Ushuaia, Argentina. Wednesday 15th November 2006.

This morning we head down to the port for our sail out into the Beagle Channel and visits to Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, Bird Island, Sea Lion Island and an onshore hike on Bridges Island.

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse was built in the 1880's to facilitate the local exploration of the area and its resource base by Europeans. It was originally lit by sealion oil. Today, in a much more environmentally friendly manner, it is fuelled by a solar panel.

Here in Ushuaia, we are only 85km from Cape Horn and only 960 km from Antartica.

As we sail out into the channel we get our first sight of the gliding wonder that is the Albatross. We are to see a great deal of wildlife today from flightless steamer ducks, to rock, royal and imperial cormorants; and we are to experience the full force of the weather here in Tierra Del Fuego.

The winds in the Ushuaia area come mainly from the South West and are at their strongest between November and the end of February; and let me tell you it can feel really cold here. During our trip the wind changed direction and the Northwesterly brought with it driving snow that blinded our view as we returned to port.

Our day is to be a wonderous mix of rain, sun, wind and snow.

20,000 years ago the Beagle Channel was a huge glacier with only the mountain tops over 1,000 metres, such as Mount Olivia projecting above. As the glaciers advanced the weight of the ice crushed and grinded the rock sculpting mountains, excavating valleys and dragging debris over huge distances.

As temperatures rose around 18,000 years ago the glaciers began to melt and the Beagle Channel began to retreat westwards sedimenting the crushed materials. Between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago there was actually a land bridge between Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego allowing the migration of mammals and humans with the sea level at 60 metres lower than today. As the sea levels rose, so the Magellan Strait became flooded.

Initially, as the glaciers melted, the Beagle Channel had been a fresh water lake. However, some 8,000 years ago the area was flooded by the sea as sea levels rose around the world. This flooding was to provide the resource base necessary for human survival in this area, i.e. fish, seals etc. Roughly 7,000 years ago the ancestors of the Yamana arrived and made use of the local resource base of the newly forested areas basing their lives around their canoes.

It is appropriate that Tierra Del Fuego, the end of the earth, was the last land-mass in the world to be inhabited; and, of course, it was the southernmost area to be populated with the first humans arriving here only 11,000 years ago (probably crossing the Magellan Strait when it was still a glacier).

However, like so much of human existence what appears on the surface to be advance is so often a step backwards in human development in the long-term.

The introduction of the white man to this area brought with it the hunting of whales and seals - removing the main source of the Yamana food supply. Indeed, the well-meaning, though misguided, missionary zeal of the Europeans removed for ever the harmony between the Yamana people and their environment.

The Yamana had adapted over 100's of generations to the harsh environment of Tierra Del Fuego and the hardy people lived naked here in this harsh environment with body masses that had adapted to survival. Like the North American Indian they hunted only for survival, not for fun or commercial gain; and like their North American cousins they used all parts of the animal. The grease of seals provided both energy and oil in which to coat one's body against the environment...in reality, a natural wet suit.

The traditional way of life meant that the Yamana spent a great deal of their time immobile squatting over fire in their canoes. The arrival of European missionaries driven by organisations such as The South American Missionary Society, which was formed in Britain in the mid 19th century; brought with it such marks of civilisation as clothing. The problem with wearing clothes is that when they get wet they stay wet and so they are bad for the health of a people living a traditional hunter gather lifestyle such as the Yamana.

The white man also brought with him his diseases. Tuberculosis, measles and whooping cough to name a few. In 1860 the Yamana population had been 2,500 people by 1893 only 300 Yamana were left.

Even as late as the last quarter of the 19th century there were four aboriginal tribes in Tierra Del Fuego and all were nomadic hunter-gatherers. The Shelknam, Yamana, Manekenk and Kaweskar.

One could argue that rather than civilising the Yamana, the Europeans could have learned from them. The Yamana society was based on principles of equality with no chiefs and women and men possessing the same rights. Food was divided equally amongst all present regardless of who had hunted/gathered it; and all this long before Susan B. Anthony or the Suffragettes.

Throughout history trade between diverse nations such as China, India and the Europeans had been conducted through 'middle-men' i.e. the countries that lay between these powers. However, technological advance from the late 15th and 16th centuries was to allow greater ease in voyages of discovery overseas. Such advance had been fuelled by economics and the demand for raw materials. Technological advance eliminated the role of the 'middle-man' and in the long term, I would argue brought social annihilation because the effect was to eliminate the buffer zones that had previously preserved the strength and integrity of individual cultures.

Believing in the superiority of their way of life and culture, the Europeans had the conviction to sieze the initiative. You could argue that the modern United States is taking the same approach globally. Modern conquest is also driven by economic and commercial interests with the spreading of religion and culture secondary considerations.

Tribes like the Yamana had been ignored for a long time simply because they did not possess the raw material base or goods necessary for early commerce. However, as economics progressed non-profit organisations such as The South American Missionary Society were inaugurated to evangelise and educate native peoples in preparation for the European way of life.

It was in 1869 that the first successful Anglican mission was established in Ushuaia, with the city formally founded in 1884. Whaling and fur seal hunting in Tierra Del Fuego had begun by Europeans in 1791 and an early sign of the destruction wrought is the fact that by the late 19th century such animals were almost extinct.

The Yamana Museum in Ushuaia is a must for any visitor!!!

Before heading to the museum, and just off the boat I visited the very friendly and very informative tourist information centre, and then it was off to Tante Sara for lunch. This cafe/bar has the cool motto of Date El Gusto, Es El Fin Del Mundo...Enjoy yourself, it is the end of the world!

After the museum, we head for a little shopping and coffes at Cafeteria Ushuaia. Today has been a day of sun and snow and I am not sure if it is the cold, but I constantly need to pee. Anyway, I decide to have a black beer, my first such drink...it turns out to be a stout.

Tonight we dine as a group at Saint Christopher on wonderful Argentinian beef.