Ushuaia pronounced without the H. Us (as in puss)-y-a
The first hour of the flight from Buenos Aires was a bit bumpy but smoothed out until we started coming over the Andes. Fabulous scenery with snow capped mountains all around however there were a few too many stomach dropping moments for my liking. The landing itself was a bit all over the place and when we did actually touch down three hands in my row simultaneously hit the seat in front to brace ourselves. And once outside it was a case of layering up as the wind hit.
But damn, this place is like a postcard, surrounded by mountains and water. Dropped my bag at the Airbnb which was still being cleaned and went to wander the town, check where the harbour is for the tour I had booked and decide on other tours.
First tour was a half day to Tierra del Fuego National Park. I learnt that Ushuaia is on an island….I hadn’t realised that before, I thought it was attached. The name is Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego which means the big island of the Land of Fire and is shared between Argentina and Chile….much to the Argentinians disgust. It’s all a bit like SA vs Victoria and Aust vs NZ.
At the National Park I caught the tren del Fin del Mundo (train to the End of the World) which follows a portion of the original route that was used by prisoners in early 1900’s to transport logs to the colony. We also did a short hike to Mirador Lapataia…just some more impressive views and then did the boardwalk where I met a couple of fellow Aussies. We then went and stood on the ‘beach’ of Lago (Lake) Roca and got blown away by the wind.
The next day I did a 4×4 Off Road Safari. We took Ruta (Route) 3 which runs from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires except for the bit where you have to cross the Magellan Strait in a ferry to the Garibaldi Pass where we had fabulous views of Lagos Escondido and Fagnano. We followed an old lumberjack trail and went Off Roading through lots of mud as it had rained overnight. We actually drove into Lago Fagnano several times but stopped there for a morning tea break and learnt a lot more about the area.
Beavers were introduced to the region from Canada in 1946 to establish a fur trade starting with 20 pairs. Now like most introduced species they are out of control and with no natural predators the damage they are causing to the forests is immense. With a more favourable climate in Patagonia they are also considerably larger and heavier than their Canadian counterparts. As I’ve never seen a beaver I had considered doing a tour to check them out but having seen the damage, I’m glad I didn’t. I was amazed at how big a beaver dam is.
We headed back towards Ushuaia to the Husky Park where the guys cooked us bbq lunch in a small lodge. The park was obviously not operational now being spring but we got to see a lot of the huskies and saw the puppy pen. Lunch consisted of choripan which is chorizo slapped on a baguette; essentially a sausage sizzle. I’ve never been a fan of chorizo so I think to make up for it they gave me half a cow for lunch plus salads.
In my car there were two couples and another two in the other vehicle. I was the only English speaker so I rode shotgun with David, the guide. We had some great conversations and few bizarre ones but lunch was a very boring time for me.
My last day was a big one. The morning started with a cruise up/down/in the Beagle Channel to Les Éclaireurs lighthouse which went into service in 1920 and is still operating today. A lot of the ships going to Antarctica leave from Ushuaia and will sail through the Beagle Channel guided by this lighthouse. We spent quite a bit of time checking out the sea lions and being in a smaller boat that the usual catamarans we were able to get very close. There was even a rare elephant seal on the rocks. We checked out some rock cormorants and stopped off at Bridges Island for a walk to the ’summit’ and learnt a little about the flora on the island before sailing back to the harbour where I went straight to my next tour – Walking with Penguins on Martillo Island.
I had decided that the chances of me getting to Antarctica are probably pretty slim so I’d spend the money and do all the activities I would hope to do there, hence being amongst the penguins.
This tour involved a bus ride about an 1.5 hours and then a 15 minute ride in a semi-rigid zodiac to the island. There is a large colony of Magellanic penguins that build their nests underground. The island also home to a small colony of Gentoo penguins (the only breeding population of Gentoo’s in South America) that build nests using rocks. I like the Gentoo’s much more probably because they are more active and much funnier. While the female is lying down, the male jumps on her back and does the business but while this is happening the dude next door is stealing rocks from the their nest, the one they happen to be on and of course, a bit of fight ensues. Probably not funny to the penguins but most amusing for us. They would also come running/waddling up from the beach which cracked me up. We were very lucky to also have a couple of King penguins which are sometimes found on the island but don’t nest there. Then back on the boat and bus and back to town.