New Years at ‘El Fin Del Mundo’

(** Hey all! We are about 1 month behind on our posts and are currently in Brazil!  Please check back often as we intend to catch up over the next couple of weeks!)

After bussing further and further south and reaching southern Chile, our previous stop at Puerto Natales was to be our southern-most point on the trip.  However, after coming this far, we figured what’s another couple hundred miles… let’s keep on truckin’ south until we run out of road.  :- )

 Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world and is part of the ‘Tierra Del Fuego’ (land of fire) region of Patagonia… a desolate and wind-blown place. 

Tierra Del Fuego is actually disconnected from the mainland and getting to Ushuaia would require us to cross the Straight of Magellan.  Not the most comfortable ferry crossing but interesting for sure:

The next day we took a small boat tour through the Beagle Channel… named after Darwin’s famous ship that surveyed the area in 1830 (see, we are learning a couple things along the way!)

The “southern most structure in the world”, a lighthouse in the Beagle Channel. Ushuaia’s most notable landmark.

Sea Lions…

As we came up to this island full of black and white birds, Jen and I were excited to see more penguins! 

But, as they started flying off we realized we were not so lucky.  :- )

Trees growing sideways due to the incessantly strong winds:

 

 

Being the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia is the most popular port city for cruises to Antarctica.  We would definitely not have the budget for that… maybe we can start saving for a 25 year anniversary trip:

Other random pictures around town:

Racks of pork roasting in open fire pits:

A huge penguin just roaming the streets!

Spanish to English translation fail:

 

New Years 2012

In Torres Del Paine, we had met David and Lily, who were also celebrating their honeymoon.  We kept in touch and were able to meet up in Ushuaia for a bit before new years:

As you might imagine, Ushuaia is not exactly known for its night-life.  Nonetheless, we were able to find a friendly pub to ring in the new year.  Some pals of ours we met earlier in the evening… Michael and Catherine.

Outside after New Years, the sun was still setting.  This would definitely rank up there with one of the more memorable places to bring in the new year!