LEAVING USHUAIA
We’re not going to leave before visiting the Presidio, the original prison which started this entire community and to say it was creepy would be an understatement…
The worst of Argentinian society started to file into its cold, panopticon quarters starting in 1902 and they refurbished every single cell into rather fascinating exhibits about the tenants, guards, the cold and impossibility of escape from the very place they all inhabited. Chilling, to say the least.
But we were ready to escape ourselves after that so we booked ourselves into one of those oft-advertised ADVENTURE 4×4 day trip which from the brochures, look rather fun. They are not. At least not the one we took, at least not for me… The car came to fetch us around 9am and we were ready for ADVENTURE! The first stop was a sled dog kennel. Unlike the rest of our group who apparently found them captivating, I do not care for animals, I do not find them “cute” and struggle to find a use for them, so I pouted in the car. For 1.5 hours. No pictures.
Then we were taken to a lake, a couple of hours away, encountering a former beaver dam on the way…
…hairy trees…
…and our arrival at the water, although quite cold, was quite lovely…
It was all very beautiful but it was no ADVENTURE, that which I had been sold! I felt taken advantage of, lied to, like such a tourist which, I must sometimes admit, I am… And then Gina laid down.
After which, lunch. The kids and Gina loved the two servings of famous Argentinian beef, flame broiled and accompanied by nothing. My corn-filled red pepper was not up to snuff. I went back to the car.
By now, you can plainly see that I’m a little high maintenance today, well, every day really, but since The ‘Chu, I’ve unexpectedly become accustomed to participating in strenuous and eye-opening activities and sitting in a car for hours, at $200 a pop, has not been fun… We started our visit to the end of the world with a blast and now we end with a whimper, which I guess is ok because my butt hurts…
Now we travel up North to Chiloé Island for some penguins and gastronomy, can’t wait!
PS. Ok, maybe he’s not so bad…
