I am now sitting in my bed, with the heater at full blast and defrosting my poor ears that were attacked by the 30 degree cold outside in what is considered the Argentine Antarctica; the region is called Tierra del Fuego and the city, also known as the southern-most city in the world, is Ushuaia.
It’s nice to look back at my high school history classes where we learned about Ferdinand Magellan and how he sailed around what he thought was South America, when in fact he cut through a strait and completely missed the southern tip of Argentina. Flying over what is now called the Strait of Magellan felt like a closing chapter to those history lessons.
We arrived at our hotel and marveled at the impressive snow-covered mountain view, but only for a second; we brought our suitcases in and immediately ventured out to the busy streets of Ushuaia… port-bound.
We hopped onto a catamaran and set sail on the Beagle Channel, a channel that divides Chile from the bigger island of Tierra del Fuego.
Our first stop along the channel was an island that hundreds of cormorants call home.
The second was an island littered with sea lions. They were eager to show us their tricks because the boat was still about 30 yards away from the island when the sea lions dove into the water and swam up to us. The swam in unison, diving in and out of the water. They jumped over the waves that the boat created and bobbed in the water with their heads sticking out and staring at us, as we stared back in absolute amusement. They flipped over, held their tales out in the air and waved at us with them and even showed us their incredible speed by swimming alongside the boat. Luckily, the water was pretty transparent and we were able to see them zip by.
I want one as a pet… a la Andre-style.
Our final island visit was adorned with a beautiful red and white lighthouse called Les Eclaireurs. It’s the lighthouse at the “End of the World.”
I’ll continue my adventures tomorrow as I board the End of the World Train or El Tren del Fin del Mundo. We’ll see where I get dropped off.
I have a great video of the sea lions playing alongside the boat, but it took an enternally long time to upload, so it will be up as soon as I get back to Buenos Aires 
Congratulations! This is awesome.
Thanks Eddy! It’s incredible! There’s so much history here, I’m really trying to remember EVERYTHING I learn
Its so beautiful. I have been facinated by Argintina and Argentine movies since I was a boy. I finally decided to travel down but unfortunately had my accident. Seems like I would need to be able to hike if I want to see everything. I love the pics, I’m living vicariously through you right now
Hey Gabriel! The city reminds me a lot of San Francisco with the sloped streets, but you can take taxis everywhere. As far the tours, I’ve seen easy access to a lot of the areas. You should look into it. I must warn you though, it’s COLD
[...] visited Ushuaia and met the most adorable sea lions who performed tricks for [...]