USHUAIA and the End of the World (Longitude 68° 18' 0" W, Latitude 54° 48' 0" S).
We were now off to the end of the world... Ushuaia. Technically this town is not the most southerly settlement as there is a place in Chile called Puerto Williams that lies about 20km further south. However the settlement is primarily used as a naval base and the civil population is so small that the government does not recognize it as a town.
We were fairly glad to be leaving Puerto Natales as the town had very little to offer and boredom had started to become a problem (for the first time on our entire trip). The 16 hour bus trip went smoothly although we did get seated next to the toilet and were subject to some intense odours!
Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) is an island, so this meant the bus stopped on a ferry and we got carried across the channel. Dolphins followed in our wake trying to race the boat.
Sure the ferry is big, but it's not quite the Titanic Riverdance
Arriving on the island it was another 6 hrs on the bus until we got into town. The town is situated on the Beagle channel (named of course after Darwin’s boat) and the port was filled with large container ships, ice-breakers, yachts and cruisers.
First view of the town at sundown (11:30pm!)
Ushuaia also has a large naval presence
Our hostel name was called Antarctica which was setup in an expansive, open-plan manner. The staff were very friendly and helpful. One could easily lounge away there reading books or playing some of the multitude of board games available.
The Antarctica common room
The hostel even came equipped with dodgy drinking games!
Prime Rump Steak costing £1.75. Bargain
Flambe Chorizo
The Dulce de Leche addiction persisted. Here it is being tested with salty crackers and mashed potato
We walked around town and visited the old Prison which also had a section of it converted to house the maritime museum and an art gallery. The prison itself was used quite extensively to hold political prisoners and housed the primary workforce that contributed to the construction of the town of Ushuaia.
Something to get the tourists excited
Pretty cheesy but necessary
Entrance to the Prison and Maritime museum
Although many people say that Ushuaia is only a town to go to if you intend on making a trip to Antarctica, we found there were still plenty of activities to do there. We seriously considered taking a trip to Antarctica but the cost was set at around a minimum of $4000 which would have dented our budget somewhat! However when I return in some years with a larger wad of cash I will most certainly be making the journey!
Sunset from our hostel
An icebreaker vessel that was being used for Antarctica expeditions
BOATING
We booked a trip on the oddly named yacht “If” which took us around the Beagle channel where we visited “H” island, home to many different birds and flora. Our guide also gave us some interesting historical information about the original inhabitants called the Yamana. They used to live in the area and did not wear a single stitch of clothing. Considering I had about 7 layers on and my teeth were still chattering I can garner some respect for them!
Our guide on the yacht "If" showing us a map of the Beagle Channel
Moored on "H" island
"H" Island
A cormorant rook... created with layers and layers of birdshit... quite charming and quite smelly too
Sea lions and King CormorantsAfter the island tour we were treated to some tea and Alfajores (Argentine sweet chocolate biscuit thingies with dulce de leche... yum) . The boat stopped off at a small island that was covered in cormorants and yawning sea lions.
FISHING
The Tolhuin Bakery
Churros, dulce de leche filled donut fingers... mmmmm.... mooore!We did a bit of trekking to reach his “secret” spot on the river Ewan. From there we gave Riverdance a quick lesson in flyfishing and proceeded to hook into some great brown trout! Riverdance even managed to hook one on her first cast! I was definitely impressed with her skills as I remember how I struggled to master fly-casting when I was younger.
We ended up with a haul of 6 Brownies for me and 4 for RD. Not bad at all! All the fish were Brown trout but Miguel did mention that Rainbow and Brook trout were fairly abundant too depending on the season. We were also shown quite a lot of beaver holes and dams (they were introduced from Canada and settled in very quickly!). Apparently they have caused problems with the Riverine systems and there was a 30 peso bounty for every beaver tail and head you brought in!
After a long (12hr) day, we got bundled into the car, fed a refreshing Quilmes beer and dropped off at our hostel.
Me hooking into my first trout
Nice 4lb Brown trout
First cast for Riverdance and she catches a fish! Bloody Irish luck!
Miguel trying to hand the fish over
Our guide Miguel
Rounding off an excellent day with a cerveca
HORSERIDING
The next day was Riverdance’s activity of choice... horse riding. The last time I remember being on a horse was around 20 years ago at a birthday party where I spent around 10mins getting towed around by some bored teenager. Riverdance however believed that with this brief experience I should easily be able to endure 7 hours of riding. I did not forecast a good result at the end of the day... I saw images of me hobbling around like a cripple for weeks on end!
Getting on my horse Imperador was easy enough. I had a lovely saddle to hold tightly onto and the stationary position suited me just fine. As soon as we started moving I knew I was in trouble. They say that you get a short training session in the beginning to make you more comfortable with riding... I think I only got the tutorial after our first canter when our guide, Nahuel, saw me white-faced and clinging on for dear life!
Me and my trusty steed Imperador
The weather was luckily very good and we had a fantastic ride along the coast. I even managed to survive cantering which was surprisingly far more comfortable than the slower trotting.
We had a quick lunch prepared by Nahuel. There had been a bit of a error in the preparation resulting in us having no meat but an extra bottle of wine. The final section was a lesson in drunken horseback riding on our way back to the ranch.
Lunch camp
Nahuel's labrador
TIERRA DEL FUEGO NATIONAL PARK
This is another of the 5 major national parks in Argentina. We have now done 3 of them!
Even though this one is fairly small in comparison to Parque Nacional los Glaciares it still had some excellent views and a lot of bird life. We started off at Lago Roca where we tried a bit of fishing (no success this time!) before we moved down through the park along the Lapataia river. After a few hours walking, we reached the end of the park viewpoint entitled Fin Del Mundo (End of the World) where we sat and relaxed before the park bus picked us up and returned us to our hostel.
Lago Roca
Riverdance has developed a new hobby!
The "End of the World" viewpoint
The party life in Ushuaia is definitely the most lively we have seen since Buenos Aires. It was primarily composed of all the post Antarctica expeditions meeting up at the local Irish bar called the Dublin and moving from there to the only nightclub called Kaitek. Fairly good fun although hangovers in Ushuaia seem to hurt a bit more than I’m used to!
Fuegian lamb is considered to be the best in the world so in order to fully appreciate it we went to an "all-you-can-eat" parilla. It was pretty damn good although I would never recommend anyone to eat as much lamb as I did that night. I think my cholestrol level tripled in an hour!
And onto plate 2. Keep it coming boys!
After a fairly lengthy 7 days in Ushuaia we hopped on a plane to take us back to Buenos Aires for a more cosmopolitan lifestyle of partying, studying and eating good food!
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