Descending the mountain pass I didn’t expect to round a bend and abruptly find us entering Ushuaia. There, directly in front of us was the welcome sign I had been seeing in so many pictures. Wow, we actually made it and in one piece.
After getting the obligatory picture we headed off to explore the town and find some place to spend the night. We stopped by a number of places that were listed in the Lonely Planet but they were either booked or no place to park the motorcycles. We eventually stumbled on to the Drake hostel. I remembered the name from Nina and Trevor’s write up on Ushuaia. We checked it out and it turned out to be much better than any of the places that were all booked up.
From the street it didn’t look like anything special.
It includes a nice open area in the rear, an atrium common area and even computers in the room.
After checking in we walked around town, got something to eat and took pictures of the waterfront. The town’s population shoots up when the cruise ships anchor. As we were arriving in town two behemoth cruise ships were disgorging passengers like salmon spawning. Soon the streets were teeming with shoppers and the city had all of the Penguin motif stuff ready for the taking. Seriously, I have to admit I liked Ushuaia, despite the crowds. It is a well run city with good restaurants and outdoorsy activities available for all taste. I eventually got over my expectation that we would find Ushuaia to be an isolated, sparsely populated outpost in the midst of a vast wilderness.
A correction is in order. We have been referencing Ushuaia as the southernmost city in the Western Hemisphere. According to the Ushuaia Chamber of Commerce we are underselling their notoriety. It is the southern most city in the world. How is that for a superlative?
Now here is another superlative. About 20 miles beyond Ushuaia is the end of Argentina’s route 3, the proclaimed southern most highway in the world. Since it is close by and it was another warm sunny day, we decided we could not pass up the opportunity for another cheesy photo op.
Again, we were thinking we would be in the wilderness and all alone. Who else would find it appealing to travel this far just to say they reached the end of the road?
A correction is in order. We have been referencing Ushuaia as the southernmost city in the Western Hemisphere. According to the Ushuaia Chamber of Commerce we are underselling their notoriety. It is the southern most city in the world. How is that for a superlative?
Now here is another superlative. About 20 miles beyond Ushuaia is the end of Argentina’s route 3, the proclaimed southern most highway in the world. Since it is close by and it was another warm sunny day, we decided we could not pass up the opportunity for another cheesy photo op.
Again, we were thinking we would be in the wilderness and all alone. Who else would find it appealing to travel this far just to say they reached the end of the road?
Well apparently large numbers of cruise ship passengers. They were here in droves. They were on foot, in cabs, on bicycles and in buses big and small.
There were so many, in fact, we had to wait in line to get a motorcycle in front of the sign so we could take the cheesy picture.
So much for our second unfulfilled wilderness experience expectation.
There were so many, in fact, we had to wait in line to get a motorcycle in front of the sign so we could take the cheesy picture.
So much for our second unfulfilled wilderness experience expectation.
El Calafate is a very busy town. Surprisingly busy since the tourist season ended several weeks ago, I’d hate to see what it was like during the height of the busy season. The main street is teeming with shops and people filling them up. I can’t complain though. I was able to find a shop that sold those fancy berets the Argentine horsemen wear. This town has a large number of adventure vehicles that look like they have never been off road.
This picture sort of captures the range of diversions in town.
