Visit Ushuaia, the southernmost city

“I met Facko back at his apartment just after 4 o’clock and we caught a quick taxi across town to a gravel road a short walk away from Glaciar Martial, which overlooks the bay. I realised that the short walk through dense fragrant forest would be my last trekking in Patagonia and once again, I quietly made a note to return to this amazing part of the world. As we neared the base of the glaciar we stopped and prepared sandwiches and Maté, a traditional tea consumed in many South American countries and something that I had only tried twice before. Facko gave me my first formal lesson on the social routine that is associated with the drink [...] we passed the gourd back and forth and refilled it from the thermos of hot water, enjoying the tea’s unique bitterness.”

“Before we knew it, we turned a corner on May 10, 2016 and the huge Ushuaia sign popped into our view. We had seen dozens of photographs of this place, usually with couples and their rigs in front of it, with big grins on their faces. There wasn’t really any build up for us, but more of a surprise when I saw the sign before expecting it. Mostly what happened was that I shrieked, “Oh my god! There’s the sign!” and we pulled over to get some photographs.”

“I arrived in the dark, dampened streets of Ushuaia early on Friday evening. The scenery had changed in the last hour of the trip, from endless dusty gravel roads before finally transforming into a winding paved descent through the last of the southern Patagonian mountains. Unfortunately, the views had not done much to ease the cramped conditions on board the 11 hour long bus ride from Punta Arenas.”