Southern Patagonia Part 1: Ushuaia

After our week in Buenos Aires, we were in need of some rest and recuperation and Ushuaia was the perfect place. It is the Southerly most city of the world and the jumping off point for many cruises to Antarctica. Truth be told, it´s not really that exciting of a place...it´s mostly filled with tourist and outdoorsy shops, cafes and restaurants, and chocolate shops (which we thoroughly enjoyed). It is set among some pretty glacial mountains, alongside the Beagle Channel (south of the Strait of Magellan) and has a nice national park – Tierra Del Fuego – nearby. However, compared to some of the other spectacular scenery we´ve seen in Patagonia since we left Ushuaia, we would not classify it as a “must see” place. But for what we wanted and needed at the time, it was perfect.


We were able to rent a double room in a 2-bedroom apartment, which was more homey than a hostel. One of our flatmates while in town was a guy named Bob from Alaska – he owns a successful construction business and spends his months off traveling the world. He was a very interesting guy and we had several intriguing conversations about travel, the state of the world and American politics. We also had a couple nights without roomates, which was wonderful because it felt like we had our own place and could cook, drink tastey Argentian wine, and study Spanish at our leisure.


During our 5-day stay in this city, we both took turns recovering from a nasty cold and spent a day in bed resting and reading. We also spent time in the internet cafe catching up on some emailing and “to do” items, did some shopping to get the right gear for our upcoming trekking trips, and indulged in some of the local cuisine. We also spent a day hiking in the national park, and on another day Eric ventured up to the local glacier in the rain and sleet (the day I was sick in bed). He came back drenched, but enjoyed the views from the top of the mountain...and we managed to dry him off well with our little heater. Had it not been for full buses, we probably would have left Ushuaia a day or two sooner, but we were glad for the time to relax and prepare for our upcoming Patagonia adventures.