Terra firma today, but not tomorrow

Guillermo wrote early today!
Yes, it is amazing what those Spaniards were able to do so many years ago without all of the fancy equipment and technology that we have now. They were really tough, and they also had some luck. Those who didn't have luck, did not survive.

Today we went to Ushuaia National park and did a 7 or 8 kilometer walk. A piece of cake compared to Torres del Paine!!. It was a forested, winding, undulating - sometimes hilly - trail that followed the shore line of the Beagle Channel for quite a while before cutting through the forest. On the other side of the channel there were snow capped mountains. It was very pretty, but we didn't see a lot of wildlife - some rabbits (introduced here from Europe years ago), a couple of steamer ducks, and two or three female and one male magellenic woodpeckers, a few small birds and a type of cara cara that we have seen everywhere. About the last tree kilometers, we had a cold, light rain falling on us, but it wasn't too bad and not much wind. I had read that Ushuaia was very windy, but we have found it is much less windy than other places we have been. I believe it is because it sits a bowl completely surrounded by snowcapped mountains that I think they shield it some from the wind. The rest of Tierra del Fuego does seem to be very windy.

Tomorrow, Fernando will be taking some dramamine! We are going to go on a sail boat for four hours on the Beagle Channel. He wants to do it, so I have already bought the tickets. It is a large sail boat and no more than 10 people will be on it. The water was really rough when we crossed the Strait of Magellan yesterday and it affected our son some, but he thinks he can handle this 4 hour trip if he takes some dramamine before. We are also hoping the water will be calmer because the Beagle channel is more protected than the strait.

When we got back to the hostel, we got to watch the two overtime periods between the Spurs and the Suns, so that was a bit of luck! Well, that was our day and I will report to you tomorrow on how our Beagle trip turns out. The following day we leave for Río Gallegos, another long bus ride (I already bought the tickets), and from there we will fly to Buenos Aires (I already bought those tickets too).

Fernando is very brave, that's all I've got to say.