Blogs from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, South America - page 22

We arrived in Chile in San Pedro de Atacama after finally hitting the tarmac following days of gravel and sandy roads in the Bolivian altiplano. San Pedro de Atacama is an oasis in the desert with snow tipped volcanoes to the east. It was so good to come back to a lower altitude with a clearer head, however, we were overwhelmed by the number of tourists and the exorbitant prices for food and accommodation in this quaint desert outpost. We continued south to Antofogasta through the amazing Atacama desert via Calama, a dusty town based on copper mining, then passed the Tropic of Capricorn. We loved the fabulous sand and stone desert landscapes with lots of hills and barren rocky mountains. We passed numerous mines and ruins of adobe houses that were once small mining villages ... read more

Nach einer weiteren anstrengenden 15h-Busfahrt haben wir es geschafft, wir kommen spaet abends in Ushuaia an. Wir sind nun bei Kilometer 3055 auf der Ruta Nacional 3 oder 50h Busfahrt seit Buenos Aires. Ushuaia auf Feuerland ist die suedlichste Stadt der Erde und somit auch der suedlichste Punkt unserer Reise. Die eigentliche Busfahrt an jenem Tag dauert etwa 10h, das Ganze wird aber durch 2 Grenzuebertritte und eine Faehrfahrt verzoegert. Die Haelfte der Insel Feuerland gehoert Chile, wie auch die wichtige Faehrverbindung ueber die Magellanstrasse, welche die Insel mit dem Festland verbindet. Deshalb ist zweimal Ein- und Ausreisen angesagt, verbunden mit etlichen Formalitaeten und Gepaeckkontrollen. Nun sind wir also da, am Ende der Welt. Feuerland hat seinen Namen uebrigens damals von vorbeifahrenden Seglern erhalten. Sie sichteten entlang der Kueste Lagerfeuer der Eingeborenen und be... read more

This new adventure begins in the early hours of February 4th - exactly a month after arriving in Buenos Aires by ferry I am leaving from the local airport for the early morning flight all the way down to the very southern most tip of the continent, to Ushuaia. I have a travel wallet full of itineraries, and vouchers for the collection of transport links, hotels and excursions which have all been arranged for me by the excellent independent travel agency Say Hueque during my last week in the city. The first thing to deal with is the immediate change in the climate - from hot and sultry BsAs to snow covered peaks, cold and windy Ushuaia in the course of a 3 hour flight. Smooth transfer and check in to my small and very nice ... read more

I arrived in Ushuaia from El Calafate via LADE flight. During the summer season in Patagonia, it is difficult to find a flight down to Ushuaia from El Calafate, so I was lucky to have found a flight - it was actually less expensive to fly down there, as well as saving me two days on the bus. Touched down in Ushuaia, and as expected, it was cold and rainy even though it was the middle of January (yes, this is their summer season). Rocked up to the Freestyle hostel where I had a reservation. Very nice hostel, great staff, heated floors, and amazing views of the bay from both the common room and my dorm room. After dropping my pack, I went out to Kaupe restuarant for Fuegian Lamb, so amazing! Good start to Ushuaia. ... read more

On Christmas Day I catched the bus to Bariloche in the Lake District. Bariloche and its surroundings are full of possible day trips and therefore I decided to spend some time here. I arrived after another 20 hour bus drive and got into a really nice hostel with an astonishing view over the lake and the mountains in the background. I took it easy and relaxed for the day before checking out all the possible trips. The first trip the next day lead me to Mount Tronador (Thunder Mountain). After pick up we drove to the National Park and stopped first for a little hike to a waterfall. Following that the road lead further into the park along the shore of a lake, where we stopped for taking pictures of the views. Finally after lunch we ... read more