Dec. 16-18
On Tuesday I arrived to the southernmost city in the world, the end-of-the-world. It´s hard to believe that it´s summer here. The weather has been mostly sunny but there have been moments of hail and everyone is dressed as if in a ski village. Minus the ski boots. The sun rises at 5:30am and sets a little past 11:00pm. The extended daylight is an experience in itself.
Wednesday morning I set out to get my first experience in Patagonia via the Tierra del Fuego National Park. My first stop in the park was a train that was used in 1902 by a penal colony to transport materials 8km from town. The train stopped working in 1942 and was rebuilt in the late 1990´s asa tourist attraction but is very unique and provided my first views of the park. The train ride lasted about an hour. After the train ride I went with a guide further into the park and hiked a couple of 40 minute trails that provided access to the glacial landscape along the Beagle Channel. I returned to town around 2pm, had lunch, and then at 3pm took a catamaran that toured the small islands in the Beagle channel.
Beagle Channel, originally uploaded by dollop.
The highlight of this trip was a distant island that has a Penguin colony. I had hoped to get off the boat but that was not an option so that people don´t disturb the colony, however we did get very near the island and I was able to take some decent pictures of the penguins.
Penguin colony in the Beagle channel, originally uploaded by dollop.
The catamaran returned to Ushuaia at 9pm. A long and eventful day.
Thursday morning I got up early and did more hiking. This time it was a bit more intense but worth every effort. The highlight was a lagoon created from a glacier and it took about 3 hours of hiking to reach it. My guide was very patient with me since I had to stop every 5 minutes and take a picture. Much of the trek was on peat bog and it felt like I was hiking on a mattress, which was pleasant except for every once in awhile my foot would find a very special spot and I would sink a leg through the pete bog and into mud up to my knee. I arrived back to my hotel at 6pm, exhausted, exhilarated and very muddy.
Lagoon, originally uploaded by dollop.
Tomorrow I leave Ushuaia for El Calafate.