Here at the End of the Earth

Today we embarked on a 12 hour journey to Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city and some would say to the End of the Earth. Well, if we're lucky, it's 12 hours and if not, well, it could be 20. It all depends on the weather at the Magellan Straight where a ferry would take us across. Luckily for us, the waters were fine to cross, but it was still super windy.

We disembarked before the bus drove onto the ferry and then walked on. You can either sit inside or hang out above deck. The weather was nice, and a more adventurous option that also held photographic opportunities.

Back on land, the drive was long, but picturesque. I wish I could've stayed awake the whole time. The landscape continued to be its gorgeous self, and here and there, we could spot wildlife watching us pass by. Our bus eventually rolled into a town where we'd transfer onto minivans to continue the journey south.

But before we could, procedure had all our bags lined up next to the bus, ready to be inspected by customs and their canine colleagues to ensure we weren't bringing anything that would be detrimental to the national parks. It was an interesting exam to observe, but no excitement today.

Our group snagged a minivan all to ourselves, which was nice. We even made stops for miel de lunas and churros at a well known bakery. This plus our snacks tided us over on our journey. As we approached Ushuaia, there were more and more trees covering the mountains, I almost felt like we were looking at the Rockies back home. The beauty of the region is something that never ceased to amaze us.

At the end of the 12 hours, we were there. Ushuaia. A place we'd only previously read about, heard about, dreamed about. It almost felt unreal. Given the later hour, we'll just settle in tonight with a great steak dinner. Tomorrow, we resume our exploration and be on the outlook for penguins.Read more