The End of the World

‘The End of the World’. At the tip of South America sits the southernmost city of the world. They call it, Ushuaia. But we can’t even pronounce it! ??Ushuaia?? And we only get our tongues around it, when we eventually arrive there. It’s ‘Ush-why-ha’!

It feels momentous. As we ‘thump, thump, thump’ into there. Our hearts feel too big. And our chests too small. But it’s also bitterly cold, wet and windy. So, it sobers our ‘End of the World’ moment.

It’s been bitterly cold, wet and windy for 2 weeks. See the map; we stay in Punta Arenas, Rio Grande and Ushuaia. And here we find nice warm spots to stay. But we venture out in layers! Me, 6 layers on the top and 4 on the bottom. Harry, 4 layers on the top and 4 on the bottom.

But …. ‘BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!’

This is Punta Arenas. It’s on the calmer Strait of Magellan, but the waters are wild!

And so is the wind. Pedestrian walkways in the whole town have sturdy railings.

And here the wind is causing HAVOC with Harry’s hair.

Then we arrive in Ushuaia. It holds the coveted title of the southernmost city in the world. With ‘The End of the World’ status.

There is the security checkpoint.

With an Argentinian naval presence a little further along.

And for the 5 days we stay here it is wet, cold and windy.

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Short trips around town and I’m wearing 2 raincoats. Harry bitterly regrets only going out in his jeans!

These locals are wearing their summer clothes …

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Even the Perons’ are drenched!

But hear this! Wherever we go, we bump into Larger-than-Life characters. Lion hearts, all of them. With stories that tremble.

First up ….

Magellan! (1519 – 1522) He’s the first to circumnavigate the world. And while he is at it; he discovers the Strait of Magellan. This Strait spares all ships, that follow, the treacherous Cape Horn. Magellan leaves, in 1519, with 5 ships and 260 men. Three years later, only one ship makes it back. The Victoria, with a mere 18 men! Many die, many desert. Even Magellan expires somewhere along the way.

An outdoor museum in Punta Arenas, has an exact replica of the Victoria. And to see that raw and rough and ready ship, leaves us weak.

Magellan circumnavigates the world. He leaves with 5 ships and 260 men. He completes the journey 3 years later with only 1 ship and 18 men!

And this is only ship that completes the journey; the Victoria. This is an exact replica at the open air museum in Punta Arenas.

It is 20 meters long and 7 meters wide and offers very little comfort from the elements.

Below deck there is storage and accommodation. Harry can’t imagine life down here …

… for more than 3 years!

We sincerely hope there is wine in those caskets.

Next up ….

Darwin! (1831 – 1836). We owe the Theory of Evolution to him. But what misery he endures to figure it out. He suffers severe seasick-ness. The ship, the Beagle, is small. Just 27 meters long with 74 people in it. Darwin shares a tiny, 3 square meter cabin with 2 other officers! His hammock swings above a drafting table. He undertakes land journeys. Rides horse, climbs mountains and suffers the blazing sun and the freezing snow. And let’s not forget, the work pressure! To gather, preserve and send back all those thousands of work specimens to England.

The outdoor museum in Punta Arenas, has an exact replica of the Beagle too. It’s 300 years after Magellan’s journey in the Victoria. But we think the Beagle is only marginally better!

The Beagle, Darwin’s ship circumnavigates the world too but 300 years later.

It is definitely more refined than Magellan’s Victoria …

… but is still hellishly small; 27 meters long with a whole 74 people on board!

Progress! It has a long-drop. But not that the sea will benefit from this progress!

And it is only the captain that has some privacy.

Then ….

Chilean Settlers! (1843) Chile wants to possess the Strait of Magellan. Before anybody else grabs this strategic Strait.  So, it sends the Ancud, a simple schooner, with 23 people. Soldiers, sailors and settlers, including 2 women and a child. A couple of goats, 2 pigs, three dogs and a few chickens. Just enough supplies for a 7-month sea journey and to settle a colony. It’s only 15 meters long. Can you imagine! And then the real work begins. Today, it is the town of Punta Arenas with 125,000 inhabitants.

The outdoor museum in Punta Arenas, has an exact replica of the Ancud too. No man! No woman! This is barely larger than a dingy.

A fantastic monument, made of cement and iron, commemorates these 20 men, 2 women and 1 child. It stands 6 m high, larger than the Ancud itself.

The Ancud carries a group of civilians to settle a Colony along the strategic Strait of Magellan. Only 15 meters long …

…. and it carries 23 people plus goats, pigs, dogs, chickens and supplies!

That colony becomes the town of Punta Arenas and it boasts this fabulous monument celebrating Chile’s possession of the Magellan Strait and ….

… the incredibly hardy Crew of the Ancud!

This monument captures the spirit of the endeavour. But not the hardship, we think.

Then …

Sara Braun! (1874) A Rags to Riches extravaganza! Her Jewish family escapes prosecution in Eastern Europe. They look for work, without success, in Europe, Paraguay and Argentina. But Chile seeks recruits for their newly claimed territory of Punta Arenas. And the Braun family joins another 46 immigrants. When they arrive, Sara is 12. Her father finds work with a Portuguese shipping magnate. And Sara helps her father with administration. Six years later the Portuguese Jose proposes to Sara. He is 42 and she is 24. Sara has oodles of business savvy. She offers bucket loads of advice. When her husband dies, she inherits everything. She continues to grow the business in leaps and bounds. Fancy, she becomes the biggest employer in the whole of Patagonia. With sheep and ships!

Sara Braun and her Jewish family escape persecution in Eastern Europe. They arrive in Punta Arenas with almost nothing.

She and her Portuguese husband spearhead the sheep farming boom in Patagonia. After his death she continues to grow the business and becomes the largest employer in Patagonia!

This statue in Punta Arenas portrays the tale.

This is Sara Braun’s ‘palacio’ in Punta Arenas. It now holds a museum.

Then ….

Prisoners! (1902) A Penal Colony. Like the one England has in Australia. The idea arises in 1882. Argentina needs to solve its penitentiary problem and create a first settlement in its remote southern tip. The first 10 convicts are chosen for their skills! To build a lighthouse. In the same year, Argentina proclaims the town of Ushuaia. The second shipment of convicts has 10 women. Six of these convicted women get married; three to prisoners and 3 to Ushuaia inhabitants. And then a whole prison force gets cracking. First prison buildings, then railway lines, harbour piers, roads, running water, sewerage systems, street lighting. The makings of the southernmost town in the world, Ushuaia! President Peron closes the prison in 1947 due to inhumane conditions.  Now those prison buildings house the most fantastic museum.

The Penal Colony in Ushuaia, established in 1902, held between 600 and 800 inmates.

These prisoners experience inhumane conditions in a prison they were forced to build for themselves.

With maximum security.

The prisoners are also forced to labour in the many public works projects of Ushuaia.

Here go the prisoners that help build the town of Ushuaia at the End of the World.

Today the prison buildings are a maritime and prison museum.

There are loads of prison jokes in Ushuaia.

Then ….

Shackleton! (1914 – 1916). His goal is to cross, on foot, the Antarctic continent. On route, sea ice traps his ship, the Endurance, for more than a year. Water becomes ice, and ice becomes water. Eventually, the Endurance disintegrates and sinks. And Shackleton and his crew of 27 escape on 3 frail lifeboats. Three days of freezing rain and frostbite brings them to Elephant Island. They then walk for 36 hours to reach a disused whaling station, 97 kms south of the dreaded Cape Horn. Here Shackleton leaves most of his crew. In a lifeboat, with homemade sails, Shackleton and 5 men set out for help. It’s a gruelling 1300 km open boat journey to an active Norwegian whaling station. Nothing short of a miracle, say the Norwegians. Shackleton is desperate to bring his 22 crew back from Elephant Island. The first three attempts, in a whaler, a trawler and a schooner, fail! Those massive ice packs defeat them all. Then Shackleton convinces the Chilean government to lend him the Yelcho, a small steam tug. It’s totally unsuited. No radio, no heating, no electric lighting, no double hull. But it breaks through and rescues all 22 men on 30 August 1916. These men survive the island for over 4 months! And all Shackleton’s men live to tell the tale. The Greatest Story of Survival, they tell.  We’d say!

This poster tells Shackleton’s story. The Trans Antarctic Expedition. A 2-year long Greatest Story of Survival.

This is the advert Shackleton places for men to join him on his crossing by foot of the Antarctic continent.

Then Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, becomes trapped in sea-ice for more than a year. There are 28 men onboard!

Here the dogs watch as the Endurance finally sinks.

Shackleton’s men use the 3 lifeboats to escape the Antarctic melting ice and the sinking Endurance.

The lifeboats reach Elephant Island 3 days later. Then the men convert one lifeboat into a sailing boat and drag it across the ice for 36 hours!

Shackleton and 5 men then leave on the sailing lifeboat to find some human civilization. The remaining 22 men stay on Elephant Island.

This is an exact replica of the sailing lifeboat. Shackleton and 5 men set out on a 1300 km journey and reach a manned Norwegian whaling station. Despite all odds! Shackleton immediately makes plans to fetch his men left on Elephant Island.

Three attempts, in 3 different ships, fail because of thick sea ice packs. The fourth, on a Chilean steam boat called Yelcho, succeeds ….

The men on Elephant Island spot the Yelcho Steamer in the distance. See their smoke signals and feel their hope, at last. All 28 men that started off on this journey survive!

HardSHIPS beyond words ….

But I swear. None of these men and women, wear 6 layers on the top and 4 on the bottom. In summer!!

Flip! In this place and in this weather I’ve never been happier in my helmet. Snug!