be disconnected and my body is immediately paralyzed by a freezing stab. My survival instinct tells me to get out of the water now... don't want to die of a heart attack.

You really went too far this time, don't you think ? but at least we did it: Mission 13 accomplished !

Aleko

Tomorrow only the great Video!... that's our revenge !

Ushuaia is an attempt to bring some warmth to a place where there's none... and this with third millennium technology.

So that Ushuaia still remains the Tierra del Fuego.

Marco

 

 

Snow and sea nomads

Today, we met two people... top professionals with two seemingly different backgrounds: an anthropologist and a husky breeder.

Both have chosen the end of the world in order to live their passion to the fullest.

Our curiosity was aroused when they both began to speak about nomadism.

Hernan, the breeder of the El ultimo Territorio center, explains to us that huskies aren't aggressive dogs. Moreover, they are not territorial. In the past, they lived amongst nomadic tribes.

 

Ernesto Piana, anthropologist of the Centro Austral de Investigacions Cientificas, tells us about the local Indian population way back in the prehistorical ages. They used to live on canoes, navigating up and down the channels, depending on the seasons.

Check out the following the two very significant sentences of these two modern nomads:

"The nomadic tribes used sledges to carry their food... these dogs became nomads because of their masters."

"The nomad owns the minimum. He can adapt to any circumstances and is flexible."

 

We explore El Calafate and then head off to the National Park of Glaciers: there we plan to check out the Perito Moreno - one of the only glacier still expanding today.

Dear Virtual,

cover-up... and get ready for tomorrow's video !

Frozen kisses,

 hasta maņana!

The Car@van.

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