ushuaia is nice in the daylight. It’s a small city that was actually started as a penal colony over a hundred years ago. if I had known that last night, I might not have parked on the street. unfortunately, it’s also dead on sundays. seriously, not even the gift shops were open….and it’s a tourist town! so, i checked out one museum that was open — it was very cool. the museums (there’s actually four combined into one) are in the old presidio (jail) at ushuaia…which is a cool building in itself. the museums include art, a brief history of the yamana (original inhabitants of tierra del fuego), exhibits on the maritime discovery of the area, history of the jail, etc. it’s surprisingly well done and worth the $10 admission price. ushuaia is also in a cool location: surrounded by water and snow-covered mountains.

from there, i headed over to the tierra del fuego national park…which also includes the end of route 3. i also hiked up a trail which has a beautiful panorama of the area. after a while, i got sick of treading through 2-3 foot snow and decided to head back…..with wet jeans and shoes (i was expecting snow).

a couple more pics for the previous post

today, let me tell you about ushi, the little sentra that could. for the sake of the story, ushi will be male….since ushi could either be a weathered, but handsome, renegade or a really ugly, battered woman. today, ushi completed the trek from san francisco to ushuaia, the southernmost city on earth….the end of the world….not really, but kinda. when ushi began the trip, people laughed and doubted he could even make it out of california; but today, this little car proved them all wrong. he’s traveled from the fog covered mountains of guatemala to the driest desert on earth; crossed the andes and the oceans; transported missionaries and devil worshippers (ironically, those were both the same person…an ex satanic worshipper, born-again who ushi took from belize to guatemala). but, instead of focusing on the 19,000 mile journey, let’s just talk about today.

this morning started off like any other, with ushi starving for fuel after a cold/wet rest in patagonia. knowing we had a long day in store, ushi first went looking for some cash in puerto san julian. but alas, both atm’s were not working (apparently power had been cut to both banks?). but hey, there will be other atm’s in other cities….and the gas station oughta accept credit cards, after all they did say so at the stations 100 and 200km further north. so, ushi went to fill up on fuel. the first gas station only took cash. the second one was out of fuel. the third, and final, one, only took cash and only had super. not wishing to delay anymore, ushi scraped together all of his remaining pesos and filled up on super. off to a weak start, but he would eat well today.

so ushi drove south through the barren landscape of patagonia. he saw sheep which looked like rocks from a distance. he saw flamingos. he even saw a few guanacos. ushi pushed on. hard. so fast, in fact, he burned through 10 gallons in just 240 miles. in rio gallego, ushi filled up again on super, grabbed some cash and raced on the strait of magellan. things were going well, but then he hit the chilean border. what should have taken 10 minutes, took about an hour…ushi had apparently been caught up in rush hour at the border. luckily, chile is an hour behind, so it was all a wash. ushi raced on, catching the ferry just in time, as the last truck was boarding.

tierra del fuego looked very similar to the rest of patagonia, maybe with a bit more tan than green….and a lot more guanacos. he also saw forests of green, healthy looking trees…until he realized that the trees were leafless, and instead covered in green moss. but ushi didn’t have time to look around, he wanted to reach ushuaia. the chilean road was good….but then turned to dirt and gravel, with huge pot holes that almost swallowed up ushi whole. it was here that ushi got a flat, on a tire that he had used almost non-stop since san francisco. not an ugly place to stop, though — and the other cars were nice enough to stop to ask if he needed any help. 10 minutes later, ushi was back on the road. 30 minutes later, he was back off, after his brakes were failing and the red warning light was blazing. some dot3 brake fluid, and ushi was back on the road….i know i can….i know i can.

30 minutes later, another truck launched a rock at ushi. his windshield now had yet another scar. but he persevered. what began as a leisurely trip, was becoming a mission. ushi was battling against the gods. they continued to shower him with strong rain and winds….but ushi just responded, ‘hey, i could use a wash’. another 45 minutes later and ushi was at argentinian customs, only to find yet another flat. and, on top of that, he had lost an hour with the time difference. ‘bring it on!’, he yelled. ushi was down to his last full-sized wheel. a wheel that was so barren of tread, it was better suited for drifting than going through rain and snow. but ushi pushed on. can i get an amen?

the argentinian road was good…a nice change, but the weather was still windy with patches of rain. wind so strong that the rain streaked horizontally across the road. ushi went through it all. then came the final test, the garibaldi pass: a snow-lined mountain road which he would have to cross in the rain…with the sun setting. but ushi didn’t stop once. nothing could get in between him and ushuaia. he passed cars, trucks and buses. he even passed an ambulance, with the lights on.

and then, with the darkness falling, ushi felt it. first, the radio reception came back. then some houses started peppering the countryside. then some lights on the highway. then, a sign saying ‘ushuaia’. then, the lights. then, at last, the city. the water. he had done it. ushi, the little sentra that DID.

the drive today took me through some more barren patagonian landscape. the land is mostly flat and monotonous. the endless sky is blue with low-hanging clouds. because the area is so flat, you can see miles and miles away. in fact, you can see little patches of clouds showering rain on the land, even though they may be over 50 miles away. and the patches are small….when driving, i might go through a patch of rain that would last less than a minute (granted i was averaging 80-90mph).

i’m now in puerto san julian, because the next town is 4 hours away. it’s dead here. and surprisingly expensive for such a useless town. but i’ve heard that all of patagonia is expensive….so i better get used to it. tomorrow i’ll continue the drive to the end of the world. i think it’s about 10-12 hours away….so i might try to do it all in one stretch.

well, after my frustration yesterday…i was half-hoping to be disappointed, so i could just say the whole detour was a waste. in reality, the petrified forest was pretty cool. still not sure if it was worth it, but i’m glad i saw it. the forest is in an apply named ‘moon valley’ and features several petrified logs and millions of splinters — i’ve never seen so much petrified wood in my life….it’s like they…well….grew on trees. it was also very windy, dry and cold (because of the windchill).

next, i continued the drive down towards ushuaia. i decided to take a detour to colonia sarmiento to see their petrified forest. so far, it’s been a bit of a waste. it’s about a 90minute drive to the place and once i got here, it was closed. the small town is a bit of a dump….but pretty expensive since it caters to the oil crowd. so, i’m camping out….since the cheapest hotel is twice that of trelew. it’s only $25…but more about the principal.

the drive was kinda cool, though. it passed through oil fields and some more scenic parts of patagonia. most of the area here seems flat and covered with small green bushes. however, hidden in this apparent plain are tons of small valleys and channels. as you get closer to the sea, these small channels begin to take over and the terrain switches to a lot of hills. pretty neat it’s also really windy here…seems like a great place for wind power (kite, prop, etc.) because of the wind, open space and infrastructure built-up by the oil fields. tomorrow i’ll check out the petrified forest and find out if the 1-day detour was worth it.

from trelew, i went to punta tombo….which apparently features the largest population of magellan penguins outside of antarctica. there were hundreds of them everywhere (actually, according to the guide book, over 1 million). the crazy thing was that the penguins are not scared of humans…so you can walk right up to them…kinda like isla de la plata or the galapagos. very cool experience.

note: location is trelew

this morning i finally got around to changing my oil…i had forgotten to do so for some time. it was pretty expensive ($40), but i didn’t feel like wasting my time haggling or shopping around too much (i checked a few other spots…one was outrageously expensive and the other didn’t have the right size filter. also, i noticed that one of my tires was very low (about half the recommended pressure)…and the others were low too. considering the roads and quantity of driving, i should probably check the pressure on my tires more than once a month. not surprisingly, after inflating the tires, the car doesn’t shake as much when i drive. however, i did forget to mention one other thing on the previous post re: the status of the sentra: i think my shocks are dead. i’m pretty sure the tires provide more travel than the suspension.

today was a long/tiring, but surprisingly easy drive across the pampa. the road was mostly good…and pretty flat/straight/deserted. at times i went 100 without even realizing it. the sentra also handled pretty well. here’s a brief update on the sentra:

the sentra still gets me where i need to go without any issues. that said, there are some problems with the car. first, the transmission still sometimes has trouble engaging (once engaged, it’s fine…but i sometimes need to rev the engine to pop it into gear). second, i still have not gotten the brake switch replaced since huaraz (i can brake fine, but i dont think the brake lights turn on….but there aren’t many cars in patagonia). third, the wheels are not aligned or balanced, so the car shakes at certain speeds….like around 70 and 85 mph. fourth, the windshield is pretty scraped up from the sandstorm in chile….i should probably fill in the holes with wax. i think that’s just about it….for now.

now, back to the drive today: the terrain changed from forests and snow-capped mountains to one reminiscent of the american south west. hopefully i’ll finally get to see a tumbleweed in real life. it’s also surprising how hot it is here — i almost felt the need to turn on the non-functioning air conditioning.

i’m spending the night in trelew, which feels like a city on the verge of going big. right now, it still feels relatively small and uninhabited, but it has wide streets, clean sidewalks, a dinosaur museum (according to the brochure, ‘one of the most important science museums in south america’) and lots of shopping and parks. it’s just missing the people. this area also has a strong welsh heritage (trelew is welsh for town of lewis)….and, yes, there are a lot of sheep here.