A RAINBOW IN THE LAND OF FIRE

The Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) province in the southern tip of Argentina is every nature lover’s paradise. I can’t imagine how Charles Darwin felt when he first explored this region almost two hundred years ago. This was first discovered by Ferdinand Magellan on his way to the Pacific and was named after the bonfires dotting the shoreline, which were produced by the natives most likely for heating. I visited this southernmost part of the world back in December of 2018 and captured this photograph at the area where the world’s southernmost post office stands. I did not have my DSLR ready and the rainbow was slowly fading so I used my iPhone 7 Plus to capture the moment. I later took more pictures with my DSLR (sans rainbow) and will feature them in another post.

THE ROMANCHE UP CLOSE

Two years ago, I sailed through the Beagle Channel, which is a strait between Argentina and Chile in the southern tip of South America, passing through the breathtaking Glacier Alley. Charles Darwin himself sailed through this very channel and saw glaciers for the first time back in 1833. This was also my first time to sail in this part of the world but not my first to see glaciers. Of the many glaciers we sailed past, the Romanche intrigued me the most because of the waterfall flowing out of the edge of the glacier cascading down into the channel. I took these photographs of the Romanche from the balcony of my stateroom as we slowly sailed through this magical land named Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire).

THE LIONS OF THE BEAGLE

During our cruise to South America in December of 2018, our ship docked at the southernmost city in the world…Ushuaia, Argentina. The city is located in the banks of the Beagle Channel and we were told that Charles Darwin sailed on this very channel with Captain Robert FitzRoy on the HMS Beagle and saw a glacier for the very first time. Along the channel are hundreds of islands teeming with life, which can give any wildlife photographer plenty of photogasms. LOL!

We took an excursion that sailed around these islands and one of the stops was at a sea lion colony.  The water was rough that day and our small tour boat was rocking like crazy I had to cling on the rails for dear life. Despite nature tossing me around I was able to capture a good number of photos although there were also a lot of blurry shots.  It was amazing to see all these sea lions in their natural habitat as I’ve only seen them before in zoos. Here are some of the photographs I took and I hope you all enjoy looking at these lovely creatures in such a wild yet magnificent environment. If by any chance you decide to go somewhere wild and exciting, I highly recommend going down to the southern tip of Argentina.

LES ECLAIREURS LIGHTHOUSE

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on a rocky island in The Beagle Channel, in the Tierra del Fuego Region of Patagonia, Argentina. The lighthouse is more famously known as The Lighthouse at the End of the World. I visited it on an excursion during my South American cruise last December of 2018. I was initially worried when I saw the small boat for our excursion knowing the seas were a little rough that day. With my personal history of motion sickness, I was readying myself for some projectile moments. I don’t know if it was the excitement of being in a faraway land or the thrill of taking photos on a boat that was swaying like crazy that I survived the whole experience taking hundreds of photographs. My only worry at that time was that the photos would turn out blurry due to the extreme motions. I’m glad they all turned out great. Resting on and flying around the tiny island is a colony of Antarctic Shags also known as Antarctic Cormorants, which are very common in that part of the world. Below are other photos I took of the lighthouse.

TWILIGHT AT THE END OF THE WORLD

The city of Ushuaia in Argentina, famously known as the southernmost city in the world, is also referred to as the End of the World. Last December of 2018, I embarked on a cruise that took me to the very tip of South America with a stop at this remote yet thriving city. Ushuaia is a major tourist destination and also serves as the key access point to the Antartic islands. The photographs in this post were taken from the topmost deck of the ship capturing the port, the city as well as the snow capped Martial Mountains in the distance. The bluish tinge in the photos is primarily due to them being taken around the blue hour of twilight. I was also able to explore the Tierra del Fuego National Park right outside of the city but will feature my photos on that trip in another post.

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