Asado in Manzana Historico

Beto and his wife Cecilia invited us and Andrew's team to their home in the county outside of Mendoza for an asado. It was a beautiful two hour drive through the vineyards outside of Mendoza. The Andes can be seen in the distance rising out of the desert much like the east side of the Sierra. Beto and Cecilia were outstanding hosts for our all day eating fest! We started with Fernet and Coke while Beto cooked the meat on the parilla. When the meat was ready 15 of us sat down together for a long, slow feast. For our first dessert, Cecilia brought out plates of cherries they had picked the day before. When our bellies were full, we all went for a small 5 minute walk to the river and then on a drive to see the town park. After our outing we returned to the house to eat again. We ended the feast with pastries, more Coke, and mate. Thank you Beto and Cecilia for a perfect Argentine Sunday!

Jordy and Xander enjoying some mate.

Vallecito

Today we had planned to do a hike to the first base camp on Aconcagua. It is a realatively easy hike at elevation. Unfortunately, they don't let children under the age of 14 into the national park! It is a little hard to understand when it is perfectly fine for kids to drive to 10,000 feet and hike straight up to 15,000 in Vallecito. But with no option in the park we took this route. Vallecito is a tiny one chair ski resort at the base of a beautiful cirque of mountains. As we approached the ski area we saw there was a DH mountain bike race going on! The course was fast and steep. For the shuttle, the riders piled into a dump truck and some were towed on their bikes. Xander was wishing he could join them, but we headed up the trail instead.

The distance was short, but the elevation gain was fast. No switchbacks, just straight up we climbed the moraine. Everyone was feeling the altitude since we have been at sea level for awhile now.

We stopped for a huge lunch. We can't seem to feed Xander fast enough these days. It looks like he has grown a couple of inches this month since he is clearly taller than his mom now.

After several hours of climbing the moraine we got to about 14,000 feet. It was late in the afternoon and the clouds were closing in more. There wouldn't be more to see so it was time to turn around.

The descent was fast. The sun started peeking through as sunset approached. When we arrived at the first camp, we looked back and it appeared as though the clouds were going to lift. We watched for awhile and sure enough we caught a glimpse of the peak.

The Yanama/Yaghan People of Tierra del Fuego

Yaghan Family

Authors Note: Because Yanama means "man" in their native language, those who are still around prefer to be called the Yaghans.

The Yanama were an indigenous Native American tribe in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Their story is very similar to the other indigenous people of the Americas. Their lives would be going on as usual, and then all of a sudden, bam, explorers from Europe would come and annihilate them. Some would die from hunger, others from disease, and others from violence. When the explorers came, they also introduced the Yanama to clothes. They weren't used to that form of maintaining their warmth, so many died from that as well. Today, there is only one true blood Yanama. Her name is Christina Calderon. She is very old, and within a matter of years, an entire race will be extinct.

Christina Calderon-the last Yaghan

Being in such a cold, dry place, the Yanama people did not have a lot of variety in the food they ate. Their main source of food was the ocean. They had a seafood diet that included mussels, penguins, sea lions, seals. One of their major contributors from land was guanaco -- an animal very similar to llama. Unfortunately, when settlers from Europe came, they needed food too. Their most obvious choice was the ocean, so European fisherman raided the ocean and practically eliminated the Yanama's most major food source. Desperate people do desperate things, and the Yanama resorted to eating a bright orange fungus off of the trees that host it. The bulbous fungus is now called Pan de Indio or Indian Bread.

Pan de Indio (Indian Bread)

Their shelter was very simple, yet very effective and was related directly with their food. First, they would dig a hole in the ground that was approximately 2 feet deep and had a 6 foot radius. They would then take branches and form a roof over the hole in another dome. This would provide shelter from the weather and wouldn't topple from the extreme winds. They ate mussels inside their tent and then would throw the shells outside forming a huge purple ring around the tent.

Yaghan Shelter

They were nomads however, and they wouldn't stay in their huts for long. They were hunter-gatherers and they would hunt to get most of their food. Women had an equal place in Yanama society as men. Their form of seal hunting is one way that demonstrates the balance and equality of the couple. I say couple because you were not permitted to have your own canoe until you were married. Then you would make your own canoe and go seal hunting with your partner. While hunting seals, the woman would steer and propel the canoe towards the seal very quickly and silently. While the woman is controlling the boat with her paddle, the man starts to aim his spear. When the spear head hits the seal, it detaches from the shaft, held together by a string. The team then has full control of the seal, so they will wait for it to calm down a little bit before dragging it into the boat.

Hunters

The one key piece of information I haven't yet covered is their clothing. In fact, there isn't much to cover (apparently that was their philosophy too) as they went nude or just with a loincloth. It seems like a bad design because they are in one of the coldest places on earth, but there is more to it. They would wear thick moccasins made of guanaco fur and stuffed with grass to keep their feet warm and protected. They would also rub seal blubber on themselves as well as have plenty of their own fat on them.

Estancia Harberton (by Xander)

We spent the night at Estancia Harberton which is a 1.5 hour drive up route 3 from Ushuaia.  The ranch has two guests rooms for overnight visitors.  We were the only guests for the night and the staff was very kind and helpful.  We didn't expect our stay to be an educational experience, but it was!  Gaston taught us about the flora and fauna  both native and invasive.  We had a lovely and unexpected visit from Natalie Goodall the owner who shared her story and the history of the ranch.  Xander writes about it below.

Estancia Harberton was established as a working sheep ranch.  They now operate as an educational tourist destination.  It is located in Tierra Del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina near Ushuaia.  In it's day, wool from sheep was their major product along with cattle and horses.

In their winter (our summer) of 1995 most of their animals died.  By that time they had also realized that their sheep weren't producers of the highest quality wool, as they lived on rugged terrain and there would often be burrs and sticks stuck in their wool. It was a legendary snow year for South America as it snowed approximately 3 meters (about 9 feet).  Witnesses said that they saw cows completely buried with just their heads above the snow.  The following spring they found many sheep and guanacos dead, hanging ten feet in the air in trees.  Harberton ranch then started the transformation from an active ranch to a historical site.

Thomas Bridges established Harberton in 1886.  He founded the Anglican Mission in Ushuaia to try to convert the Yaghans.  However, he changed his perspective and tried to live in harmony with the native people.  His father and others practically destroyed the Yaghan race and then Thomas came along to try and preserve it.  He even made a dictionary of their entire language.

While we were having dinner at the Estancia, Natalie Goodall, the wife of Thomas D. Goodall who is a direct descendant of Thomas Bridges and runs the ranch, sat down and talked with us.  She was born and raised in Ohio.  She was in her id 20s when she first went to Ushuaia.  There wasn't anywhere for her to stay in the actual city, and someone suggested that she stay at Harberton.  She eventually did after some resistance.  When she finally went to the ranch she and Thomas Goodall fell in love.  Ushuaia and Harberton have ever since been her home.  She was a botanist, but it turned out she had a knack for finding skeletons of marine animals, so she now has a museum of her findings located on the property.  The museum is a major place of research in the field of Marine Biology today.  Her collection is available for study to anyone who desires.

The entire operation of Estancia Harberton is run by interns that want to learn more about marine biology or tourism.  Natalie is a major name in south American Biology.  Natalie's personal story was the most fascinating part of our dinner conversation that night.  I feel lucky to have met living history.

 Jordy collected treasures during our walk and chose to leave them were they belong rather than take them home.

 Jordy and Gaston our naturalist.

 Cleaning bones to be stored in the museum collection

 

Xander classifying a bone he found in the tundra.

Tierra Del Fuego (by Xander)

Tierra Del Fuego is the Southernmost point on Earth before Antarctica. It is basically a huge island located below Chile and Argentina. It is shared between the two countries, but Chile has the Southern half of the island, and therefore the Southernmost owned territory in the world. We stayed in Ushuaia, the southernmost city of Argentina. Mountains climb straight out of the frigid sea, and like all Patagonian mountains, make you feel absolutely microscopic.




Due to Tierra Del Fuego's southern location, it is freezing. There is about 17 hours of daylight in Ushuaia during the summer (the sun sets around 11:00 at night and rises at about 2:00 in the morning), and during the winter there are very few hours of daylight. After the claustrophobically hot and humid days in Buenos Aires, the cold mountain air was a relief to my lungs and my soul.


Being on the opposite side of the globe as us, they have quite different flora and fauna than in Truckee. It is not very often you see a pine tree, and instead of being annihilated and hated, Scotch Broom is admired and grown in gardens. Penguins, guanaco, and cormorants are three types of animals that you will not find in Truckee, but you will in Tierra Del Fuego.

Pinguinos (By Jordy)

We saw penguins in Ushuaia. They were tiny. They were so cute I just wanted to pick them up and make a run for it. Gentoo and Magellenic penguins were the two main penguins who populated the island, but a lost King penguin from Antarctica resided there too. My brother asked how my favorite animals, penguins, survive the cold. I told him what I learned in second grade. They have a thick layer of fat to keep them warm. So they don't get wet, they have waxy feathers. It is very similar to wearing a fleece under a rain coat.

A couple of Magellenic penguins.

The King penguin from Antarctica is the big one on the right with the yellow markings.

A Gentoo penguin

Beagle Channel

We took a boat trip on the Beagle Channel.  The day started out glassy and by the end we were forging our way through the waves that were crashing over the bow of the boat.  As the boat cruised through the storm we fought the wind up the ladder to the top deck to feel the water and the wind in our faces.  Xander and Jordy looked like "patos mojados" when we finally returned to the warmth of the cabin.

Faro Les Eclaireurs

Rock Cormorants

Isla de los Lobos

King and Imperial Cormorants

Isla Bridges