The last main stop of our tour was Ushuaia, known for being the most southern city in the world. On the island of Tierra del Fuego across the Magellan strait from the rest of the continent of South America, Ushuaia has a coastal feel with a bit of a tourist hotspot feel. This is likely because it has become a focal point for people wanting to get to the “end of the world”—as all the signs say in the city—and beyond to Antartica.
I went to the Tierra del Fuego National Park and hiked some of the trails at the southern edge of the non-restricted area of the park. Wet and cool weather had closed some of the other trails, but we got a good opportunity to see some of the coastal views, as well as some of the inland lagoons and rivers that make up the park. Circled by mountains it was a very scenic place to visit. We ended the day at the Park Offices which had a nice gift store, a small museum about the park, and a cafeteria that had some of the best empanadas I tasted on my trip.
My second full day in Ushuaia I took a boat ride through part of the Beagle Channel. The whole channel runs around 200 kilometres separating Tierra del Fuego from some of the southern islands of South America. Although they often have both a three- or a six-hour boat tour, the longer one that would go to an island where penguins live was not available due to stormy seas. Our tour went as far as Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, one of the most southern lighthouses in the world which is on the eponymous island in the middle of the Beagle Channel. At the same time as seeing the lighthouse the islands around had a number of sea lions on them. The catamaran was able to get close to the one island in order to allow us to see the colony of lions up close as they lazed in the sunny rocks. Our return trip was a bit rougher due to a head wind but it was still enjoyable to see a bit more of the scenery outside of Ushuaia.
We finished our time with a group supper of the tour group that had travelled around Patagonia. The End of the World tour with G Adventures was definitely a worthwhile experience.
BorealHiker 