Marketed as the âEnd of the Worldâ; Ushuaia was in essence done in two parts: one prior to my Antarctica trip, and the other, post. As it turned out, my Czech friend and I met up on the same bus from Puerto Natales, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina! This made a 12-hour journey that much more enjoyable, once we swapped seats with our allotted neighbours. The distance is only 600km, but the border crossings take a bit of time. The day after arrival we headed off to Laguna Esmeralda, approximately 25km east of town. There is a 4-hour hike here to a small glacier and glacial lake through some peat bog. The weather played along until the end of the hike when it started raining, and earlier being windy as it gets here!
That evening I went to check into the pre Antarctica departure hotel, just outside of the town. It is a very fancy hotel, definitely not normally what I would sign up for. It is situated on a hill overlooking the city and port. I was also going to take advantage of all the amenities on offer, and thus spent the evening/night in the indoor pool, the outdoor heated pool, Jacuzzi and sauna!! I also met my roommates, for the duration of the trip, and we hit I off straight away- which is great for 3 weeks in 1 room! We had the morning and early afternoon to discover some more of the city, which didnât take too long. It is not a particularly beautiful city- the main street is lined with outdoor gear shops and it is overall very industrial. We embarked on the ship at 5pm. And the rest of the update will be under the Antarctica section of the blog đ .
I had a few days in town after the Antarctica trip- which was good as I had a lot of sleep to catch up on!! So I had a fair bit of planned spare time to just process all the sights and experiences and also to visit the main attraction in the area- Tierra del Fuego National Park. On a sunny and warm day (15C which was considered a heat wave by the locals) I headed off for a very tranquil 8km walk called the Sendero Costera. It is located along the waterâs shores, through the beech forest. With not many people on it, it was lovely to just listen to the birds and to the lapping waters and admire the clear waters and mountains in the background.
One reply on “Ushuaia”
I lovely your Laguna Esmeralda photos! each one is like a painting.. Your cell ‘phone takes phenomenal photos and your composition is outstanding.. Most enjoyable reading too!