Ushuaia - End of the World

After we had recovered from our trekking adventures for a few days in Punta Arenas, we set off on the last bus ride in Patagonia. We had an 11-hour journey ahead of us to Ushuaia in Argentina. But hey, South America wouldn't be South America if there wasn't something in between. We had already had the less pleasant encounter with the wind many times in Patagonia. But on this particular day, it had us firmly in its grip. The ferry couldn't cross the sea with the bus because the wind was simply too strong, so we waited and waited... and the line of cars behind us got longer and longer. Just like at the Gotthard in Switzerland. In the end, we had to endure 10 hours in the middle of nowhere before we could continue on the other side. We weren't the first bus in this traffic jam, but for some reason, the bus driver on the ferry had the pole position. So we went straight to the Chilean/Argentine border, where we got more stamps in our passports at midnight. We arrived in Ushuaia at 4:30 a.m. We were very lucky to find a taxi and fell into bed completely exhausted.

The next day, we went on a day hike to Laguna Esmeralda. The lagoon is known for its green color and unfortunately also for its very muddy approach. But with our equipment, it wouldn't be a problem (or so we thought). So we hiked (or whatever you call it when you sink into the mud up to your ankles over and over again) for about 2 hours through the mud to the lagoon. Our hiking shoes and rain pants got really dirty and then it started pouring rain and we even got wet under our rain ponchos. So we didn't imagine Laguna Esmeralda like this and because of the weather, we quickly decided to start the descent. Back at the parking lot, our motivation was pretty low. We were cold, soaking wet down to our underwear, covered in dirt, and no longer in the mood for hiking. In this situation, we would have preferred to cancel our planned three-day trekking and book some spa hotel with a sauna and whirlpool. Fortunately (in hindsight), a big piece of cake motivated us to go camping again.

So it happened that on Saturday afternoon, we set off with our backpacks to Tierra del Fuego National Park. Setting up our own tent at the end of the world sounds great, muy romantico. As a compromise, we decided to spend three cozy days and simply have a nice ending to camping and hiking. So we took the bus to the southernmost post office in the world and walked along the coastal path from there. It seemed like Tierra del Fuego wanted to apologize for the previous days and we had incredible luck with the weather. From the coast, we could see the sea, or rather the Beagle Channel, and the Chilean mountain landscape. Breathtaking! In the late afternoon, we arrived at a beautiful meadow that bordered directly on Laguna Verde. Here, we were allowed to camp freely, so we found a nice spot. In the evening, we had a different menu, fresh ravioli with tomato sauce and a bottle of white wine as a surprise.

On Sunday, we walked to the end of Argentina's Route 3 and enjoyed various viewpoints of the sea, lagoons, and rivers. The national park offers a variety of vegetation, and we could observe many birds once again.

On Monday morning, we let the tent dry once more and then made a lazy departure to Ushuaia by bus. So we had a surprisingly nice ending to our trekking adventure in South America.

As a conclusion to our Patagonia trip, on Tuesday we took a half-day excursion on the Beagle Channel by boat. We had good waves, a wonderful view of lighthouses, seals, and a little hike on an island.

Thus, we say goodbye to a wonderful, intense, and happy time in Patagonia and flew to summer on Wednesday. It was high time for us to swap our smelly hiking shoes for flip-flops...