Land of Fire

It took me thirty-three excruciating hours, three different buses, and two border crossings to get from Puerto Madryn down to Ushuaia. While both cities are in Argentina, the road through Tierra del Fuego crosses into Chile, so a good four hours were spent going through customs and immigration. Twice. I'm actually flying back out because I can't face the idea of dealing with it all again!

While Ushuaia itself is a bit touristy (there are dozens of Antarctic cruises that run out of here), the surrounding countryside is gorgeous. I went for a boat ride down the Beagle Channel, which essentially divides Argentina and Chile on the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego, and saw my old friends the sea lions hanging out on rocky islands with cormorants. I thought being on the boat would protect us from the stench but unfortunately we ended up downwind.


Tierra del Fuego from Tina Cone on Vimeo.

After the boat ride, I went to an Irish pub where I hung out with two guys from New Zealand and drank way too much of the local Beagle beer while watching the Giants beat the 49ers.

I'm not much of a hiker (and by not much, I mean not at all), but I still managed to drag my hungover carcass out of bed the next day to get on a chairlift and take a short walk towards the Glaciar Martial in the mountains surrounding Ushuaia. It was very rainy, and very pretty, and I'm glad I did it.  Now on the Glaciar Perito Moreno in El Calafate!