El Fin del Mundo

Hola!

Nathan and I have had a lot of adventures since I last wrote and there is so much to tell you about! Right now we are in Ushuaia, Argentina. Ushuaia is known as the southernmost city in the world, and because of that it often calls itself el fin del mundo. In fact, this phrase is painted on a wall near the harbor: "Ushuaia, fin del mundo, principio de todo".

Let's translate each word:

fin = end

mundo = world

principio = beginning

todo = all or everything

el = the

de (del) = of (of the)

Can you put it together? Give it a try, then check yourself at the bottom of the entry to see what the actual translation is.

Ushuaia is located on the island of Tierra del Fuego. Tierra del Fuego is separated from the mainland of South America by the Estrecho de Magallanes, or Strait of Magellan. It gets its name from the fires that the native yahgan people kept burning on the shorelines and that were seen by early explorers sailing in the area. Tierra del Fuego translates to "land of fire". (Tierra = land and fuego = fire). We had to cross the Strait of Magellan on a ferry in order to get to the island. While we were crossing several dolphins swam after the boat and jumped out of the water alongside it. We were able to get a little video of one. Looks like someone´s finger got in the way at the end (oops!)

Ushuaia is a small city of nearly 50,000 people on the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego and lies on the Beagle Channel. The Beagle Channel is named after the sailing ship HMS Beagle, which Charles Darwin joined in his famous 19th century journey around the world observing the plants and animals of various ecosystems. The captain of the ship was Robert Fitz Roy and, along with Darwin, he and his crew sailed around the Beagle Channel exploring the islands and their spectacular glaciers and mountains. The most southerly point in the archipelago, or island chain, south of Ushuaia is Cape Horn. Cape Horn is the last land between here and the Antarctic continent.

Because Antarctica is the next closest landmass, many people travel to Ushuaia to sail their boats from here to Antarctica. Like Darwin and Fitz Roy were, they are true adventurers, having to brave rough seas, cold temperatures and rocky coasts, but they also see amazing things, too. Penguins, sea lions, whales, albatross and other marine wildlife are common, as are amazing landscapes covered in ice and snow.

As you might guess, since we are so far south and that close to Antarctica, the weather here is getting quite chilly! March is the beginning of autumn here in the southern hemisphere (remember that the seasons here are opposite ours) and the first snows have fallen on the jagged peaks we see around Ushuaia. It´s time to head north soon!

Here´s the translation from above. How did you do?

"Ushuaia, end of the world, beginning of everything"