Globetrotting
Ushuaia, Argentina
by Dan Perlman
The quality of light here is different, truly noticeable.
It comes in at an odd angle, which at first is only
apparent as a vague feeling, but becomes more obvious
as the day wears on. The sun is never directly overhead,
and it sets far earlier (midsummer and it’s pitch
black by 8 o’clock in the evening). It also has
a strange bluish cast to it, which at first I take to
be the effect of clouds that ring the city, obscuring
the mountain tops, but the sun breaks through and all
is still oddly blue shaded, as if backlit by a grow-lite.
I am in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, the
southernmost city on the globe. Chileans would dispute
this, claiming Port Williams, but the Argentines toss
it back with “A fishing village of barely over
1,000 people doesn’t count as a city.” Ushuaia
itself has a surprisingly alpine note to it, a combination
of the Martial Mountain range surrounding it and a sort
of vaguely chalet style to the homes perched on the
foothills.
The main strip, San Martín,
is a page right out of some tourist trap blueprint:
souvenir shops, stores with “artisanal regional
products,” and over-priced cafés and bars.
The prices are high for Argentina, even with the inflation
that we’ve seen in the past few years in Buenos
Aires, these prices run 50% higher. This is because,
tourism, and a place to “get away from it all”
amongst the wealthy set, are pretty much what keep Ushuaia
running. That’s why I’m here—getting
away from it all for a week. It’s a short three-hour
flight from Buenos Aires, but it may as well be on another
planet.
There’s plenty of just getting
away to do, the simplest being to plop yourself in a
café with a view of the bay or the mountains
and while away the day reading, writing, or surfing
the Internet on the town’s ubiquitous Wi-Fi systems.
There are a dozen small museums scattered about the
city, ranging from art to colonial to maritime to indigenous
population to prison (Ushuaia was, at one time, the
town surrounding a penal colony). Admissions range from
about ten to 20 pesos, and they’ll give you a glimpse
into an historical world that you probably didn’t
know existed. The most interesting of these are the
small Museo Mundo Yámana (Rivadavia 56.
Tel: 011-54-2901-422-874), dedicated to the tribe of
the same name who were the primary of four tribal groups
in the region; and the Presidio (Yaganes and
Gobernador Paz. Tel: 011-54-2901-437-481. www.museomaritimo.com),
the former prison, now turned into a combination of
four museums in one: a penitentiary museum, a maritime
museum, an art museum, and a small wing dedicated to
Darwin’s natural selection studies.
Ushuaia and its surroundings are also
fantastic for the outdoor aficionado. A relatively easy
four-mile walk from town brings you to the edge of the
Martial Glacier, where you can make your claim
for hiking on one, taking photos out over the city and
bay, and generally just having a bit of good exercise.
A short bus or taxi ride, picked up at the main station
on the waterfront, will take you to the Tierra del
Fuego National Park where you can take tours guided
by park volunteers, or walk on your own along any of
several well-marked paths of varying lengths. You can
also take a trip on the re-created prisoner’s train
along the old convict route on the Trén del
fin del Mundo. Tickets are available at the central
tourism office on the main drag, San Martín 674,
right next to town hall, where you can also pick up
information on current events and public festivals.
If you prefer something with fewer tourists, a taxi
can take you out along the shoreline to the old Estancia
Tunél, a former barrel-making forested ranch
that includes a well-laid out but little traveled 30-kilometer
hike. Figure out how much time you want to spend, and
the taxi driver will meet you back at your starting
point (you pretty much have to do this or it’s
a very long hike back to town).
Other excursion options include a trip
out to the lake country, horseback riding, skiing, and
boating. For those who want something a bit less strenuous,
there’s a small marina called the Muelle Turístico
(Tourist Dock) where you can book boat or bus tours
ranging from something really touristy, like a large
catamaran that chugs out into the water, to small sailboats
that wing you out into the Beagle Channel (named for
Darwin’s ship) for a visit to some of the smaller
islands.
Among the best of these are the sailing
trips from Trés Marías, (www.tresmariasweb.com),
the only tour service authorized to visit and get you
out walking around the archaeological remains of campsites
of the Yámana tribe on H Island, as well
as close-up visits to the Isla de los Lobos Marinos
and Sea Lion Island. It’s a damp and chilly
ride, even in summer, but dress warmly, they’ll
provide the water-gear, and you’ll be fine. The
other is Piratour (www.piratour.com.ar),
the only company authorized to visit the famed pingüinera,
or penguin colony on Isla Martilla (Hammer Island).
Other companies offer “visits” to the colony,
but you don’t actually get to disembark and walk
and sit amongst the penguins. The day with Piratour
includes a visit to one of the many beaver dams in the
area, the famed flag trees, Brown Bay with its view
of Port Williams in Chile, and a visit to one of the
last working ranches in the area, Estancia Harberton,
where you are free to wander the beautiful grounds,
chat with the ranch-hands and gardeners, and have a
bite in their café.
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