Before jumping on my Antarctica cruise, I spent a few days in the southernmost city on earth: Ushuaia, Argentina. As a tourist town that draws not just Antarctica expeditioners but also holidaymaking Argentineans, Ushuaia is a picturesque town that’s a cross between a Norwegian fishing village and ski resort. It’s all about location here: the town is perfectly poised on the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego island, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. Despite a nametag that says “Fin del Mundo”, which literally means “World’s End”, it hardly feels like we are at the bottom of the world considering the slew of posh restaurants, bars, and outfitters.
While I’m at sea cruising Antarctica with G Adventures, here’s a series of photos I shot at Ushuaia where my journey began. Enjoy pictures of the world’s end and see you when I get back!
Disclaimer: My trip to Ushuaia was made possible by G Adventures as a part of their Wanderers In Residence program. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Ushuaia and Antarctica are still on my "must visit" list and your photos are fanning the flame. The scenery around Ushuaia reminds me of Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand (although Queenstown is on a glacial lake). That's not really so strange considering that Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand is the jumping off point for scientific expeditions to Antarctica.
llful direct it.” by Jeanne-Marie Roland.|”As they use to say, spick and span new.” by Miguel de Cervantes.|”Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.” by Edgard Varese.|”Be not so bigoted to any custom as to worship it at the expense of truth.” by Johann Georg von Zimmermann.|”The cynics are right nine times out of ten.” by Henry Lou
I've read so many posts about Antarctica but rarely see much on Ushuaia itself. Nice to see some pictures and hear that it's a happening tourist spot!
Planning a trip to Patagonia next year and trying to decide whether to include a trip to the end of the continent. It looks like it can throw a bit of everything at you weather wise but it looks quite interesting too.
Great pix of Ushuaia, Nellie! I visited Punta Arenas and points north (mostly in the Chilean side of Patagonia) and found that area of the world truly enchanting. Fjords, lakes, penguins, mountains – incredible! But Ushuaia was not part of it. I guess I will see it when I get to make the trip to Antarctica some day!
Thanks for the kind words! I wished I had more time to explore Patagonia. I've always wanted to see more of the area, go ice climbing and visit el Calafate but didn't have time for that on this trip. How was Punta Arenas? It must have been pretty cool too!
Good luck Dean! and, Holy Moly! It’s an adrunteve just to get to the adrunteve! Wow! Onward to victory!CoreyP in the last post you asked about recovery after a 50 miler, I’m not an expert, but I have stayed at a few Holiday Inn Expresses I take Dean’s advice and always try to do a short run the day after the race, but for the most part I just listen to my body and adapt the schedule around have I feel. I ran my first hundred a couple of weeks ago and ran 3 the next day. It started out as a very stiff-legged run, but by the end I was feeling pretty dang good. I ended up doing 20 miles for the week. This week I increased it to 30. My legs still feel a little heavy during a run, so I’m going to increase the miles slowly from this point. I’ll probably go with the 10% Rule. My next race (a 50K) is at the end of January, so I have plenty of time to recover.Anybody hear how Janice did this weekend?
Ushusia was one of those places that just shocked me by how much I liked it. I was only able to stay for a couple days (and didn't get to head south to the 7th continent from there… damn it), but I was really surprised by how much I liked it. Thanks for sharing.