Day 7...Thursday...January 14, 2016
Ushuaia, Argentina
In the past, Ushuaia was a missionary base, a penal colony and an Argentinian naval base. Today, we wanted to explore some of Ushuaia's history. What better place to start than the prison?
"The End of the World Prison" is located at the farest end of Ushuaia and for good reason. From 1896 to 1948 it housed some of Argentina's most infamous criminals...some of whom were fanatical political prisoners and celebrated rogues; but the majority of the prisoners were notorious psychopaths. Every prisoner was considered deranged and dangerous.
The End of the World Prison was originally laid out like 5 spokes on a half wheel. Each of the 5 buildings had a two-story pavilion.
There were 380 cells in these 5 buildings. Each cell was designed to house one prisoner.
Throughout the years, these single person cells designed for only 380 inmates housed up to 600 prisoners until the prison was shut down in 1948.
The End of the World Prison was recently renovated and now houses, in each of the five "spokes", the Prison Museum, the Maritime Museum, Antarctic Museum, Art Museum and Art Gallery. We had read quite a bit about The End of the World Prison and were very interested in seeing all 5 of the museum exhibits.
So, instead of riding the bus,
we decided to stretch our legs and walk to the very end of Ushuaia to
"The End of the World Prison".
The entrance to The End of the World Prison is the Maritime Museum.
We were greeted by a replica of Ferdinand Magellan's 1520 Trinidad carrack.
In 1520, on his famous circumnavigation voyage, the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, became the first European to sail thru the daunting and dangerous strait which separates the mainland of South America from the tip of South America. Below this strait is an archipelago, or series of islands, which Magellan named "Tierra del Fuego". This archipelago of Tierra del Fuego constitutes the "tip'' of South America. Ushuaia is located on the southern coast of the largest island of Tierra del Fuego. After Magellan successfully navigated thru the strait, which he unabashedly named the" Strait of Magellan", he "discovered" a new body of water which he promptly named "oceano pacifico", the "peaceful ocean", known today as the "Pacific Ocean". Since he was sailing for King Charles I of Spain, Magellan claimed all of Tierra del Fuego as under Spanish rule.
While navigating thru the strait, Magellan saw considerable smoke on land, a result of the indigenous people, the Yaghan's, "campfires". Magellan christened this area, "Tierra de los Fuegos" or the"Land of Fire".
According to anthropologists, the Yaghan, Yamana, had inhabited this area and remained here for nearly 10,000 years. Sadly, in less than 100 years of the Europeans establishing a town, nearly all of the Yaghans, Yamanas, were decimated due to European diseases.
In 1870, Ushuaia became the first permanent European settlement in Tierra del Fuego thanks to the Anglican South American Missionary Society. Argentina became so alarmed that Great Britian was "settling" this area and communicating with the natives, that it decided to establish its own stronghold and created a penal settlement . In 1896 the first inmates arrived. They were all dangerous prisoners from Buenos Aires. The End of the World Prison was modeled after the famed Australian prison in Tasmania and the United States prison of Alcatraz. However, escape from here was even more difficult with its sub zero winter temperatures, bone chilling wind, an ocean on one side and a mountain range on the other.
Shockingly, two prisoners did indeed escape for two weeks and even more astounding, they returned on their own volition reporting that as horrible as the conditions were in prison, it was worse outside.
We ventured into the old prison. Entering the actual cells we saw displays depicting the history of the prison, old photos of the internment time here, mannequins in full prison garb and fascinating, albeit sometimes disturbing, information about the most infamous prisoners.
Another wing of the prison restricts visitors from entering. They do allow you to stick your head in and view the area from a distance. You can see its original broken wooden floors and peer at the dusty, dank cells. The air was musty and the prison walls were cold.
I was glad to leave the prison and walk out a free woman straight into the art gallery. It was refreshing and downright joyful to see such cheerfully colored penguins looking like they were lined up and ready to explore the Antarctic Museum.
The air was cool but the sun was shining when we left The End of the World Prison. We enjoyed our walk back to town taking in the local sights.
During the southern hemisphere summer months of December thru March, Ushuaia, pronounced "oosh-WHY-uh", is transformed into a typical touristy town.
All Aboard!
Ushuaia has ice cream parlors,
ubiquitous souvenir gift shops,
even a 714 paso store!
There are numerous upscale jewelry stores.
Argentina is famous for its Rhodocrosite or Inca Rose stone. These opulant jewelry shops have their windows lined with statuettes of handmade Rhodocrosite penguins, elephants and toucans. Their interiors are lined with wall to wall lovely and expensive jewelry.
There are some great "upscale" restaurants in Ushuaia. This one you have to hike up to get to the front door.
We ate lunch at a recommended "you've got to see it to believe it" restaurant
which is renowned for its excellent food.
Its entire interior decour was filled with eclectic items that were most unique.
as were their "Ladies" and "Gents" bathrooms "signs"
Our meal was absolutely delicious. We'll be coming back and next time we'll order
dessert first. Those dark chocolate and white chocolate penguin cakes were highly recommended!
As we left the restaurant, we walked by the local travel agencies. Many post great last minute low cost deals to Antarctica on cruise ships. If you don't mind paying up front and not knowing what cabin you'll be getting, for instance it could be a 4 person cabin, and if you don't mind not knowing who will be sharing the cabin with you, then a great deal is to be had! Not always are these deals strictly to fill the 3 or 4 person cabins. We talked to one fellow who said how he was visiting Ushuaia and passed by the travel agency, read the sign in the window and booked the cabin right then and there. He had no idea that he had purchased a luxury suite, and the best part is it was for a fraction of the cost! So you never know what deals await you in Ushuaia.
We mailed a few postcards at the End of the World post office. The facade has a mural painted depicting part of Ushuaia's history.
It was so delightful to walk by the beautiful flowers, many in full summer bloom.
Poppies are especially popular and adorn nearly every sidewalk.
.
As a tribute to their beloved Evita Peron, Ushuaia has a beautiful bronze bust prominently displayed in the town center. 
We walked to the waterfront and watched the afternoon flight arrive.
The sky was clearing, the sun was out, the wind had died down and it was getting downright warm. As we shed our down jackets, hats and gloves we thought about how we had arrived yesterday in 35 degree weather!
By late afternoon, we were in short sleeves and sunglasses. What a difference a day makes!
