Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina

 I did a tour to the Tierra del Fuego National Park from Ushuaia in Argentina. The Tierra del Fuego park is the world’s southernmost national park. It is west of the city. It has glaciers, forests, beaches, lakes and mountains. It has a wide range of flora and fauna, including Fuegian foxes, southern river otters, guanacos (related to llamas) as well as many birds. 

One very popular way of getting to the park is by the End of the World railway. This runs on an old railway line originally built to transport materials to a nearby prison. It is about 5 km and goes to a platform inside the park.

I opted to do a coach tour to the park. Entry ticket was $5500 (£24). Our first stop was at Zaratiegui bay. 

There is a post office and gift shop and I got my passport stamped with End of the World stamps and a penguin for $3. The stamp can be done in the museum in town but it is $17 entry to the museum. 

Notice that London isn't included on this Argentine sign!

And then this sign at our next stop, Lapataia! Another reminder about the Falklands!

Lapataia is the inland end of the bay. Close by is a tall pointed peak which is the border with Chile. Unfortunately the peak didn’t clear of cloud - 

There are “border” police on the road. A green lake -

We took the boardwalk to the end, great views over the water and the snow capped mountains. It was beautiful. 

From here we went back to the end of Lake Acigami and went for a short walk. It rained slightly. Saw the trees covered with lichen, the hardwood evergreens, and the tree stumps that had been felled by beavers. Beavers were introduced and are now a huge problem as they make dams and cause the land to flood, but it is hard to do anything about them. They hibernate all winter. And of course the beavers are across the border in Chile as well. 

Stumps of trees felled by beavers -

Ate small red “apple” berries from prickly heath shrub and also some purple berries from a small tree. Saw a grebe pair nesting in the river.

The fungus that grows on trees is called Indian bread -

As we were driving we saw a fox. Sadly we saw no guanacos. The photo of the fox was taken by someone else on another tour -

Went to the park centre but the info centre wasn’t very interesting.

Ushuaia - The End of the World - Argentina

Ushuaia in Argentina is the southernmost city in the world. It lies on the shores of the Beagle Channel and surrounded by the Martial Mountains. It is the capital of the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and Southern Atlantic Islands Province. It is located on the southern coast of the Grand Island of Tierra del Fuego, in the Bay of Ushuaia (aia means bay). It was founded in 1884. It has sea, mountains and forest. 

Ushuaia is a very touristy place. It is about 1100 km from the Antarctic Peninsula and is one of five internationally recognised gateways to the Antarctic. So it attracts a lot of cruise ships and expedition ships. 

The town of Ushuaia is a bit of a tourist trap. It is the starting point for many Antarctic expeditions as well as being a base for tours around Patagonia. The port area was maniac, as there were 6 cruise ships in, plus some expedition ships. Three of the cruise ships were at the dock, the other three, including ours, had to tender. And it rained, which didn't help things. 

Two cruise ships and two expedition ships and tenders from the moored ships -

The 3 cruise ships moored in the bay -

City hall

Tourist bus and train -

Monumento a los Antiguos pobladores - The Monument to the Pioneers and Old Settlers

In several places in Argentina there were signs claiming the Falkland Islands belong to Argentina as well as general direction signs -

The wifi at the port area was really poor so I dashed off to find a coffee shop, as it would be the last chance for over a week. The main street was full of expensive shops. Main shopping street -

Luckily the sun tried to come out later and there was a better view of the mountains behind Ushuaia. Glacier Martial in the mountain behind Ushuaia, it reaches 1050 m altitude and is the most important source of drinking water for Ushuaia. A ski lift goes up through rugged forest to the tundra at the glacier base.

From Ushuaia I did a trip to the Tierra del Fuego National Park.