South America / Letter 17
 
 
Feb. 3, 1999

El Calafate, Chile to the tip...Station Moat, Tierra Del Fuego, Chile (THE END OF THE WORLD!)

A big hello to everyone! This letter finds me both sad and excited. I'm excited to be headed home after three and a half months and eleven different countries. I'm also sad to be closing a chapter in my life that has challenged and rewarded me beyond my wildest dreams. There is so much to tell you in this newsletter about the final leg of the trip.

I spent a day in El Calafate, Chile, exploring the Moreno Glacier on a boat. There are three glaciers that meet in a triangle at one end of Largo (lake) Argentina. Each of these glaciers is calving icebergs and making sounds and wave patterns that are indescribable. I was able to see five Condors circling the mountaintops. It was fantastic to see a bird that was once on the brink of extinction alive and flying free. Their wing tip feathers are like long fingers sticking out as they ride the mountain air currents. They rarely flap their wings (like gliders). They have up to 8 foot wing spans, eat only dead meat, and build nests in high mountain caves.

Next my travels sent me south on some rough and stony gravel roads that are really starting to cause me ulcers and hair loss. I have had 4 flat tires in 4 days. Half the cars I  pass have their front windshields broken. Some have heavy metal mesh over their whole front. I headed to the Atlantic coast and Rio Gallegos, Argentina, where I had tires fixed, hit an upscale supermarket, and then headed south to the Chilean border and Puenta Arenas, Argentina. The vegetation is pampa, sand dunes, and high winds. I visited a penguin preserve at Seno Otway, just north of Puenta Arenas, Argentina. The penguins are molting and there are feathers everywhere. I arrived in time to see the penguins switching places, some are snuggled in the grasses and they switch with the penguins that are playing in the ocean. The penguins are gray and white or black and white and use their upper arms to keep balanced and walk in a side to side motion in little paths to the sea. When they jump off the banks, they sort of plop! I could have spent all day watching their activities.

In Puenta Arenas I took a two-hour ferry across the Straits of Magallanes to the border of San Sebatian, Chile and Rio Grande, Argentina. I then drove straight south to Station Harberton and then to the very southern tip (55 degrees latitude) at Station Moat. The official end of the Pan American highway is highway 3, southwest of Ushuaia, Argentina, but I wanted to also drive to the farthest point south that you could drive. This was an Argentine Coast Guard post at Station Moat. Three Coast Guard men live there and monitor all the ships and weather for the Beagle Canal. These three great gentlemen took pictures of me (for posterity), then invited me in for a very large supper of ribs and steaks at 11pm at night. Of course it was still daylight out. (These southern countries love their meat and eat very late at night!). I provided the wine and had a great visit. I camped on an overlook of the Beagle Canal and awoke to wind, seagulls, upland geese, rocky beach, and sea salt. Trees down here grow at a 45 degree angle because of all the wind. The sun rose to give me a fantastic sunrise at 5am. This time of year there isn't much night around here.

On the way back I stopped at Station Harberton to visit a working sheep ranch. I was able to see the shearing sheds where the wool is sheared off in one piece and then pressed into 100-pound bales to be shipped. I also took a boat trip to a nearby island with more penguins. I had a great time photographing the penguins from the boat and visiting with the biologist and captain about penguins, cormorants, and albatrosses. Did you know that penguins mate for life! If one dies, the other will often stay single the rest of their life.

I then hit Ushuaia, Argentina and camped in the Tierre Del Fuego National Park near the end of highway 3 and the end of the Pan American highway. I spent three days hiking through peat moss, lengue trees, and watching the bird life along the rivers and lakes. It snowed everyday and then the sun would shine bringing 70-degree weather. It is so easy to get sunburned down here because of the direct sun, ozone depletion, and the old timers say that the weather has warmed the last few years.

I am shipping my car home on a ship from Ushuaia, Argentina to Seattle. I'm ending my trip a little early because of the ease and early shipping date. The car was driven into a container and locked by a customs agent. It is so hard to leave the car and head by bus back to Puenta Areana where I have a direct flight to Santiago and then onto Miami. I have a great sadness to see the end so close. It seems like it has gone very quickly and then again I'm homesick for my pets, clean water, comfortable beds, and friends. I have made so many new friends and hope they will visit Montana so I can return their hospitality. Good bye to all. My heart has been touched by your kindness.

I also want to say a big thanks to everyone who helped make this trip possible. A very special thanks to Phil, Holly, Jay, Amy, Shannon, Steve and the Hoadley gang, (I couldn't have done it without you).

I will be getting pictures of the last part of the trip on the web site if you want to see penguins and the southern part of South America. If you have questions about my travels I will be home within a week... e-mail me at ben@benmikaelsen.com.

Adios y muchas gracias para todo, Ben

Feb. 5th....wow! I was able to ship the car home Feb. 2nd and fly out of Puenta Arenas the next day. I flew from Puenta Arenas, Santiago, Chile, to Miami, and then to Bozeman, Montana in 26 hours straight. I am definitely road weary but can't tell you how great it feels to drink fresh water out of the tap, a hot shower, comfortable bed, and even better seeing friends and family. It feels great to be back in the U.S.

Good bye for now....Ben