| Feb 7, 2006 - Ushuaia, Argentina
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 | | show all 26 | | Crossing the Magellan straight on the way to Ushuaia | | Ushuaia, Beagle Channel, and mountains | | Another look at the Ushuaia scenery | | |
| The following day, February 7th, was a long 12-hour travel day to Ushuaia. For this journey we had to travel by bus back up north along the Magellan Strait, get ferried across it, enter back into Argentina and the town of Rio Grande, and continue the final few hours by bus again. Ushuaia is recognized as the southernmost city in the world (though the people of Port Williams may argue), and so is also referred to as the "end of the world" or any other cutesy name like that people can think of.
Brian and I arrived at night with plans to do a day hike the following day in the surrounding hills and mountains overlooking the city of Ushuaia and the Beagle channel. We knew Carmin had not cancelled his ticket for our flight on the 9th, so we would be meeting up at some point, but we were not sure when, where, or how. Turns out, after we checked into our hostel and were getting our things put away, in walks Carmin and he is staying in the same room of the same hostel as us, and has been there for over a week. A very merry reunion ensued.
The next day the three of us wake up to a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Perfect for some relaxed walking, our final hike in Patagonia. Apparently Ushuaia only sees about 7 days like this all year, the owner of the hostel tells us, with the rest being pretty temperamental and grey. But at this point it was all I knew, and was planning on having a nice hiking day anyway, so we set out without really grasping how lucky we were. It was a gorgeous and easy hike through some wooded trails and then up a small ski slope to the bottom of a glacier. But compared to all we had just witnessed in Torres del Paine, this one wasn't so impressive. We took some time walking around the area and enjoying the clear views, and then headed back into town and to our hostel. The rest of the evening and night was relaxed and nice and we got to know some of the other people in our hostel, especially these two french guys and a german guy.
On the 9th we woke up to typical Ushuaia weather: cold, windy, and raining. So we spent the day just lounging and hanging out and taking care of whatever we needed to do. It was also the day I finally cut my hair for the first time since Christmas in Mendoza, and shaved for the first time since Casa Nelly in Bariloche. Hence the before and after photos of Carmin and I. At night we got to the airport and flew three hours to Buenos Aires, having officially ended the Patagonia leg of our trip, and starting a brand new phase of warm weather, beaches, and serious enjoyment in Buenos Aires and onward to Brazil. |
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