The bus took us all the way through town and over to the west side of Ushuaia to Harborton Ranch which was owned by the missionary Thomas Bridges beginning in 1876. The government gave him the land if he would become an Argentine citizen and if he would never sell the land. He agreed. For many years they tried raising horses, cows and sheep but the markets would not sustain them and the weather would decimate the herds every winter. So he gave up ranching and turned the ranch into a tourist destination. Today his great grandchildren live on and run the ranch.
We got off the bus and into a boat which took us to Gable Island, a part of the ranch in the middle of Beagle Channel. Our 4 mile hike took us along the shore and then across the middle of the island and back down to the shore where a lunch of baked trout with potatoes was waiting or us. The island is part forest, part open land, has a few lakes or lagoons and small streams. We learned about some of the vegetation, and about some of the mammals like the beavers who were brought here from Canada, birds like the Magellanic woodpecker and other small creatures.
After lunch we rode the boat to another island that is occupied by two different species of penguins - the Gentoo like we saw in Antarctica and the Magellanic penguin that is found in only four other locations in the world. They spend their summers here and their winters in the Atlantic north up towards Brazil. We had one great surprise! A King Penguin was hanging out with the Gentoos. He probably got lost or was swept in by some storm. It’s doubtful he will return next season although they have had King penguins in previous years.
It’s a bit windy here.
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