Cityscapes – Ushuaia, Argentina

I know what you’re thinking. Where is it and how do you pronounce it?

Pronounced ‘Ew-swhy-a,’ it is the southernmost city in the world (population greater than 2000) and the most southern point in Argentina. It’s located on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego nestled between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel. Chile lies across the channel and divides the island just west of the city in Tierra del Fuego National Park. It’s affectionately referred to as Fin del Mundo.

The End of the World.

If you want to go to Antarctica, this is the place to be.

The city was founded in the 1800s as a way to assert Argentine sovereignty over the region, though the border was settled between Chile and Argentina was settled before settlement began. The first settlers, as you can imagine, were not volunteers. They were prisoners who had re-offended and sending them here was not unlike sending prisoners to Alcatraz or Devil’s Island. Escape was all but impossible.

Ushuaia’s climate is unexpectedly mild with little in the way of extremes. Winter is just below freezing and summer hits the mid-teens. It is also considered one of the windiest cities on Earth, but my home town of St. John’s, Newfoundland is considered windier. Oddly enough, while we get most of our wind in the winter, Ushuaia enjoys a relatively windless winter.

But it doesn’t get a lot of blue sky days, which made the one full day I had there a real treat. Not only did we have a beautiful blue sky, but for most of the morning, there was no wind. The view from Tierra del Fuego National Park was jaw dropping.

After twenty minutes of taking photos, the wind came up and erased the mirror. Then a bus load of tourists arrived and hopped off their bus. We heard the expected ohhhs and ahhhs despite the choppy water. Some of them commented on how lucky they were to see this sight on a such a beautiful day.

We could only laugh and say “too bad you weren’t here five minutes ago.”  🙂

The beach is also home to the Fin del Mundo post office (it used to be the southernmost post office, but a post office in Antarctica was just re-opened).

The postal clerk, who has worked there for years, is named Carlos and is apparently a bit of a character. For $2, he stamped my passport and even included a sticker with a portrait of himself holding the stamp.

Tierra del Fuego National Park also marks the end of the Pan American highway, 17,848 km from Alaska.

Yeah, that’s me peeking back at you.

Downtown Ushuaia is primarily two streets with a number of souvenir shops as well as places to buy adventure clothing and equipment. One shop had even set up a sign indicating the distances to other spots on the globe.

The next morning, before we left, Ushuaia treated us to a beautiful show at dawn.

A beautiful way to end my visit.

😀