Tierra Del Fuego - Part Two

Sunday 22nd January 2012

Next day is one we’ll talk about for ever – a fantastic helicopter ride over the mountains to the East.  It wasn’t the best of days, but dry and fairly bright, however a massive forest fire in one of the back valleys was spreading smoke all over and down across Ushuaia. It didn’t spoil our enjoyment at all but it did affect the photos, as you will see.

We flew over snowy mountains and glaciers, extraordinary lakes - green, turquoise and sapphire blue, and along the valleys

Glacier with diddy icebergs

	Smoke from the fire

Then a quick stop (very dramatic!) on top of a flattish mountain overlooking Ushuaia and the Beagle channel

On top of the world!

then back over the town to the heliport. A terrific experience, even though I didn’t see any real icebergs (on my wish-list!).

 

 

 

After that we decided to work off some of the emapanadas (meat pasties), lamb BBQs and fabulous seafood we’ve enjoyed on a trek up to the Martial glacier, on the mountains up behind Ushuaia. We cheated by taking a chair-lift part-way, but the final assault was a lot tougher, steeper and more scary than the pix show, and the downhill was so dodgy in places I took to my bum, but glad to say my blue jeans held out!!  The glacier itself was a tad underwhelming, as the snow cover was black with dusty soil blown off the mountains in the strong winds that blow most of the time, but I’m promised better glaciers in our next stop, El Calafate.

The hike back down to town was really lovely as we found a mountain-bike trail through some really pretty woods

 Have a good hick!

Our final day in T del F involved a mini-bus tour of the National Park, which reminded us in turn of Scotland, the Alps and Lantau!   The most majestic peaks were all in Chile.  We started with a ride on the Tren del Fin du Mondo – an old steam train that runs along the tracks laid by the convicts to get wood back to the city from the surrounding forest, now part of the National Park. It was horribly touristy though, and they make the big mistake of letting us all off mid-way to admire the view. As our guide said later – the Germans come back 10 mins early, the Brits and Yanks are on time and the South Americans saunter back when they feel like it!!

The park guide was very informative about the history and geography of the area and some of the scenery and bird-life were excellent.  As it was a Sunday, the locals all had their families out for an asador – a BBQ to us. But the Argie Barbie is composed of the hugest slabs of meat we’d ever seen! Tongs in one hand and a cerveza (beer) or glass of red wine in the other and the asadores /papas are the happiest they’ve been all week.



 

The local Ibis            Black necked            swans

The last part of the tour was to the Post Office in Puerto Ara, the furthest south PO in the world, where for a mere 10 pesos, they stamp your passport to show you’ve been to El Fin Du Mondo.

That’s the PO, built on the pier!
On the morning before we flew out, we went for a bracing (!) walk along the foreshore in front of the hotel. It was a bit wet and windy, but really enjoyable. We have loved our time in Ushuaia and wish we could stay longer, but we are looking forward to what we will find in El Calafate.