The Canadian invasion of Gable Island

Although it was supposed to rain, the weather was spectacular. Juan, the dred-locked guide, stopped by to pick me up at 8:30am, and I joined the van on a long and windy drive to a put-in point on a river. We all put on wellies and waterproof pants, grabbed an oar, and jumped into a rubber raft and began paddling down the river.


Winding S-curves, ibis sightings, upland geese and their chicks, and then a portage into the Beagle Channel. We paddled out to an island, where we saw three sea lions sunning themselves, and a bunch of cormarants with chicks.



We paddled on to Harberton Estancia, where we divested ourselves of the waterproofing and jumped on a zodiac which took us first to a colony of Magellan penguins. They are clearly used to the boat coming up, because there was a crowd striking poses for the tourists taking photos.


Amidst the Magellans was a lone King Penguin. Checking out the scene I suppose. Or on vacation. We continued on to Gable Island, spotting an albatross en route. Once there, we had a superior lunch in the cold at a table in back of the naval station there. Well fed, we went on a 4.5K trek through the woods of the island. Gable Island (and Tierra del Fuego) is infested with beavers, imported in 1946 from Canada, with the idea of starting a fur trade. It didn´t work so well, as the beavers have no natural predators here, and they simply dam up the water flow flooding out trees. (aargh...no pictures of beaver handiwork) The next importation might be of French-Canadian fur traders to hunt the beavers. Along the hike, we spotted some woodpeckers. Made it back to the coast to catch another zodiac back to Harberton, and then a van back to Ushuaia. I´m tired. And not tired at the same time.

It´s Christmas Eve, the big party night in Argentina. Happy XMas to those of you who celebrate! I´m not sure I´ll be able to scrounge up something to do this evening, but that´s OK. I have an early start for tomorrow -- a hike along the coastline in the National Park.