I had the pleasure of making it to Ushuaia an hour and a half before my birthday! The city is quaint enough, nestled in between mountains and the Beagle Channel. The scenery is breathtaking. The air is refreshingly crystal clean. The water has incredible visibility. And it's cold. Bone chilling cold. With wind. Freezing wind. But so so beautiful. Relatively small city built on a hill, the city is primarily used as a port and a lauching point for expeditions to Antarctica, however also a gateway to Tierra del Fuego national park and some great snowboarding. Unfortunately I´m three months early here, otherwise I would try and score a last minute cruise for the White Continent!
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| View from Ushuaia |
First thing I did in the city was hop on a bus and make my way over to Tierra del Fuego National park for some easy hiking. Being outdoors in the woods again after being in cities, beach towns and jungles for so long was just brilliant. Walking with a good group of new German, English, Australian and Indonesian friends, we did most of the trails in no time! The paths were fairly easy and the weather was pleasant enough however I definitely couldn´t stop thinking about the 25 degree hiking conditions back home.. slightly jealous.
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| Lago Negro en Tierra del Fuego.. Definitely lives up to its name! |
Then the ALS Icebucket challenge. If you haven´t seen it, i`ll throw the link in at the bottom! And if I haven't emphasized the fact that it's cold down here, its FREAKING COLD! Taking some water from the Beagle Channel and doing the challenge at the end of the world was, as all my Australian friends would say, heaps of good fun! The looks people gave me as I walked back soaking wet in a towel in my swimshorts and flip flops were quite impressive.
Then we had a big ol' birthday party! Pizza, salad, beer and wine! Keeping it classy down south of course. Then I was surprised with a birthday cake! The owners of the hostel even ended up giving me a box of Ferrero Rochers to celebrate! Definitely a day to remember, and not a birthday I´ll be forgetting anytime soon. Just a bunch of legends down here.
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| This is how Germans celebrate! |
Day Two.
Took it pretty easy and went to the Fin de Mundo musuem in the morning. Unfortunately a waste of 70 pesos for sure. However later in the afternoon I got into a Beagle Channel tour with Diana the German and H the aussie. Stunning sightseeing, hot chocolate and cookies. That`s all I`m going to write about it, the pictures kind of sums it all up.
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| Beagle Channel in all of its splendor |
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| The Famous Lighthouse |
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| Pretty dang close to these Sea Lions |
It`s crazy here. Every so often I`ll have a bit of a surreal moment as if I`m in a dream. I`ll pinch myself and usually return to reality elated, knowing that yes, I really am in Argentina. Yes I`m really in America del Sul. Yes I seriously just spent my 20th birthday at the End of the World. Yes I still have another four months to go! That`s freaking rad. And I barely play a part in the epicness as well. It`s the location. It`s the people that surround me. Lastly it`s being in the moment and not having a worry about the past or future. But by being in the moment, I`m left with these dream-likedays which I later reflect upon and always do a double take. Just in case. Because if this reality is a dream, I`d like to wake up and remember every single tiny little bit of it. You know, just in case.
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| A long way from home.. |
Off to El Calafate now to get my Glacier hiking on! My wide angle lense on my DSLR is seriously kicking ass down here and completely loving life right now in Patagonia.Ciao
Icebucket Challenge - http://tinyurl.com/k7rccsw
Channy
Ig & Twitter - itsnathanchan
August 27 - Cruz del Sur Hostel, Ushuaia, Argentina
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