Argentina - Patagonia - Ushuaia

After our day in Buenos and Aries, we flew to the southern tip of Argentina to the town of Ushuaia. Ushuaia is the closest town to Antartica and is frequently the starting point for cruises to Antartica.

Bottom of South America Continent  

Ushuaia (oo-SHWY-e) is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, bound on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel.

Trafalgar Tour Group

The town has a population of over 80,000. You can book boat trips to see penguins and sea lions. We had a relaxing visit as we stayed out of town at the Los Acebos Hotel. We went for a 31/2 hour hike along the trails behind the hotel.

Mushrooms

View of Glacier along the trail 

Pear Moss Bog

Ushuaia Town and Bay

During the town tour, we went to the Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia which is located in an old jail. Ushuaia was chosen as the location for repeat offenders and serious criminals from Argentina. Inmates spent their time building the town from trees in the forest and the railroad for the town.  The location was considered very hard to escape from as there was no easy access to the rest of South America. The museum provides information on the jail, indigenous people from the area, and the navy base located in Ushuaia. 

We also went to the end of Pan American Highway #3. The highway ends at the Bay of Lapatala in the National Park Fuego.  Fuego means fireland and was named by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan because he always saw smoke in the area due to the fires that were always lit by the indigenous people. These people did not wear clothing and therefore always had a fire going either on land or in their canoes.

We stopped for a short visit at Lake Acigami where we saw Guanaco on a hill. Guanaco is a wild camelid native to South America. Similar to an alpaca

We had a wonderful meal at Chez Manu located on the hill behind the hotel.

Chez Manu Dessert

From Ushuaia, we flew over the mountains to El Calafate, Argentina.