The southernmost part of the mainland of South America ends at the Magellan Strait, one of three sea routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. South of the strait is Tierra del Fuego, consisting of a principal island (Isla Grande) and many smaller islands and channels between them.
About 150 kms from the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego is the Beagle Channel. This is the second sea route between the two oceans, but is narrow and not easily navigable. The southern most point of Tierra del Fuego is Cape Horn, which fronts Drake Passage. This is the third sea route between the two oceans, and at Cape Horn, stretches 600 kms or so to the Antarctic continent. From the time of its discovery in the 16th Century, the Magellan
Strait was the main route used by commercial shipping, particularly in the transport of goods across North America before railways were established. As a consequence, the port of Punta Arenas (Chile), halfway along the Magellan Strait, became important for provisioning, coaling etc. However, the opening of the Panama Canal and the establishment of railways in North America lessened the usefulness of Punta Arenas, and it has now faded.
Located on the Beagle channel is Ushuaia (pron. oos-why-a), in Argentina. This city promotes itself as the southern most city in the world (at 55 degrees south latitude). It probably is, although there are some small settlements nearby slightly further south (eg Puerto Williams, Chile), but these are not cities.
Ushuaia was settled in the late 19th century, originally as a penal settlement. At that time, and for some thousands of years before that. the area was inhabited by the Yamana tribe (see below).
Our cruise around the Horn commenced in Ushuaia and ended in Punta Arenas, three nights later. In all, around 450 nautical miles were travelled. 
We arrived in Ushuaia from Barriloche, further north in Argentina’s Lake district, using an ancient MD-11 operated by the national airline. Ushuaia now has a population of around 60,000. It is highly dependent on tourism, but in order to keep the population stable or increasing, the Government has arranged for electronic assembly companies to be established there , all paying higher than normal wages. There are minor agricultural activities near the city, in the form of large haciendas estates running sheep. Given the quality of the grass, these haciendas do not have a large carrying capacity. Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by aboriginal tribes. Around Ushuaia, the Yamana tribe lived. This was a highly primitive tribe, wearing few or no clothes (keeping warm by rubbing fats from penguins and sea lions on their bodies). They had no permanent settlements, moving constantly in their search for food – they ate penguins, mussels and sea lions, as well as edible berries. They moved around in canoes, and reportedly adult males and females could not stand erect, as their legs and knees became dysfunctional because of the constant kneeling in their canoes. The settlers brought diseases with them, and the Yamana had no resistance to these. Hence, within 2 years of the arrival of settlers, the Yamana had virtually died out, leaving little or no trace of their culture.
Ushuaia is reasonably modern, with a downtown stretching along the Beagle Channel, and suburbs marching up a mountain range in rows of streets with small colourful houses in assorted and odd architectural styles. The mountain range ends in jagged snow covered peaks about 2500 metres high. 
Our hotel was three streets up from the Channel. This meant we had magnificent views, but also meant that it was easier to get downtown than back again ! Walking uphill after dinner was a great struggle. There is little to do in Ushuaia. The old penitentiary can be visited, and there is a modest glacier about 10 kms. from the city. Ushuaia is also the southern end of the Pan American highway, which stretches to Alaska. There are many restaurants in the city, and good food, with king crab being the highlight. There are of course parilla (see Part 2) restaurants, providing high quality Argentinian beef in huge servings (small 350 grams, medium 700 grams, large 1 kilo). 
Below, I refer to the “false” cape as Cape Horn.
We left Ushuaia at 8 p.m., passing into Chile during the night, and arriving off the protected side of Cape Horn at dawn. Fortunately, the seas were smooth enough for us to land. This was done via Zodiac boats, with a capacity of 14 people or so. The sky was overcast, the wind blowing strongly, and the temperature around freezing (this is in high summer !). Long johns, several shirts, and wellington boots (provided from the vessel), were in order.
Disembarkation takes place at a small stony beach at the base of a cliff, with a wooden staircase of 160 steps clinging to the cliffside then being climbed. At the top is a plateau, covered in moss, lichen and spindly grass. A wooden walkway without hand rails leads to a lighthouse, its living quarters, and a small chapel.
The lighthouse keeper controls all vessel movements in the area, and he lives in the quarters with his family
(at present, a lighthouse keeper, his wife, and two small children live there. The appointment of lighthouse keeper is for twelve months, and volunteers are involved). There is a small shop attached to the quarters, this selling T-shirts and other souvenirs. A second walkway leads to the highest point on the Cape, where there is a monument meant to represent an albatross. By having my photo taken under this monument, a long held ambition of mine was
achieved. The walkway to the monument crosses an unprotected part of the plateau, and here the wind was so violent that some elderly folk had to be assisted (me included), otherwise they would have been blown off the walkway, which again, had no handrails. The outlook south from the Cape over the Drake Passage is grim, to say the least. Clutching a pole and standing in cold screaming winds which freeze any unprotected skin, I could see nothing but a violent grey sea, with immense swells to the horizon (and presumably beyond this all the way to Antarctica). No vessels anywhere. 
Although the landing on Cape Horn was the undoubted highlight of the holiday, we were glad to return to the ship, to join fellow passengers for a hearty breakfast. A few of the passengers regretted their hearty breakfasts later. The ship moved out into the Drake Passage, where it was for more than 2 hours, before moving again to calmer waters. We had been warned that “there can be some movement” in the Drake Passage. As an inexperienced traveller on the high seas, 
I thought this was an understatement ! The ship’s log showed that swells were 12 metres high, and the wind force (into which the ship was driving) was 100 knots. Some of the swells were enough to stop the vessel in its tracks. The movement of the ship was sufficient for cups and saucers to slide off tables, and in rooms (including ours), everything on shelves also fell off . Walking was very difficult although there were handrails in all passageways. In the lounge room, where 
many people were enjoying morning tea, there was chaos, and even the ship’s Xmas tree was swinging like a church bell and had to be secured to a wall. The crowd of morning tea drinkers quickly thinned as people rushed off to their rooms, and sea sick bags were distributed. I had no problems, but Kim retired to his bed to sleep, since there was nothing else to do and in the hope that this might alleviate nausea - surprisingly this worked.
The next landfall was that afternoon, at Wulaia Bay, where what
sparse flora as exist in southern Tierra Del Fuego can be seen. Amongst the berries is the barberry (El Calafate), which if eaten ensures that the person eating it will return to Patagonia. I ate some, but probably won’t last long enough to make the return journey ! From Wulaia Bay, the second night passed cruising along relatively calm channels, and the next day, we arrived at Alacalufe Fjord, where there are 2 glaciers, one of which, the Piloto Glacier,
was a stunning sight. The glacier is approached by Zodiac boat, and close to it, there is unfortunately the overpowering smell of bird waste, from myriad birds which nest on the sheer cliffs of the fjord. The Piloto glacier is blue, this being caused by minerals in its the water, and we were told that the blue colour is the only colour that the human eye can discern, there being other colours the human eye cannot see. This glacier is now noticeably smaller than it once was, and our stay at it was punctuated by violent cracking sounds, as chunks fell off it. A stunning sight (which of course could only be viewed from the Zodiac).
The last night saw the ship enter the Magellan Strait, and the next morning, it anchored off Magdalena Island, close to Punta Arenas, where about 70,000 pairs of penguins live. This island is bare of any vegetation, and roped walkways enable close views of the penguins. Hopefully, the seas off the island have enough fish for such a large penguin population.
