After our port stop at Punta Arenas we set sail to Ushaia the Southern most city in the World.
Often referred to as the “End of the Earth”. Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the World and the closest population center to the South Pole. Located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. It is bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range, and on the south by the Beagle Channel, which lends it an outpost atmosphere. That atmosphere is shared by the Antarctic explorers readying for the expeditions that gear up and start from here.
Ushuaia is the capital of the gateway to the celebrated Tierra del Fuego the “Land of Fire”, named by the Spaniards upon seeing the constant fires burned by the indigenous Yamana to keep warm. It is the only department of Ushuaia, which governs an area of 3,625 square Miles. Besides being an administrative center, it is also a light industrial port and tourist hub.
Founded on 12 October 1884 by Augusto Lasserre, it is a largely unspoiled region compromising comprising the large island of Tierra del Fuego and countless Chilean and Argentinian islands. Ushuaia is located roughly 643 miles from the coast of Antarctica and 152 miles from the Chilean city of Punta Arenas. Andean peaks, vast plains blanketed with green forests and pristine lakes, mammoth glaciers and a cacophony of birds making this one of the world’s most beautiful and breathtaking destinations.
Enjoy the following scenes of Ushuaia
RESERVE URBAN NATURAL ENCLOSED BAY
The Urban Nature Reserve Project of La Bahaia Encerrada de Ushuaia was born in 2008, on the initiative of members of the Association of Tourism, Guides, the Museum of the End of the World, the Secretary of Municipal Tourism and fans of bird watching, who managed actions in conjunction with the Municipal Environmental Management to achieve the definitive protection of the area. This was constituted as “Associate Bahaia Encerrada” (ABE) and for its efforts the Municipal Ordinance N 3631/09 Asi, on November 7, 2009 the enclosed bay becomes the first Urban Nature Reserve of the City of Ushuaia.
In 1902 the construction of the “Presidio Nacional” by the convicts began, and ended in 1920.
The Prison was populated by longer and Life sentences. They even built a railroad to the forests and roads, bridges, buildings and infra-structure for Ushuaia. The prison closed in 1947 and became a museum.
The “Locomovil”
“So, they called this boiler that by steam
moves the wheel that, thanks to tapes,
generated drive force.
This was used in the sawmill to run the saws
and cut the logs. By means of oxen
this mobile boiler was transported where it was needed:
usually to the forest workman.
In the afternoon we went to “Tierra del Fuego National Park”
Tierra del Fuego National Park is a national park on the Argentine part of the island of Tierra del Fuego, within Tierra del Fuego Province in the ecoregion of Patagonic Forest and Altos Andes, a part of the sub-Antarctic forest. It is a national park on the Argentine part of the island of Tierra del Fuego, within Tierra del Fuego Province in the ecoregion of Patagonic Forest and Altos Andes, a part of the sub-Antarctic forest. Established on 15 October 1960 under the Law 15.554[1] and expanded in 1966, it was the first shoreline national park to be established in Argentina.
The park has dramatic scenery, with waterfalls, forests, mountains and glaciers. Its 630 km2 (240 sq. mi) include parts of the Fagnano and Roca lakes. The Senda Costera (Coastal Path), connecting Ensenada Bay to Lapataia Bay on Lago Roca, is a popular hiking trail within the park. Forests of Antarctic beech, lenga beech and coihue in the lower elevations of the park are home to many animal species.
The southernmost national park in Argentina, it stretches 60 km (37 mi) north from the Beagle Channel along the Chilean border. Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, is 11 km (6.8 mi) from the park. The park can be reached by car or by train. The southern terminus of the Pan-American Highway is located within the park, as is the El Parque station of the End of the World Train, and the End of the World Post Office.
The Yamana, the indigenous people lived here . That is how the park got its name because of the fires the people would burn to keep them warm.
End of the World Post Office.
Don’t lie… you know “the southernmost post office in the world” is on your travel bucket list! If you ever find yourself all the way down in Ushuaia, Argentina, you can find this little post office in the Tierra del Fuego National Park at Puerto Guarini, along the Beagle Canal. This tiny shack balanced at the end of a pier and topped with jaunty flags, is only open in the summer and typically manned by, well, one man.
The Post Office is located on the Southern Bank of the Beagle Channel
Beagle Channel, located in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America. The channel, trending east–west, is about 150 miles (240 km) long and 3 to 8 miles wide; it separates the archipelago’s main island to the north from Navarino, Hoste, and other smaller islands to the south. At its western end the channel splits into two branches that encircle Isla Gordon. The eastern portion forms part of the Chile–Argentina border, while the western portion lies entirely within Chile. The three islands at the channel’s eastern end, Picton, Nueva, and Lennox islands, were the subject of a territorial dispute between Chile and Argentina that began in the 1840s and which almost led to war between the two countries in 1978. The dispute officially ended on May 2, 1985, when a treaty awarding the three islands to Chile went into effect between the two countries. The Beagle Channel was named for the British ship Beagle, in which Charles Darwin explored the area (1833–34).
Views of Ushuaia
Hope it was a good trip.
On to Cape Horn, Port Stanley, and Puerto Madryn.
Until Next time