PATAGONIA – (ARGENTINA & CHILE)

350 Kilometres  -   37  Days

Cape Town, South Africa - Ushuaia, Argentina

I immensely dislike flying with a bicycle and the trip to South America required a
five o’clock start to catch an early morning flight to Ushuaia via Buenos Aires. The
flight was rather long, being 9 hours and 20 minutes to Buenos Aires, and a further
3 hours and 30 minutes to Ushuaia. On the positive side, all went well except for
having to pay the overweight baggage fee on the last leg.

A taxi ride took me into town and to Hostel Haush, my home for the following three
nights. At last, I’d arrived at Isla Grande, Tierra Del Fuego, an island shared with
Chile and separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The island formed
the Americas’ southernmost tip, and from Ushuaia boats departed on excursions to
Antarctica.

Ushuaia was picture pretty but understandably freezing. Fortunately, enough
outdoor stores were scattered about to stock up on warm clothes. With the sun
setting at 21h30, it felt odd going to bed when it was still light outside. By 23h00,
the time finally came to crawl in and be horizontal.

Ushuaia
Ushuaia reminded me of Alaska’s brightly-painted, corrugated-iron roof homes and
snowy mountain backdrops. Situated on the Beagle Channel and at the foot of the
Andes Mountain Range, Ushuaia was commonly known as the most southern city in
the world. Although, with a population of a mere 64,000, Ushuaia wasn’t much of a
city. Its southern location at 54.8019° S meant artic weather year-round with a
high of barely nine degrees in the warmest months. Heating systems were thus on
year-long, including in summer!