Idiots at the End of the Earth Ep 25 Wrapping up Ushuaia

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jgh
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Idiots at the End of the Earth Ep 25 Wrapping up Ushuaia

Post by jgh »

Idiots at the End of the Earth Ep 25 Wrapping up Ushuaia

Yes – it is ridiculous! It’s going on four months since the Idiots were in Patagonia – and they are still publishing episodes. They have a few more photos and stories to share for folks who enjoy such things… so there are still a couple more episodes to follow.
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The Idiots used to be pretty good tourists. Idiot He enjoyed planning intricate itineraries that packed all the highlights into the minimum amount of time. Over time they evolved into a totally different style of travel. Part of Idiot Travel involves finding interesting places and just hanging out there for a while. They arrived in Ushuaia with four nights lodging reserved… and ended up staying six. This episode is dedicated to productive loitering.

What’s in a name? Quite a lot!

Patagonia, for example. Why is there a vast region at the southern part of South America that is made up of parts of two different countries and is not a country itself? Why “Patagonia?”

The remoteness and harsh environment resulted in the region having relatively small native populations and not much to encourage Europeans to settle there. Most of the place names were given by explorers who saw the area as a problem to be solved – they just wanted to get around Cape Horn alive as they passed from the Atlantic to the Pacific on their way to “The Indies.”

Ferdinand Magellan’s ill-fated 1520 expedition to circumnavigate the world spent some time in the region. Antonio Pigafetta was one of the few survivors and his journal is considered the definitive description of the voyage. There is reason to be skeptical of some of his “facts.” According to his journal, the sailors spotted a naked native dancing on the shore and were astounded by his size – 10 feet tall and massive. Magellan made contact with these “patagoa” – giants – who we now know as the Telehuche people. When he left a few weeks later, as tourists are wont to do, Magellan took a souvenier – two large natives he had tricked into shackles.

Neither Magellan nor the “Patagones” survived the voyage – but the legend of the Land of the Giants survived due to Pigafetta’s writings. Later explorers embellished, adding their own tales of encounters with the giants. Leave it to Sir Francis Drake – no friend of the Spanish – to sail there more than 100 years later and to, as scholars put it, “lay a sick burn” on Magellan by reporting accurately that the natives were tall by European standards… some were 6 feet tall. Drake’s nephew wrote “the Spaniards did not think that ever any English man would come hither to reprove them, and therefore might presume the more boldly to lie.”

There is an even more fanciful story regarding the name Patagonia. Some claim it comes from the Portugeuese words “pata grau” – “big feet” – as the first encounters were finding very large footprints. So… Land of Big Feet… Land of Giants… whichever one prefers, Patagonia is big!

And as the sailors approached the islands at the tip of the continent, they were struck by the amount of smoke. They named the biggest island Tierra de Humos – The Land of Smokes. It is unclear why the name didn’t stick and was changed to Tierra del Fuego – The Land of Fire. In any case, it turns out there was nothing more mysterious about the fires and smoke than the natives favoring large fires for rituals and to stay alive in these rugged environs.

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Sometimes a name can be a “casas belli” - a reason for war. If you look at most world maps, you will find an archipelago about 300 miles east of the Argentinian mainland that has two names. To many, it is the Falkland Islands. To the Argentines, these are the Islas Maldivas.

In 1690, a British explorer named the straight between the two islands for the sponsor of his voyage – the Earl of Falkland. There is no known name applied to the whole archipelago until 1764 when a French explorer started the first European settlement there and named them “Îles Malouines” – a reference to the French seaport Saint-Malo. A year later, a British Naval captain claimed the islands for the British and dubbed them the Falklands and started a British colony in 1766. Historians differ on whether the two colonies even knew of each other’s existence. It became even more complicated when the French surrendered their possession to the Spanish, also in 1766.

The islands were uninhabited prior to the European explorations and settlement, and they are far from any country’s natural borders… so ownership is a complicated question. The Spanish colony captured the British colony in 1770 – then promptly gave it back to Britain in 1771 to avoid war between the two countries over an insignificant colony far away from Europe. The British abandoned their colony in 1774 – but left behind a plaque claiming the Falklands for the British. Later the Spanish also abandoned the islands.

In the ensuing years, the islands were claimed by Argentina and Britain… and control went back and forth. In fact, for a time the islands were governed by a corporation. By the 1960s, the United Nations passed a resolution on decolonization and Argentina interpreted it as supporting their claim to the islands. There were secret negotiations and the British were willing to give up the islands. The agreement fell apart because the Falklanders identified as British and they had strong supporters in Parliament. In the 1970s, the cost of sustaining the Falklands remote existence was so high that the Thatcher government once again tried to give the islands to Argentina.

Somehow this all fell apart – and in April, 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the islands. Three months later the overwhelming military might of the British expelled them. Today the world dances around the issue, labeling the the archipelago Falklands (Maldives). Britain controls the islands, Argentina claims them. In Ushuaia one sees evidence of how seriously the Argentinians take these claims.


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If it seems like the Idiots spend a lot of time talking about food in these episodes, it is because the food and wine were so good that each trip to a restaurant was an eagerly-awaited adventure. After their penguin expedition, they went in search of – the same thing Idiot She wanted every night – local seafood.


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One last day in Ushuaia… exploring artisan shops and tourist traps and… this and that.


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Another very bad selfie…


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Never underestimate the susceptibility of tourists to turning serious sad history into entertainment. This popular cruise ship tourist stop plays with the lighthearted aspects of Ushuaia’s early history as a brutal prison work colony.


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“I’ve got a great idea for a souvenir – how about an ash tray that looks like diseased lungs and plays coughing and hacking noises when you use it?!” Whoops – too late!

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Or…

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In a city park, the world’s saddest Christmas tree…


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And getting away from the schlock, one last drive into the countryside… rainbows and dirt roads winding through forests of tenacious, mysterious lenga trees… vistas, wildlife… so much beauty…


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Idiot travel just isn’t complete without leaving something behind when switching lodgings. Thankfully the landlords kept found the missing pill case and thumb drive and the Idiots dropped by to pick them up. They had a nice chat – using their smart phones to play translated phrases back and forth.


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And one last dinner in Ushuaia. Ramos General Store has been in operation on the harborfront since 1906 in a building from 1850. Amidst nostalgic décor, locals and tourists alike enjoy this combination restaurant-brew pub-bakery. The menu is surprisingly international… so the Idiots enjoyed spaetzli with rabbit, brie with baguette, Beagle tap pale ale, and a very good Negroni.


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Did the Idiots enjoy their time in Ushuaia? You be the judge!


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kHT
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Re: Idiots at the End of the Earth Ep 25 Wrapping up Ushua

Post by kHT »

What a great adventure!! Thank you for sharing with us all.
karma 'Happy Toes' (kHT)
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Chris_W
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Re: Idiots at the End of the Earth Ep 25 Wrapping up Ushuaia

Post by Chris_W »

I can't wait to follow your next adventures Jim and Sheila! I hope you are still doing well in Arizona.
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