Blogs from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, South America - page 20

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 ... read more

When things are too good to be true, they usually are. We left off in Junin de los Andes in a warm beds and house, our car issues had seemed to be solved; our transportations to the end of the world and back home again had been planned and paid for. However, yet again, our plan never unfolded the way it was intended to. Flights were changed, then canceled, then re-purchased, then canceled again. Not only were we not on the same flight anymore but we weren’t even leaving the country on the same day. Lets break this down… We left Junin de los Andes on our purchased bus tickets and were to make a few stops along the way. (Carl insert the stops.. I don’t have my tickets on me or the towns…) One great ... read more

Terwijl het in Nederland lekker lenteweer is, is hier de herfst begonnen. We wilden dan ook zo snel mogelijk naar het zuidelijkste gedeelte van Argentinie. Met de winter in aantocht, wordt het daar namelijk niet alleen snel kouder, maar worden ook de mogelijkheden voor overnachtingen, excursies en openbaar vervoer aanmerkelijk beperkter. Om de 2300km te overbruggen, hebben we vanuit Buenos Aires het vliegtuig genomen naar Ushuaia. Ushuaia is de meest zuidelijke stad ter wereld. Chili schijnt nog een dorpje te hebben dat nog net iets zuidelijker ligt, maar we voelden geen aandrang om dat te bezoeken. Ushuaia zelf vonden namelijk we niet echt spannend. Ushuaia promoot zichzelf als 'el fin del mundo'. Daar is het meeste ook wel meteen mee gezegd. Zoals in vrijwel alle plaatsjes waar we zijn geweest, is ook Ushuaia weer gebouwd volgens ... read more

Hola, all my travel blog followers I appreciate all the comments and those wishing me well along my journey. As the title indicates, I have travelled the distance of Peru all the way to the tip of South America to the city of Ushuaia in Tierra de Fuego on buses. Its been a great journey with so much diversity of landscapes meeting all sorts of people from locals to fellow backpackers. The last segement to the bottom was filled with spectacular scenery from Torres de Paine in the Chiliean patagonia to Ushuaia in Argentina. Torres de Paine is the big name natianal park that tourist flock to in Chile. The main attraction is the W circuit of 4-5 days or the Circuit which takes 10 days of trekking. I did a quick modified portion of ... read more

Amazing lie in until 8am, and we emerged to a beautiful sunny day, definitely not what we expected from the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia. We spent the morning exploring the picturesque city, surrounded by snow capped mountains. We were a little wary of the demonstrations taking place outside the police station - angry Argentineans crashing on drums amid signs saying "wait until April 2nd" (in Spanish!) which is a national holiday to commemorate the Falkland Islands war, the islands which Argentina still claim to be theirs ("Las Malvinas son y seran Argentinian") The afternoon saw us on a 5 hour Beagle Channel cruise. We got right up close to an island of cormorants, one of sea lions and best of all a penguin colony. Watching them swim to shore was the most entertaining ... read more