2023 Back to Antarctica - Day 3 to Ushuaia and Terra del Fuego National Park

We gathered in the hotel lobby at 5 AM with our fellow Hurtigruten travelers, eager to start our Antarctic adventure. After a bus transfer to the airport we boarded our charter flight to Ushuaia. 

The 3,000 km (1800 mile) flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was no frills, but comfortable enough. The cabin had lots of space; we could each spread out across 3 seats. Most of the 3 1/2 hour flight was above clouds or the endless pampas of Patagonia. But as we ducked below the clouds in our approach to Ushuaia, amazing vistas unfolded.  

It was spectacular. I’d read about the early settlement years in Ushuaia (a former penal colony, and a mission site). My mental image of the area held no clue of these mountains marching to the edge of the continent. The topography looks so forbidding. I have even more respect for the hardiness and resilience of the original native peoples. They were incredibly isolated from the rest of the world. Lucas Bridges’s “Uttermost Part of the Earth” is a fascinating historical and ethnological read about the early days of Ushuaia. The author, son of a British missionary, was the third European child born in Tierra del Fuego and grew up integrated into the two local tribes.

Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego. Its motto: “Ushuaia, end of the world, beginning of everything”. It was founded in 1884 (10 years after Lucas Bridges was born). With its current population of 82,500, it’s the furthest south administrative city. It’s a gateway city to Antarctica, and a hub for adventure travelers. 

Ushuaia, huddled between the mountains and the Beagle Channel.

After landing and handing off our luggage to be delivered to the MS Roald Amundsen, we climbed aboard a bus for a driving tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park. The 243 square mile park is one of several protecting the Patagonia area and the subantarctic forest. It’s accessible by the End of the World Train (The Southern Fuegian Railway), or by a 7.5 mile unpaved and dusty road from Ushuaia. 

For train aficionados: The End of the World Train is the southernmost railway on Earth, running 5 miles through the forest. Originally 15 miles long, it was built by and for the convicts originally housed in an old Patagonian prison. It carried food, building supplies and convicts between the town (where the prisoners engaged in building projects) and the prison. Today it operates for tourists, with steam engines and vintage cars. 

We, however, took the dusty road. We drove through miles of very dense straight thin-trunked trees. This is usually a windy (>40 mph winds are common) and wet place. There are places dense with windfall and tortured looking trees which must have snapped off years ago. 

Clusters of symbiotic moss hang like soft footballs. 

The park offers trekkers several miles of trails, ranging from the coast to the mountains. There are spectacular jagged, ice-capped mountains, glacial valleys, beaches, fields, streams and lakes.

The dirt road ended at the terminus of the Pan-American Highway. The Highway starts in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, twisting and turning through 19,000 miles and 14 countries. The distance info on this sign must be as the crow  - or arctic tern - flies.

Fun Fact: about 60 miles of the route are incomplete, crossing one of the most dangerous places on earth. The Darien Gap is a rainy, lawless and unpoliced region spilling from southern Panama into northern Columbia.

We boarded our ship around 4 pm, attended the mandatory safety briefing and settled in. We’ll be spending the next couple days crossing the 600 mile wide Drake Passage while getting oriented to our ship and the procedures for visiting the White Continent.

During dinner, I thought I recognized a long row of low lights along the northern coast, lights I’d (mistakenly) assumed was Ushuaia on our previous trip through the Beagle Channel. On a hunch, we walked to the other side of the ship to see if there was a corresponding town on the Chilean side. And there is was: Port Williams, the southernmost town in the world. Or, with a population of just 2,000, maybe it’s more properly a village. In any event, they vie with Ushuaia for geographical bragging rights. We had stopped and had a good walk there when returning from our previous trip to Antarctica. 

————-

The first trip I blogged was in 2017, documenting our experiences in Patagonia and a similar expedition to Antarctica. That  trip was with my husband on Hurtigruten’s MS Midnatsol. This time, I’m traveling with my son on the new hybrid expedition ship, MS Roald Amundsen. We’re traveling about 10 weeks earlier in the calendar year, so it will be colder and earlier in the penguin breeding cycle. We’re also visiting the Falkland Islands and Uruguay later in the trip. 

I’m looking forward to enjoying the ride again, crossing the Drake Passage, learning from the expedition staff, reveling in pristine land and seascapes, and - of course, entertainment by the resident penguins.