El Fin del Mundo

I didn’t really know what to expect before heading down to Ushuaia. I hadn’t heard too much about the place, other than the fact that it’s the southernmost city in the world and it’s the launching off city for cruises to Antarctica. For that reason I arrived just happy that I had finally reached the end of the world and the last stop through my Patagonian adventure. However, once setting foot into town I was pleasantly surprised how cool Ushuaia actually is along with the vast number of activities to do there.

The city lies along the Beagle Channel and is surrounded on all sides by beautifully shaped mountains. It’s a relatively small town with one main street, San Martin, having most of the restaurants, pubs, and shopping areas located on it. The bus from Punta Arenas took an insanely long time to reach Ushuaia, so the first night I simply checked in to my hostel, Freestyle (very nice 5-star hostel with great hang-out room on the top floor) and walked around as much of the town as I could just to orient myself. My friend, Josh, the one I was with in Punta Arenas had already been in Ushuaia for the day but since the internet was completely out all over town, we weren’t able to meet up until the following morning.

I headed around 11am to Tierra del Fuego National Park to attempt the Cerro Guarnico hike, the most strenuous of the possible routes that apparently takes 4 hours to complete one way, but the views are the best in the park, so I had to do it. The weather was fine enough, but I didn’t have 8 hours to complete the hike, so I saw it as an opportunity to get a workout in, so I ran as much as I could to expedite the climb. Towards the top, there’s a lot of snow and ice, which slowed me down, but I was still able to reach the peak, take pictures, and return in under 4 hours. The views from the end were unbelievable, literally the very top of the mountain range with Condors flying overhead. I highly recommend the hike if ever in Ushuaia. Later that afternoon around 6pm met up with Josh and grabbed drinks and dinner. I forgot to mention, Ushuaia has amazing restaurants and food – they’re well known especially for lamb. So the first night, I went to Bodegon Fenguina, a local favorite that offers 12 different types of lamb. They had really good empanadas (an obsession of mine), and the lamb was really tasty. The second night, we went to La Estancia, which is an all you can eat joint for around $15. In all seriousness, I have probably never eaten so much food in my life. They had a huge buffet set-up with salad bar, meats, pastas, and vegetables for self-service, and a massive grill and pit set up with whole roasted lambs, chorizo, blood sausage, chicken, and steak. Each time I went for more I tried different cuts of lamb with small amounts of the other meats to dabble in. I probably went through 5 rounds. It was amazing, but the consequence of eating that much food almost ruined the night. Afterwards there was a poker game back at the hostel, so we joined in for the night.

The next day, we took the boat tour through the beagle channel stopping at the lighthouse and small islands home to massive amounts of birds and really cool sea lions. Unlike Puerto Madryn, these guys were actually moving around and interacting with each other. The ride was great. It was a little overcast with a slight drizzle in the early morning, but cleared up beautifully once the ride began (except for the Fitz Roy hike, I really lucked out on the weather this whole time). We took lots of pictures, and learned some cool info about the original inhabitants of Ushuaia, along with the flora and fauna of the land. It happened to be Josh’s birthday so after the 4-hour trip we met back up and started the celebration early in the afternoon.

Even though I could have stayed in Ushuaia for much longer, the time spent there was great. Those two days of activities were the main attractions I wanted to participate in, along with getting my passport stamped and taking a picture next to the Ushuaia sign – all of which I accomplished. Ushuaia is much more than just its location. It’s a really beautiful, homely place that has lots to do, and even though at this time of year there weren’t too many travelers present, I can imagine that during the summer, the city becomes even more exciting.

And thus ends my blog entries on Patagonia. I can’t complain at all about my 3 weeks here. I somehow managed in the short periods of planning to visit every place on my list and do all the activities offered in those areas. Even though the number of people present at any given time was relatively small, it actually ended up being beneficial in the end as I was able to meet and hang out with for extensive periods of time some really cool people – some that I will definitely run into later on. In fact, a group of Irish guys just purchased for me a ticket to see the Boca vs. Rivers game on Sunday (biggest game of the year), so I will definitely be seeing those guys again, along with Josh sometime next week when he arrives to BA.

I signed up for the Spanish classes during my two weeks in BsAs, and will be living in Recoleta for at least a week if not longer with an Argentinean family. I’m really looking forward to working on my Spanish and really getting to know the city – searching for the best spots to eat, party, and relax. Patagonia was amazing, but I’m ready to get back to the hustle and bustle of a big city. If you have any suggestions of places to eat or anything in BA, send me an email cause I’d love the advice. Expect another entry around a week from now. BYE!!

Esteban