Tierra Del Fuego

I reached the southern part of Argentina known as Tierra del Fuego, or the Land of Fire, in the beginning of my travels. I showed up in my early 20’s with my first digital camera ever in hand, but sadly over time I lost all my original photos! All I can do is share these ancient photos which were heavily reduced in size, but hopefully you can still get an appreciation for how beautiful this land is until I return again. This mountainous island is decorated with dramatic coastline and channels that create some of the most picturesque scenery I’ve ever seen.

I actually spent most of my time in the city of Ushuaia, which is famous for being the most southern city in the world. Somehow I left with no photos of it, but I remember well the small cafes, restaurants, and a number of outdoor stores that seemed to line every street. Instead I took most of my photos while I was hiking random trails through the mountains and along the coastline. I actually ended up in Ushuaia to board a ship to Antarctica, so until I come back I have in many ways barely scratched the surface of exploring this amazing region. The two photos above show some of the shots I took while on a trail I had heard about in my hostel.

I could easily tell this place was a bird watching paradise, and saw several birds of prey and even caught this woodpecker above. Tierra del Fuego is actually teeming with wildlife. There are tours for whale watching, penguin colonies, as well as healthy populations of animals such as foxes and guanacos. During my hike I didn’t see any exotic animals, but did pass several horses, some owned by locals, and a few that I wondered if they might be feral.

I think one of the things I found most interesting about Tierra del Fuego was its stable temperatures and relative warmth despite how far south it is. If Tierra del Fuego was the same distance north of the equator, it would only be four degrees short of the capital of Alaska! Despite this the temperatures remain cool all year around, usually hovering just above freezing in the winter time and peaking in the mid 50’s (10C) during their summer. These photos show how diverse the landscape is, with fields of green and mountainous woodlands. Below are two photos of me during my hikes, where in the same day I visited a warm lagoon and later hiked to a higher elevation to reach summer snows at the base of a glacier!