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Published: October 31st 2010
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The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, split between Chile and Argentina, forms the southernmost point of the South American continent. Of the many islands that make up the archipelago, only the largest, Isla Grande (twice the size of Wales), has a large population base. From Punta Arenas on the Chilean mainland, I caught a bus (8 hours) to the Argentinean side of the island, catching a ferry in the process, and from which I was lucky enough to glimpse 2 dolphins swimming off the bow, and later one Magellanic Penguin. As we passed through it on the bus, the Chilean side of the island looked beauctiful, with flamingo-filled lagoons and giant expanses of nothingness. The biggest town on the Chilean side has a mere 5,000 people, so the tourist infrastructure does not really exist. Virtually all foreign tourists head to the much more developed Argentinean side. My bus dropped me off at the first of the 2 Argentinean cities on the island, Rio Grande. Nothing to do here except change bus, unless you’re a big fan of trout fishing. 3 hours south of Rio Grande is the world’s most southerly city, Ushuaia, which is where I was headed.
Ushuaia was
originally founded as a penal colony, but these days very much thrives on tourism, billing itself as “the end of the world”. Although it is unquestionably the world’s most southern city, with a population of over 60,000, the Chilean towns on the Island of Navarino across the Beagle Channel must surely be the true “end of the world”. That said, Ushuaia is the world’s most southerly port, and therefore the departure point for most ships on their way to Antarctica. Even though Ushuaia is very far south indeed, it is surprisingly no further south than Belfast in north. The city is full of hotels, restaurants and tour operators, with seemingly everything having “south” or “world’s end” in its name. The harbour area was surprisingly beautiful, with excellent sunset views from a causeway which contains the former airport.
Looming above the city is the Martial Glacier, which was just a short hike from the centre through pristine woodland. Just before I got to the glacier itself, the views of the city and the Beagle Channel below were breathtaking. The last part of the trail to the glacier itself was covered in snow - deep in some places - but it
was not far to the glacier from here. The glacier itself wasn’t really that impressive - it is rather small, and looked just like any snow-covered hill. The views below were much more impressive.
Another of the standard trips from Ushuaia is a boat tour on the Beagle Channel, which links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was named after Darwin’s famous ship. There were quite a few different tours on offer, in a variety of type of boats, but I ended up doing a 4 hour tour of the bay, landing on a protected island. The views back to Ushuaia from the Channel, with the snow-covered peaks in the background, made for a good start to the tour. After passing a few uninhabited islands, we stopped for half an hour or more at a sea lion colony, getting up close and personal with the large mammals (which made the strangest noises). We then landed at Isla H, a protected reserve, where we had a short hike with the guide explaining the local flora and fauna, before arriving at a cormorant colony. The cormorants were busy building their nests, with each bird taking turns with its partner to fly
off in search of nesting materials. As this colony was at the far tip of Isla H, which itself is south of Ushuaia, this made it the furthermost southern point I’m going to reach on this trip (perhaps ever?). These islands used to be inhabited by the Yamana Indians, who lived in harmony with nature for 7,000 years before the Europeans showed up. Due to new diseases and a reduced food supply, there are now no longer any full-blooded Yamana left.
The other main draw of Ushuaia is the Tierra del Fuego National Park, which is located a mere 12km outside of the city. As everything in this part of the world is mega-expensive, I thought I’d save a bit by walking to the park and back, avoiding the pricey tourist buses. I spent 2 nights camping in the park, and still didn’t have enough time to do all of the trails, but I did manage all of the coastal trails. A couple of points were jammed with coach loads of tourists, but on the whole, most of the park was tranquil and stunningly beautiful. The trails were all very easy (nothing like Torres del Paine), and I was
able to see a large amount of sea birds. The park is plagued with thousands of rabbits, which were introduced from Europe and have somewhat taken over. The other non-native species is the North American Beaver, which has caused even greater damage by both destroying trees and flooding land. I passed through quite a few areas where the Beavers had been at work, and the extent of the havoc they have caused is astounding. I wasn’t lucky enough unfortunately to actually see a beaver either.
After getting back from the National Park, I spent one more night in Ushuaia before getting a bus bright and early the next day for the Argentinean mainland. The next blog will come from my next stop of Rio Gallegos, and then the Los Glaciares National Park.
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Olivia
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beauty and temperatures
There is great beauty in the photos and I cannot even guess how much more beautiful it must be when one is actually standing there and taking the photos. Also, what are the temperatures there are there any warm temps.? It looks very cold and I wonder if this is summer or winter.