Today was our longest travel day in Patagonia. We started this morning in Punta Arenas, walked the two blocks to the bus station and took the public bus towards Ushuaia.
About two hours into the trip we got to the Strait of Magellan where we boarded a ferry for the 20 minute crossing. Everything worked like clockwork, as soon as we arrived the ferry was there, it seemed really windy, but wasn’t too windy to halt the boat (which happens frequently).
The wind was just howling across the outdoor deck so most everybody stayed inside. Upon landing we were at on the island of Tierra del Fuego, the largest island at the southern tip of South America, split by Chile and Argentina. We were still in Chile for another 2 hours, and the road wasn’t all that exciting, with nothing really to see at all.
After crossing the border back into Argentina, it was about the same. Another hour again and we were onto pavement at least.
Most of the time was spent reading, eating snacks we brought on from the grocery store, having a bottle of wine or two, and sleeping. Once we got closer to Ushuaia, we got into mountains and forests and things started to look a little more varied, even passing a ski hill about 20 minutes out of town.
We made it into our hotel at just after 7:00. Our ten hours was the best time Neil has ever made the trip to Ushuaia from Punta Arenas. Ushuaia is about 60,000 people and is the southernmost city in the world (something much disputed by far smaller Chilean settlements to the south). It is at 54°48’ south. Despite being the southernmost place I have ever been (yet) it is only as far south of the equator as Grande Prairie is north. It still amazes me how much of the world’s landmass is in the northern hemisphere, and how much of the southern hemisphere is dominated by ocean.
The city itself feels very touristy. It is the main stopping off point for boats going to Antarctica and such has high priced stores, restaurants, and hotels.
For dinner we went to a simple restaurant and both had king crab (the local specialty) in a white wine and garlic sauce. Now it’s time to recover from the long day of travel and get ready for our Beagle Channel excursion in the morning.
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