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| Spectacular Ushuaia, with our cruise ship Endurance in port. |
Tuesday, October 31 - Arriving in Ushuaia
We flew from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia via a charter flight. When we arrived, after collecting our luggage, we boarded busses to take a drive through the Tierra del Fuego National Park. After touring the park, we took a catamaran ride in the Beagle Channel - with lunch provided. We were ready to board the Endurance by about 4 PM.
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| Views of the terminal Andes as we approach Ushuaia |
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| Lake Fagnano, on our approach to landing in Ushuaia |
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| You can see the airport landing strip, in the Beagle Channel, south of Ushuaia. |
On the charter flight, we were served a nice, prepackaged breakfast snack, which was welcome as I really didn’t eat any breakfast this morning. I couldn’t see much out my western facing window - as most of the flight was along Atlantic Ocean, without land in sight. As our landing neared, we started to see the snow capped mountains of the terminal Andes. We flew over two bodies of water - Lake Fagnano and Beagle Channel. The mountain peaks are up to 4000 feet around Ushuaia, even higher further west into Chile. The airport is located on the Beagle Channel, south of the city and the views upon landing were just breathtaking with sharp, snowcapped black mountains forming a cirque around Ushuaia, perched agains the seaside. |
| The Martial Mountains line the skyline behind Ushuaia as you look to the north from the airport |
Ushuaia is located within the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego and is known as the southernmost city in the world. Tierra del Fuego is divided in two, based on a treaty between Chile and Argentina that was negotiated by the Vatican in 1985. Ushuaia is located on a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego in the Argentina section. It’s bounded on the north by the Martial Mountains. The Isla Grande is surrounded by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and is separated from the continent in the north by the Strait of Magellan and bordered in the south by the Beagle Channel.
Ushuaia is located at latitude 54 degrees south and is more than 3000 km from Buenos Aires and 1000 km from Antarctica. The mountains here in Ushuaia run east and west and represent the termination of the Andes. The orientation is caused by the Scotia tectonic plate location in proximity to the South American plate.
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| Ushuaia's airport serves as a gateway for tours to the Antarctic |
Our landing at the southernmost international airport in the world was at 11:15. It’s a petite structure, newly built about 12 years ago and located on a flat peninsula about 4 km south of the city and the port. We waited at baggage claim, and our last piece of luggage was the second to last off the plane. We all boarded buses, which were waiting to take us to see the Tierra del Fuego National Park. |
| Road to theTierra del Fuego National Park |
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| Following the Rio Pipo, traveling west to the national park |
We had a guide on our bus who narrated our trip to the National Park, about 10 km west of the airport. On our left, as we drove out, we passed a small mountain, Mount Susana, and on the right, we followed the Rio Pipo and the railway built by prisoners that ends in the park. We were traveling on Argentina Highway #3 - which is the terminus of the Pan American Highway.
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| The first of many feral horses we observed along our bus ride |
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