Argentina - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 140

1 CROSSING INTO CHILE AND TIERRA DEL FUEGO

Reaching Tierra del Fuego from the Argentine mainland requires travelling through Chilean
territory. The journey, which takes the better part of a day (there are no night buses along
this route) and involves crossing two borders as well as the Magellan Straits, can feel like
a time-wasting exercise in theatrical passport-stamping between two frosty neighbours.
The Chilean border crossing (no food of any kind is allowed across) is 68km south of Río
Gallegos at Monte Aymond. Once in Chile, take the road for Punta Arenas (see p.462) and
Puerto Natales (see p.467). If your destination is Argentine Tierra del Fuego, turn left onto
the RN257 at Kimiri Aike, 48km from the border. Follow this road to Primera Angostura, where
a car ferry takes twenty minutes to cross the narrowest section of the Magellan Straits
( W tabsa.cl/Eng/Html/PrimeraAngostura.php; every 45min 7/8am-11pm/midnight; 20-30min;
CH$1600 per person, CH$14,000 for a car). If you're headed to Río Grande and Ushuaia
(see below), the road travels through part of Chilean Tierra del Fuego until reaching San
Sebastián , the island's first Argentine settlement. If you book a bus ticket from Río Gallegos to
Ushuaia or Río Grande (or vice versa), the ferry crossing is included in the ticket price and the
bus driver will guide you through the border crossing formalities.
An alternative route to Puerto Natales from Río Gallegos is to head 260km west along the
RN40 to the coal-mining town of Río Turbio ; the Chilean border crossing (open 24hr) is 35km
south at Paso Casas Viejas/La Laurita.

the Argentine mainland - though it's
a destination in its own right for
fly-fishermen in pursuit of brown trout.
High season is from December to
February, when days are longest and
warmest. Spring (Oct to mid-Nov) is
beautiful and lush, but even windier than
normal. Autumn (late March to April) is,
arguably, the best time to visit, when the
countryside is lit up in warm shades of
red and orange. But Ushuaia's growing
status as a winter-sports playground
ensures the “uttermost part of the earth”
is now a year-round destination.

Tierra del Fuego
A rugged and isolated archipelago at the
extreme southern tip of the continent,
TIERRA DEL FUEGO (Land of Fire) marks
the finish line for South America. Here
the Andes range marches into the chilly
southern oceans; deciduous forests and
Ice Age glaciers lie a stone's throw from
a wildlife-rich shoreline, penguins and
sea lions huddle on rocky islets, salmon
and trout thrash about in the rivers,
and sheep and guanacos graze on arid
windswept plains.
The archipelago is shared, with historic
hostility, by Argentina and Chile, and
only about a third of Isla Grande (Tierra
del Fuego's main island and the largest in
South America) belongs to Argentina.
This includes Ushuaia , however, the
region's top destination. As locals will
proudly point out, it is the planet's
southernmost inhabited city. It's a
jumping-off point for the lakes and
mountains of Parque Nacional Tierra del
Fuego , as well as historic estancias , boat
trips on the Beagle Channel , downhill
and cross-country skiing in the winter,
and cruises to Antarctica in summer.
To the north, a stop in the unattractive
town of Río Grande may be a necessary
evil if you are travelling to or from

USHUAIA
USHUAIA is cold, damp and disarmingly
pretty, set on a bay on the wildlife-rich
shores of the Beagle Channel with
a backdrop of jagged mountains
and glaciers.
The world's southernmost city lies
3500km south of Buenos Aires and just
1000km north of Antarctica , a fact you'll
have no problem detecting: even in
summer you need to wrap up warm
(unless you plan to follow the lead of the
original inhabitants who got around just
fine naked and slathered in seal grease).
Another thing you'll need plenty of here
is money; as the gateway to Antarctica,
Ushuaia is very expensive. Looking back