At Tierra del Fuego, the road ends. The very last gasp of terra firma in South America’s deepest south, there is nowhere to go but into the grim, gray waters of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica beyond. Sliced off the continental mainland by the Strait of Magellan, the island is split between Chile in the west and south, and Argentina in the east. Rugged and scoured, this is a place to get away from it all.
In Argentina:
Rio Grande (largest city) and Ushuaia (capital) are the places to go in Argentine Tierra del Fuego, but keep in mind that in this remote part of the world, “large city” is a relative term. As cold as it is, skiing is beginning to pick up, particularly in the community of Cerro Castor, and Rio Grande has the odd epithet of being the fly-fishing capital of the world. Interestingly, Ushuaia has a lively — huh? — Irish bar scene, but ecotourism is the big draw now.
Seals, penguins, sea birds, and whales have a field day in the fertile waves offshore, which you may spot from one of the popular catamaran tours of Beagle Channel. Landlubbers will want to take a hike, literally. In summer, daylight lasts from 5 in the morning to past 10 at night, and reveals some of the more primordial landscapes Earth ever dished out. Rio Grande is also well known for its fall colors in one of the very few places in South America that has an autumn.
In Chile:
“Flat land” is a foreign concept to Chileans, and that goes for their portion of Tierra del Fuego, dominated by the last pinnacles of the Andes. If you thought the landscape in Argentine Tierra was impress, just you wait: Chile’s part of the island is downright otherworldly. Bring your camera, but have it set permanently on Panorama Mode.
However, because the territory is so mountainous, cities have a hard time taking root. Puerto Williams, across the way from Ushuaia on Navarino Island, is the capital of Chilean Antarctic Province, but that does not mean it is in any way big. However, the views, of glacier-carved valleys, soaring condors, wind-bent trees, and cattle ranches, will leave you with the impression that this place is HUGE.
Another stop is Porvenir, on the strategic Strait of Magellan. Across from the mainland and easily reached by ferry from Punta Arenas, Porvanir is a gold-rush town founded by — huh #2? — Croatians. But it is the native cultures, the Ona and Yaghan, that you’ll want to explore. The Yaghan gave us the word “Mamihlapinatapai,” which is that look you give someone else when you both want the other do something necessary but unpleasant, i.e., the “…After-You Look.”
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