JoAnne Tucker shares her experiences in dance from directly a modern dance company to leading movement activities for women in prison and domestic violence survivors.
Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration! I love the scene in Mary Poppins where Dick Van Dyke dances with four cartoon penguins. And no, Murray and I did not become transformed into Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but what we did do was go to an island where we could walk with and near the penguins. A limited number of people each day are allowed to enter the island and walk within a few feet of the penguins.
We left Ushuaia, the southern most point in Argentina, by a minivan of 12–15 people, and after an hour or two of driving east along a scenic highway we came to Estancia Harberton where we had a bathroom option before we boarded a small zodiac-type boat to Martillo Island for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I knew that we would see penguins but I had no idea how many, or that we would literally be waddling right beside them.
After getting off the boat on a sandy and pebbly beach we were greeted by mainly Magellanic penguins. From September to April this is their home and there are over 1000 nests. There are also a few Gentoo Penguins who nest there. Much to my surprise they did not move away from us but basically welcomed us as a natural part of their environment.
For an hour Murray and I quietly wandered among the penguins, mostly in silence, photographing and observing. Later I would return home and make pastel paintings from several of Murray’s photographs.
Arriving on Martillo island. Photo by Murray TuckerTwo penguins along our walk. Photo by Murray TuckerA pastel painting that I did several months later based on one of Murray’s photos.
On our return to Estancia Harberton we had time to wander the gardens and old buildings and enjoy lunch at the restaurant. Murray was fascinated by this bent-over tree.
Photo by Murray Tucker
Three other excursions stand out: a visit to the national park, a cruise on the Beagle Channel and a ride up the ski lift close to town.
Getting to the National Park was an easy bus ride of just a few kilometers going west of town. The park entrance is at the end of the National Highway and the other side of the park is the border with Chile. We had a delightful walk along the main trail in a forest of beech and evergreen. The trail borders the water and there are side trails which take you down to the water. We enjoyed seeing the various waterfowl that were along the water’s edge.
Murray took this picture of me at the entrance to the park.
On another day we took the ski tow up to an alpine area and enjoyed wandering around and getting a different sight of the town below and the mountains above. We walked back to town.
Finding the path to begin our walk back to town. Photo taken by Murray
And of course, no trip to Ushuaia would be complete without a cruise around the Beagle Channel. This is a favorite picture of Murray and me aboard the boat and then another of the sea lions we passed by.
A close-up taken by Murray during the cruise on the Beagle Channel.
The 10 weeks we spent in Argentina during the winter of 2006 were filled with different unique experiences somewhat representative of the natural diversity of the country that extends from a subtropical north to a sub-Antarctic south. Considering that Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world, we were able to enjoy and explore the country a lot by flying from place to place. We found in our early research that if we flew into Buenos Aires internationally on Argentina’s national airline, Aerolineas, then there were discounted fares for flying between places within the country. From our homebase in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, it wasn’t easy to connect to Aerolineas in the US so we flew to Santiago, Chile, I think on Delta. We didn’t have to go through immigration and easily connected to an Aerolineas flight into Buenos Aires. Now we qualified for the discounted fares which made a significant difference in cost and time so we could see more of Argentina!
Our trip was framed by a few days in Buenos Aires at both the beginning and the end. We loved wandering the streets, sampling the excellent food, attending a tango show and visiting Eva Peron’s grave. While it was lots of fun it wasn’t very different from the excellent experiences we had had visiting other major cities.
Picture taken by Murray when we visited the cemetery.Picture taken by Murray when we visited the cemetery.
What was very unique was the month we spent in Ushuaia. Ushuaia is sometimes referred to as the “end of the world” as it is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina. It is the “gateway” for Antarctica cruises. It is located on the Beagle Channel with the Martial Mountains behind. I have very vivid memories of seeing both the Beagle Channel and the mountains behind as our plane landed at the airport.
We had a wonderful hostess for the month. She was a retired teacher who earned extra income by hosting students studying at the Spanish school. A comfortable room, a good breakfast and dinner, and a drive to the school located up on a hill made it easy for us to quickly settle in. While Murray was in school in the morning I would usually set up somewhere close by on the sidewalk and just enjoy painting. I got very comfortable with people looking over my shoulder but conversations were limited as I had so little Spanish, and that suited me very well. Among my favorite paintings done on the street were paintings of the mountain peaks, the huge lupine flowers and the view into the channel.
View of the Beagle Channel. Pastel Painting by JoAnne Tucker.Pastel painting of lupine flowers by JoAnne.Mountain peaks with snow and clouds. The days were often cloudy and grey yet still very beautiful. Pastel painting by JoAnne.
Following our mornings in school we would wander down the hill and find a cozy restaurant for lunch. Sometimes we were joined by some of the students at the school. I remember one lunch at an informal pizza place with a couple in their 30’s from Germany. They were taking a half year off to begin a bike trip from Argentina to Alaska and decided to begin by reviewing their Spanish. Murray and I were both surprised and thrilled to hear about their plans and the trip. What an amazing, ambitious undertaking. We learned that others had actually done the trip and that they were going to do it in stages. We did follow their blog at first and know that they made it the length of Argentina riding their bikes. A quick Google search couldn’t find anything about their trip but I did find some blogs of people that actually completed the trip and I include them here for your reference.
After lunch we would sightsee downtown and walk along the harbor until we got to the street where we lived and then follow it, arriving home in time to relax before dinner.
We did have a few dinners out. One related to the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Seahawks on Sunday night, February 5, 2006. Murray and I had both grown up in Pittsburgh and Murray’s dad was Joe Tucker, the very first sports announcer for the Steelers. He began broadcasting on radio in 1936 and his last game was on television in 1968. Murray never missed a game and usually I was right there with him so it was only natural that we would find a place in Ushuaia to watch the Super Bowl. The week before, we visited several places that had TV’s and sport events on and did find one place that promised that they could get the game and we could have dinner and watch it there. We did and it was great fun to see the Steelers win, 21 -10 over the Seahawks.
Our other very memorable dinner out was at an elegant restaurant that prepared a five-course meal, each course served with a special wine. Our hostess told us that whenever a major cruise ship was in town, the captain of the ship usually dined there. It lived up to its reputation.
Picture taken by Murray when we arrived in Ushuaia. It was either taken during a cruise on the Beagle Channel or from the airport right after we arrived.Picture taken by Murray of a typical lupine garden in Ushuaia
The next blog will share some of the special sightseeing that we did while in Ushuaia.
