Ushuaia - the tip of South America

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I have been in Ushuaia 5 days. The overwhelming feeling (and one that is yet to wear off is that you are at the very tip of the Americas) with only a relatively thin strip of ocean between you and Antarctica.

Ushuaia is not a beautiful town but it is a town in a beautiful location. It feels part port and part ski resort. As you might expect from a town that is built at the foot of a mountain everything exists on an angle, making it something of a challenge to get down into town and a major expedition to get back up again. I get the impression that as a natural staging post for trips to Antarctica it doesn't have to try too hard and as a result has not had to develop its attractions and infrastructure as much as it otherwise might. There are of course pluses and minuses to this. It is still possible to wander off and do your own thing and you don't need to go too far to feel you are off the beaten track, but lacking sufficient Spanish or a helpful bilingual host it is much harder to arrange for organised or semi-organised trips. As a result I have foregone my original plan to go on a 3 day hike around the back of the mountains that ring Ushuaia on the land side in favour of a series of day hikes.

In addition to the sea and the mountains Ushuaia has one other outstanding natural asset - it is on the doorstep of the Tierra Del Fuego Parque Nacional. Although the majority of the Parque is off limits to the public those areas that can be accessed are simply stunning. It mixes mountains, lenga forest and a series of rivers and the Beagle Channel. I have made several trips to explore, walking a series of well marked footpaths, which have not covered huge distances but have been very steep - for every kilometre you walk you often have to ascend/descend 500m. The constantly changing weather means that there is always an interplay of light and shaddow so the view or at least your impression of it is always changing. Despite being so close to Ushuaia the Parque itself is very peaceful and aside from a few lakeside viewpoints the feeling is pretty much that you have it all to yourself. The lenga trees have a silver grey bark and a small, light green leaf that provides a very attractive contrast to the snow-tipped mountains. All in all it has been much more impressive than I expected and much more accessible than I feared.

As you might expect from somewhere which looks so much to the sea for its livelihood food in Ushuaia has a distinct fish bias. (Alternatives are available but there will, I hope, be plenty of other opportunities for lamb asados or plate-sized steaks). Personal favorites are the local fish - black hake - generally served grilled or fried in butter - very fleshy, with fantastic flavour; and king crab and octopus stew - a big bowl of seafood in a tomato and pepper sauce.

I spent some time hanging out with a nice Geordie girl called Puja. Despite establishing that the lengths of our trip meant that our budgets were limited we managed to talk ourselves into eating at the most expensive restaurant in town. I also pal-ed up with a guy called Roberto, a very cool Basque complete with beret, who was kind enough to let me practice my Spanish whilst we completed the trek to the highest accessible point in the Parque Nacional. Buena Suerte both.

And so to Antarctica...

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Photos

Parque Nacional - Beagle Channel
Lakes, trees and mountains - muy tranquillo

Parque Nacional - Wetlands
Looking South towards Antarctica.

Parque Nacional
Lichen - Old Man´s Beard - sign of a pristine environment

Parque National - Panorama
Looking down across the Parque.

Parque Nacional - Cerro Guanaco
Finally the summit.