Tierra del Fuego: the end of the world
A few days ago we took an all-day bus from Puerto Natales south to the end of mainland South America, across the Straits of Magellan (via a car-ferry), into the Tierra del Fuego, back over the Argentina border, and ultimately to Ushuaia, the world’s southern-most city. From the ferry we saw Commerson’s Dolphins swimming in the straits (did Magellan see them too?), which was great since we had considered making a trip to see them on the Península Valdés a few weeks ago but ended up not going.
Ushuaia is a spectacularly located city on the main island of the Tierra del Fuego, surrounded by snow-capped mountains on three sides and the Beagle Channel on the other (beyond which lie even more snow-capped peaks on the Isla Navarino, part of the Chilean side of the Tierra del Fuego). We haven’t found the city itself to be particularly special, but this location and the nearby walks it affords makes it a nice place to spend a few days; on Friday we hiked through a forest alongside the channel for a few hours with Darin before he flew back to Buenos Aires.
Otherwise, we have been mostly waiting and preparing for what we hope will be one of the most memorable things we ever do: an 11-day, 10-night trip to Antarctica, including spending the longest day of the year on the boat tomorrow and spending Christmas Day on the Antarctic Peninsula. We start the journey this afternoon by boarding our boat (The ‘Ushuaia’), going through the Beagle Channel and past the famous lighthouse that is the symbol of Ushuaia before continuing to the South Shetland Islands and then to Antarctica itself. Apart from the ice landscapes, we’re hoping to see lots of penguins, some whales and many migratory birds.
Tags: Antarctica, Argentina, South America, Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia
Nick
Hi there – just requesting permission to use a photo you posted on Flickr — the one from Doha souq of the old pearl diver. Sorry to contact you this way, but I’m not a flickr member so couldn’t think of another way.
Bee: what do you intend to use the photo for? You can email me at: seaeaglesforever@yahoo.com.