Ushuaia

After a very cold and wet night camping we set off for Ushuaia. As we camped right next to the border we were able to get through early and miss the queues and we absolutely eased through. En route we stopped in Rio Grande for lunch, and in Tolhuin further down the road to visit a bakery which our guide described as the battery bakery he has ever been to. It was pretty nice. We ended up arriving in Ushuaia in the afternoon and after checking in we were given a talk about the possible excursions in and around the city.

Ushuaia is a port town that lies at the south of Tierra del Fuego on the Argentinian side - it is often known as "the city at the end of the world", as it is the world's most southern city (the Chilean town of Puerto Williams is slightly further south but is much smaller than Ushuaia). Ushuaia itself is low-lying and unassuming, centred around one main street and a waterfront that overlooks the Beagle Channel. Originally Ushuaia was little more than a remote outpost, first colonised by a British-funded mission in the late 1800s and subsequently used by the Argentinian government as a penal colony. What was once a small sleepy town has grown rapidly in recent years, much of which is due to tourist development and particularly to the increasing number of Antarctica trips calling to port here.

After our talk I walked into town and explored the main street with all the shops and restaurants, before heading along the seafront where I got my picture with the end of the world sign and visited the tourist information centre. I walked right round to the airport to get a view of the city skyline with the snowcapped mountains in the background. I did however accidentally trespass on the naval base which probably wasn't a good idea. For dinner I went to this German beer house where I had a burger before heading back to the hostel for bed.

Wednesday I decided to visit the Tierra Del Fuego National Park which was about 12km out of town. It was however difficult to get there as they had no public buses and you had to arrange private transfers to get there. Because of this I decided to run to the entrance. Leaving relatively early I got to the national park in good time where I headed down to Zaratiegui Bay to walk the costera trail. The trail followed the shoreline along gravel beaches and through forest to the Roca Lake. The snowcapped mountains reflected in the water which made it a very pretty walk.

When finishing I ended up at the visitor centre where I looked round before starting the Cerro Guanaco Trail which was a hill. Starting at Roca Lake I initially had to follow the Hito XXIV Trail before veering off along the Guanaco Creek. The trail initially climbed through forest before going out in the open in bogland which made me very muddy. After negotiating the bog and a blizzard the trail headed up a rocky scar on the hill up to the top which even had snow. It was a little grey at the top but I still got good views of the Fuegian mountain range. Coming down was the fun part as it was very slippery and steep but I managed it. At the bottom I went back to the visitor centre for a drink in the cafe before running back to Ushuaia. I was absolutely destroyed when I got back but it was a good day.

Thursday I had a lie in and after breakfast which was very sugar based I spent the morning relaxing.  After lunch I headed out into town and looked round the shops before going to a local cafe where I met a few others for a swim in the sea. We had to walk a way out of town however as the water where the ships were was apparently full of sewage. We eventually found somewhere despite accidentally cutting through a naval base and the swim was freezing. We passed a monument en route however to do with the Falklands which had a map of the islands with the Argentine flag above it. They're very sensitive in Ushuaia because much of the people who died in the war came from the city. We even saw a union jack crossed out with writing which translated as fuck off you British pirates.

After the swim we headed back to the hostel where I relaxed before dinner. For dinner I went to a crab restaurant where I tried crab legs with this seafood casserole thing. I literally had to cut the meat out with scissors! After dinner I went to the hard rock cafe for a few drinks before heading back to the hostel for a few more. It was quite a late night and I somehow ended up in the Irish bar at some point.