Patagonia Part 2: Ushuaia

After our weekend in El Calafate, we couldn’t wait for another weekend in Patagonia. We got through the week knowing we were slated for another awesome weekend – this time, we were headed for “the end of the world!”

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in South America (and anywhere else!) before reaching Antarctica. As you can imagine, it’s a major port city; Antarctic cruises, freight ships and many other boats come through Ushuaia each day. It sits on the Beagle Channel, and it’s the only point in Argentina when you’re behind (or West of) the Andes Mountains.

When we arrived Friday after sunset. We could see the snow and the mountains from the ambient light, but our driver explained that the city had seen much less snow than a typical winter. We made our way on a switchback road up a mountain overlooking Ushuaia. The views were awesome!

On Saturday morning, a guide drove us to Tierra del Fuego National Park before sunrise. The area is called “land of fire” because as Ferdinand Magellan sailed through the strait in 1520, he saw the indigenous people’s campfires and named it Tierra del Fuego. Our guide made the joke that we would see snow, mountains, waterfalls, forest, etc… but no fire!

The Tierra del Fuego archipelago spans Chile and Argentina, but Argentina has southern tip. It was freezing cold, but the sunrise made it worthwhile.

Our first stop: Tren del Fin del Mundo (train to the end of the world). Originally a penal colony, Ushuaia utilized the train to transport prisoners to and from the forest camp and to transport the timber. The prison ultimately closed in 1947, and the train now exists only for tourists.

We got our passports stamped at the station to mark our visit to the end of the world!

Next up, we visited Lake Roca, although it seemed more like an ocean! The strong winds almost blew us over, and the water was insanely choppy.

After driving the park and seeing the spectacular scenery, we stopped for warmth at a café in the park. We had empanadas, coffee and hot chocolate in an attempt to thaw!

The café offered an incredible lookout on the nearby mountains and lake. We popped out briefly for a few photos before getting unbearably cold.

Our last stop of the day was to the true “end of the world.” Lapataia Bay marks the end of Argentina route 3, the road that runs from Buenos Aires to the end of the world! The sign says Alaska because Route 3 is part of the Pan-American Highway, which extends all the way from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to this point: Lapataia Bay.

We walked out to the end of the peninsula and looked out onto the water and the surrounding islands. Wow!

As you can tell from my Rudolph nose, the cold weather began to take its toll on me.

Our tour guide dropped us off back in downtown Ushuaia, where we caught a late lunch with our new Israeli friend. She sort of invited herself to join us, but she was so nice that we allowed it. El Viejo Marino is known for their delicious fresh seafood, so I ordered the seafood platter. Admittedly, it looks sort of gross in the picture, but it was awesome! I got to try lots of local goodness, but the crab was especially good.

After lunch, we were scheduled to take a sunset cruise around Tierra del Fuego. Unfortunately, the weather started acting up. The temperatures dropped and the winds surged, so our boat trip was canceled. We were pretty bummed, so we continued on with our Israeli friend to dessert and coffee!

We parted ways with our new friend and headed back to the hotel to regroup. The winds were strong, but we still had a killer view of Ushuaia.

With our dinner hour suddenly free, we booked a reservation at the best restaurant in town: Kaupe. Everything about it was the best: the bread, the wine, the fish, the dessert, the service. We started with a ceviche that was out of this world. Then, I had the sea bass, which is famous in the region. Meadows had the chicken, of course. We both ordered homemade ice cream; despite the cold weather, the ice cream was phenomenal!

By Sunday morning, the weather worsened. We could not do any outdoor activities because of the extreme winds and sideways rain. We checked out of our hotel on the mountain and relocated to Tamara’s hotel on the water. We lounged quite a bit!

Later, we decided to indulge in a fancy lunch with Tamara and her sister. When Ushuaia throws bad weather your way, you order a bottle of wine and some seafood risotto!

With so many weather issues, we worried that our flight back to Buenos Aires would be canceled. Thankfully, we were only delayed 1.5 hours!  The 3.5 hour flight gave me plenty of time to reflect on our time in Patagonia.

Whenever I used to hear about or look at pictures from Patagonia, I always thought of it as a beautiful, snowy and mountainous city …or at least a small region. I had no idea how massive it is! In six days between two Patagonian cities, we still barely scratched the surface.

Some Patagonia facts:

• Patagonia spans 1,043,076 km² between Argentina and Chile; it’s larger than Texas and New Mexico combined.
• In total, it houses six different national parks.
• The name “Patagonia” also comes from Magellan’s expedition, which landed in Patagonia in 1520. They encountered local inhabitants, who were taller than the typical European at the time, and name them “Patagons.” From thenceforth, the region was Patagonia!
• Despite what the lady on our tour thought (“they have such high prices for a local brand”), Patagonia (the outdoor clothing company) is not from Patagonia.  The company is based in California.