Murals in South America

"Mural Monday" is a blogging event where a large number of lovers of street art share images on blogs from around the world. I've enjoyed the diversity of murals from every continent except Antarctica. This event is sponsored by Sami, who lives in Perth, Australia. For more murals, check her blog each Monday -- here: https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/

South America has been less well-represented among the many murals posted. So I decided to do something about that! First, I'll repeat a photo I took last year in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world:

"Todos somos Fuentealba" -- political wall art which intrigued me on our brief tour of the small downtown (which is
mainly souvenir shops where I didn't go). A friend explained that Carlos Fuentealba (1966-2007) was a socialist/labor activist in Argentina. During a protest, he was shot in the back by a policeman.

This was the only mural I photographed during that trip, which was mainly dedicated to wildlife and other outdoor activities, not to cities. However, my birding friend Pam has been on a very long trip including both cities and wildlife in Chile, Argentina, the Faulkland Islands, Antarctica, and other destinations in South America. She photographed a number of murals, and kindly gave me permission to reproduce her photos here.

Pam's Photos of Murals in Valparaiso, Chile:

Pam's Photos of Murals in Buenos Aires, Argentina:

Finally, from our visit to the Upper Amazon in 2017.

Along the route from the riverboat landing to the airport in Iquitos.
Houses beside the road were vividly painted.

Also near the road, there were long walls covered with murals. Hard to see from the moving limo.

Decorating cities of all types with beautiful, interesting murals seems to be a worldwide trend at the moment. Historically, mural painting has some deep roots: for example, in Italy. A reproduction of some murals from ancient Pompeii appears in our local campus museum. Much later, Italian home owners often painted religious murals on their outside walls. The tradition continues: I once stayed in a hotel facing a building in Pisa, Italy, that had been painted by muralist Keith Haring (1958-1990).

In the early part of the 20th century, Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was famous for his murals -- a fine example of his work is in the central courtyard of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Regional American painter Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) produced some famous murals at about the same time. At present, the secret identity of the British muralist Bansky receives a lot of press. The more I think about this, the more I want to know.

The End of the Expedition: A Morning in Ushuaia

Early morning: the end of the voyage through Tierra del Fuego and Staten Island. From the window of our cabin,
we could see the lights of Ushuaia, Argentina, from which we were to fly to Buenos Aires and then home.

Ushuaia, with around 75,000 population, has a cargo and cruise ship port, a military base (from which some of
the action was staged during the war over the Falkland Islands), and some electronic assembly plants.
Ushuaia is farther south than any other city in the world -- the tip of South America is considerably south of Africa,
Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere else outside Antarctica.

From my last moments on the best viewpoint on the National Geographic Explorer. 

In the harbor, we got close-up looks at some of the pelagic birds that
had been flying around the ship as we traveled. This is the
southern giant petrel. For Len's complete bird photos, link HERE.

"Todos somos Fuentealba" -- political wall art which intrigued me on our brief tour of the small downtown (which is
mainly souvenir shops where I didn't go). A friend explained that Carlos Fuentealba (1966-2007) was a socialist/labor activist in Argentina. During a protest, he was shot in the back by a policeman.

At the Ushuaia Maritime Museum, we enjoyed seeing models of some of the most famous ships that explored and
developed the European presence in the area. This is Magellan's ship Trinidad, first European ship to explore here
in October and November of 1520.

In the US we have painted cows, pigs, etc.
Here evidently they did the same trick with penguins.

Tom Rohde, who was on the tour with us from Santiago, Chile, to Ushuaia, wrote this limerick to celebrate our departure:

It's the end of the world, so they say

And soon we're all going away

So as we say goodbye, a

Last look at Ushuaia

And a hope that we'll come back some day.

Tom also says my blog is "probably the most complete documentation of a cruise in the area since Darwin and Fitzroy" -- though I doubt that, I appreciate the sentiment and hope that I haven't overdone it. This is, however, the end!

Staten Island and the Lighthouse at the End of the World

Cruising on the Zodiac, we visited several beautiful locations in the very remote Staten Island, the furthest point in Patagonia.

This depicts morning at Staten Island, which is to the east of Cape Horn and is where the Atlantic meets the Pacific.
The island is very rugged and inhabited only by a few Argentine navy men. We had picked up some Argentine
park rangers, who are happy to have a way to visit this Argentine National Park -- they aren't funded for their own ships.

The rockhopper penguin colony, which I've depicted in prior posts, was the first place we visited. It was a long
walk from the huge beach at the end of a large bay.

Zodiac landing near the penguin colony. This photo was taken during the rough walk up the hill & over the rise to the penguins.

Map of the ship's route around Staten Island. 

Staten Island was discovered and explored by a number of well-known voyagers, and it's in very dangerous waters. We had a number of hours of rough seas, but were able to make several landings when the weather cleared up. Normally the landings are to the north, but the wind was northerly so we visited more of the southern part of the island. The landing at the penguin colony was in an area that the Explorer had never gone before.

On our an afternoon Zodiac cruise at Staten Island, we explored a deep fjord.
We were a bit surprised at the sign marking the National Park.  

We enjoyed watching the cormorants that nest on the steep walls of the fjord.

They nested on many of the small shelves on the rocks. It's easy to know where to look for them: guano!

We walked across the narrowest neck of Staten Island on a stunningly beautiful afternoon, and reached this bay.

On each side of the island was one lone king penguin!

On the last of the three days at Staten Island -- also the final day before the end of the expedition -- we visited
the "Lighthouse at the End of the World." It was built in 1884, but placed unfortunately so that it was more likely
to cause ships to be wrecked than to prevent it. Decommissioned, it fell into ruins, but was replicated around 20 years ago.
Hiking up to it was a big deal! But we made it.

Waves were breaking with enormous force as we came into the bay behind the lighthouse. We saw a replica of the
lighthouse in the Maritime Museum in Ushuaia, Argentina the next day.

Lovers of this work by Verne have also built a replica
of the Staten Island lighthouse at La Rochelle, France.
I believe they were responsible for the reconstruction
we visited on Staten Island.

This pirate adventure novel by Jules Verne made the lighthouse at Staten Island famous. Verne changed many details -- such as the actual appearance of the lighthouse, which is a low building on a high point. The novel describes instead a tall building on a low point. A structure such as Verne envisioned would have no chance of surviving the incredible winds that pummel this remote island!

I read the book, which sets the lighthouse construction in 1859, much earlier than in reality, and which describes the struggle between the lighthouse keepers and a crew of evil pirates. They had been hiding in caves on the island and luring passing ships to wreck there. They had been stealing the ships' cargo, murdering the crews, and were looking for a ship that they could load up and sail off to the South Seas. It's not the type of thing I usually read but I had fun picturing the events in the landscapes that we just visited.

The Staten Island lighthouse in 1894 (photo from Wikipedia).

Above all, seeing the lighthouse and reading Verne's Lighthouse at the End of the World made me realize what the situation there was prior to the completion of the Panama Canal. Hundreds of ships had to make it either through the Strait of Magellan and associated channels, or had to make it around the extraordinarily dangerous Cape Horn. Something like 9 or 10 ships per year were wrecked, with large numbers of lives lost, as is commemorated on the monuments at Cape Horn.

Wordless Wednesday: Rockhopper Penguins

The National Geographic Explorer

On the National Geographic Explorer we visited southern Patagonia from Puerto Natales, Chile, on the Señoret Channel,
then into the fjords near the Strait of Magellan, then onward to a landing at Cape Horn, and finally to Staten Island.
Our final port was Ushuaia, Argentina. While the ship was underway we enjoyed the views from the bow and the decks.

Here's a peek into the ship's kitchen, where numerous cooks prepared 3 meals a day and snacks.
In the depths of the ship are many support systems, such as two enormous frozen-storage rooms,
large stores of canned and processed food, a state-of-the-art garbage processing area, and more.

Breakfast and lunch were served from a buffet. At breakfast, a chef made omelets, poached eggs, or fried eggs to order. There were lots of other choices which varied day by day, including fruit, cereal, ship-made granola, yogurt, pancakes or French toast, bacon, sausages, and many more. At lunch you could choose from several hot entrees and a varying salad bar. Far too many to try them all! An alternate lunch service was upstairs in the observation deck where you could watch the scenery while eating -- we did that several times. Afternoon tea was served at 4 PM, but we were usually either too busy or too tired to go to the dining room for this extra meal.

The final afternoon tea was Swedish pancakes, dished up by the Purser
(who is Swedish) and the head chef. We did enjoy this one!

Dinner was served quite formally. Here are photos of three dinner courses served on various nights:

Duck patè with figs and balsamic glaze.

Roast beef, asparagus in prosciutto, and mashed potatoes. 

A typical dessert. I often opted for ice cream instead!

In the lounge, a briefing is held before dinner each evening. Besides a recap of the day's activity and a
description of possibilities for the following day, we usually heard a brief lecture on a topic such as native people or local vegetation. Before the briefing is a cocktail hour with snacks and hors-d'oeuvres.

The chart room is usually a quiet place with maps of where we had been. One night, however, as shown: we
attended a cocktail party here. From the chart room you can exit onto the bow for dramatic views of sea and shore. 

The bridge of the Explorer is generally open to passengers except in very tricky navigation situations.
At the helm in this photo is Oliver Kruse, the captain of the ship.

The water level door shown here is the exit where we
would board the Zodiac boats for better viewing of the
scenery or for shore landings. The tanks belong to professional
scuba divers who made underwater videos to inform us
of another element of our surroundings. No diving for passengers!

Another area for quietly watching the scenery is the library, which offers many
books about the areas where the Explorer goes. Outside the window is
Cape Horn. Owner of leg pointing to Cape Horn: unidentified.

I've already shown a number of photos of the ship: here's one more, showing a Zodiac
coming to shore to pick up hikers from a beautiful hike on Staten Island.
Staten Island is almost entirely off-limits to vistors, so there are no trails and we used
walking sticks to deal with the rough terrain. Only the Explorer is allowed to anchor there.

In the month of October, we were almost completely occupied with packing and preparing for the trip, traveling, and then returning home to resettle in. Usually, at the end of each month, I share a post about my kitchen with a number of other bloggers, but these photos of the Explorer represent my "kitchen" activities for the month.

Of Naturalists and Natural History

Sundew, a carnivorous plant, which is very tiny and sparkles in the sunlight.

Lichens, trees, and stubbly bushy plants display very attractive patterns and colors, but I've never become very interested in understanding their classifications and relationships. Obviously if I had to live off the land I would have a different view. Or if I were a botanist. As things stand, I usually prefer to look at the birds or animals.

Dennis Cornejo photographing sundews and showing them to the passengers.

While listening to talks by Dennis Cornejo, the most botanically interested naturalist on the National Geographic Explorer, though, I became more and more interested in the colonies of tiny plants and lichens that covered rocks and bare ground.

Dennis was especially passionate about lichens and other small plants, and his enthusiasm was contagious. Here is his description of his search for the sundew from the ship's online daily expedition report:

"The day continues to be beautiful and I have a mission. I know there are sundews (carnivorous plants) somewhere here. I know their associates, soft camp, a strange tiny cushion plant that covers the ground like stiff grass. I cannot see the sundew while standing, so I must crawl across the soft camp. 

"I am lucky that it is sunny making the eighth inch leaves of the sundew sparkle in the light, boldly red. People returning to the landing beach inquire about my mission and undignified posture, and to my surprise become enthusiastic participants in my endeavor." (source)

A naturalist showing us the eggs of a squid.

All the Explorer's naturalist-guides are extraordinary people with wide experience and knowledge. They drive the Zodiac boats, help passengers get on and off safely, and find good locations for photography. Each one is a specialist in some aspect of the territory, but every one of them can identify the plants, animals, birds, and geological features of the landscape. We relied on our guides to help us find and identify birds so that we could photograph them, but we learned a lot of other things too, such as my expanded appreciation of the tiny plants in the landscape.

Lenticular clouds over Torres del Paine

The very long geological history of the mountains and numerous islands with deep channels and fjords at the tip of South America is so complex that I barely understood what was being said. On Zodiac boats, we sometimes heard brief lectures about the many types of rock and how they formed under the extreme pressure at the bottom of the ocean and were pushed up by the grinding of the continental plates.

Several other natural history topics captured my attention. Clouds, for example. One day in Torres del Paine National Park the naturalists from the hotel pointed out lenticular clouds, a particular formation that appears only in mountainous areas.

In addition to talks about botany, geology, and so on, the ship's naturalist who specialized in local peoples gave a highly entertaining talk about the gauchos and gaucho culture as it still exists. Another lecture on local lore included a clip from the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" since these two notorious bank robbers fled to Patagonia where they had further adventures, including maybe robbing a bank.

Califate bushes were in bloom everywhere as we walked in Torres del
Paine National Park. The berries will be ripe in November, I believe.

As always, food is one of my deep interests. We didn't get to try much local food or local produce -- except for the berries of the calafate plant, similar to blueberries, which were served in the hotel in Torres del Paine. It tasted more or less like blueberries: I guessed they had frozen some of the berries from last year, as we saw only flowers. Legend has it that one who eats this berry will return to Patagonia.

Accounts of a couple of early expeditions to Tierra del Fuego contributed to what I know about this vast and complex place, including a little about the diet eked out by the natives of this hostile region.

Explorer Julius Popper, who traversed the area in 1886, wrote of locally available foods, both plants and animals, which -- from necessity -- he ate:

"Bill of fare for breakfast:
"MENU:

• Wild celery soup with English sauce. 
• Kaiken* eggs with seal oil. 
• Chloephaga Magellanica with Worcestershire sauce. 
• Guanaco steak with Fuegian celery. 
• Coffee without sugar."

-- Julius Popper, The 1886 Exploration of Tierra del Fuego, Kindle Locations 288-293.

Popper also wrote: 

Fortunately, towards the south of Cape San Sebastian the land was more lavish of its gifts. We found wild celery and kaiken* and duck eggs at every step, and also guanacos, but not so wild as in the north. We killed a seal which supplied us with a good quantity of oil for culinary purposes."

--Kindle Locations 597-599

*NOTE: Kaiken is another name for South American geese, including upland geese, kelp geese, and ashy-headed geese. It's now mainly remembered as the name of a winery in Argentina.

Title page of The Voyage of the Beagle, published in
4 volumes including Darwin's and FitzRoy's accounts.

Darwin's account of the voyage to Tierra del Fuego offers an impression of local foods:

"Whenever it is low water, winter or summer, night or day, they must rise to pick shellfish from the rocks; and the women either dive to collect sea-eggs, or sit patiently in their canoes, and with a baited hair-line without any hook, jerk out little fish. If a seal is killed, or the floating carcass of a putrid whale is discovered, it is a feast; and such miserable food is assisted by a few tasteless berries and fungi. They often suffer from famine."

-- Darwin’s Journal: Tierra del Fuego, Kindle Locations 185-188.

Darwin also described how local people viewed the Englishmen's ship diet:

"At dinner-time we landed among a party of Fuegians. At first they were not inclined to be friendly; for until the Captain pulled in ahead of the other boats, they kept their slings in their hands. We soon, however, delighted them by trifling presents, such as tying red tape round their heads. They liked our biscuit: but one of the savages touched with his finger some of the meat preserved in tin cases which I was eating, and feeling it soft and cold, showed as much disgust at it, as I should have done at putrid blubber."

-- Kindle Locations 266-270.