Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
into the mountains and deeper into forests. The beaver plague, introduced from Canada
in the 1940s, is diminishing due to an active eradication campaign.
Mid-19th-century missionaries, followed by fortune-seekers during the 1890s gold
rush, established a permanent European presence here. The remaining mixed-race des-
cendants of the Yahgan (Yamaná) people are established in the small seaside village of
Villa Ukika, a 15-minute walk east of town along the waterfront.
Sights
Museo MartÃn Gusinde
MUSEUM
(cnr Araguay & Gusinde; donation requested; 9am-1pm & 3-6pm Mon-Fri, limited hr in low sea-
son)
An attractive museum honoring the German priest and ethnographer who worked
among the Yahgans from 1918 to 1923. Focuses on ethnography and natural history.
Parque Etnobotanico Omora
PARK
(
www.omora.org
)
Latin America's southernmost ethnobotanical park has trails with plant
names marked in Yahgan, Latin and Spanish. Take the road to the right of the Virgin al-
tar, 4km (an hour's walk) toward Puerto Navarino. Donations accepted.
Yelcho
LANDMARK
Near the entrance to the military quarters is the original bow of the ship that rescued Ern-
est Shackleton's Antarctic expedition from Elephant Island in 1916.
Activities
Dientes de Navarino
HIKING
Gaining in popularity, this four- to five-day trekking circuit offers impossibly raw and
windswept vistas under Navarino's toothy spires. For detailed trekking routes, refer to
Lonely Planet's
Trekking in the Patagonian Andes
.
Cerro Bandera
HIKING
With expansive views of the Beagle Channel, this four-hour round-trip starts at the Di-
entes de Navarino circuit. The trail ascends steeply through lenga to a blustery stone-
littered hillside planted with a Chilean flag. Self-sufficient backpackers can continue on
the Dientes de Navarino circuit.
