Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina

Having had ten fantastic days aboard the MS Expedition on an Antarctic cruise, we were now ready to get our land-legs back again. So, we decided to do a hike in the Tierra del Fuego National Park with its 63,000 spectacular hectares of forest, lagoons, glaciers, and mountains.

Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO), Argentinean Patagonia

The National Park is around 12 km from Ushuaia where the MS Expedition was docked. So, after disembarking, we left the port and headed for a hotel in Ushuaia, as we had planned a couple of nights there.

Ushuaia, is the southern-most city in Argentina and in the world. Also known as the ‘town at the end of the world’, it is located on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, squeezed in between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel. It has steep streets and colourful buildings, many of which overlook the water.

Ushuaia, the town at the end of the world, Argentinean Patagonia

We’d stayed a couple of nights in Ushuaia prior to our Antarctic cruise, so had seen most of the sights except for Tierra del Fuego National Park. So, the next morning, we took a shuttle bus to the Park.

It's located at the southern tip of Argentina and, similar to Ushuaia, is known as the ‘park at the end of the world’. Much of its mountains, glaciers, lakes, and coastline are off-limits to the public to protect it, and it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, there are some good public walking tracks and we wanted to do at least one of them in the time we had available.

Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO), Argentinean Patagonia

Once we arrived, we found the park information centre, and after picking up a useful map, we embarked upon one of the shortish walking routes.

We had a lovely day, walking through beautiful and haunting forests of Antarctic and lenga beech trees, crossing interesting peat bogs, and circling pretty lagoons.

Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO), Argentinean Patagonia

The Park wildlife was interesting. Because this park is protected, the environment remains relatively unspoiled and so offers a good environment for many species. 

As we walked, we spotted steamer ducks with chicks, geese, petrels, condors, and a woodpecker with a very bright red head. 

We even saw a beaver dam, but thankfully, we didn’t see any beavers. 

Beaver dams in Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO), Argentinean Patagonia

Fifty non-native species of beaver were released into Tierra del Fuego National Park in 1946 by the Argentinean government, as a potential source of commercial fur trading. Now-days however, the beaver is considered a pest due to the significant damage that it has done to the park’s ecosystem.

Beavers in their native habitat, have predators such as bears and foxes that keep their numbers under control. However, those animals do not exist in this park and the beavers have, over time, destroyed a great deal of the native forest. 

Beaver damage at Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO), Argentinean Patagonia

What remains is an area of ghost trees and lifeless land. It’s not pretty. 

Apparently, the government has initiated a programme of control, but the beavers have now spread far beyond this park and sadly, threaten native tree species throughout this southern area of Patagonia.

Moving beyond the beaver dam, our walk took us to Lapataia Bay lagoon. 

Pretty Lapataia Bay lagoon, Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO) 

We sat there for a while, munching a sandwich, contemplating the animal life, and admiring the view of the beautiful lagoon. 

Near the lagoon, there was a sign saying that we had reached the end of Argentina’s national route 3, which in effect, is the southern end of the Pan-American Highway (PanAm).

This impressed us, as we had driven Ruta 3 in our motorhome Vdos before arriving in Ushuaia. We’d also been on it several times in a bus through Peru, Ecuador and Colombia last year. 

At the end of the road, at the end of the world, Tierra del Fuego National Park (UNESCO)

The PanAm begins in Alaska and runs right down through the Americas as a single highway taking in total, around 30,000 km. But while considered a single highway, it is actually made up of a network of main roads that connect major points in the Americas. 

The South American portion of it begins in Buenos Aires. We began our road trip in our motorhome Vdos almost 4 months ago, from Buenos Aries on Ruta 3. We then drove the length of Argentina to the Magellan Strait in Argentinean Patagonia in the south. However, we skipped Tierra del Fuego at the time, and crossed into Chile instead. 

It was nice to be here now, at the end of the road, at the end of the world.

Ushuaia, getting ready for Christmas

Before long, it was time to move on, so we caught a bus back into Ushuaia. As it was the 23rd December, Ushuaia was adorned with Christmas decorations in shop windows, giving it a festive air.

The next day, we caught a flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, glad that we’d spent a bit of time at the Tierra del Fuego National Park. But now, we were looking forward to landing in Buenos Aires in time for Christmas eve festivities. 

The above is part of our 4-months of independent travel in South America.