Welcome to the end of the world…

 

     

Ushuaia!  The southern-most city in the entire planet is a spectacular destination, filled with natural wonders like the sealions, king cormorants and snow-capped peaks pictured above.  We liked it so much we extended our stay by four more days, and ended up cruising the Beagle Channel, hiking up to another glacier and trying the local delicacy king crab (for all you ‘Deadliest Catch’ fans).  Our host in Ushuaia was a couch-surfing host called Luis, who made our stay a memorable one.  Onwards now to Chile – Argentina we shall miss you, see you in December!

Parque de Los Glaciares – The Unforgettable Moreno

 

 

Rising 75m above water level and 5km wide at this terminus, the Moreno Glacier presents itself with grandeur and splendour as the crown jewel  of Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares.  The world’s third largest reserve of (frozen) water, sports the most beautiful shade of blue (apparently as a result of lower levels of oxygen in the ice) which wraps itself firmly around all of your senses.  By far the most dramatic moment of any time spent here is during an ice-calving, where huge edifices of ice fall and smash violently into the water – the last photo was ‘the big one of the day’ where this titanic portion of the right flank creaked and swayed and, with a tremendous cacophony, blitzed the waters of the right hand flank.  Truly epic.

Peninsula Valdes – Southern Right Whales, Guanacos, Elephant Seals, Sea Lions and Magellanic Penguins

   
   

“It’s nowhere, nowhere in the middle of nowhere…”

 

 

 

 

…So said our friend Alejandro as we departed for Sierra De La Ventana and he was kinda right…there really is very little here; a general store that reminds me of ‘Open All Hours’ where they serve you with your goods from behind the till; a farm; another farm… and that’s about it.  But they are not the stars of the show here, the Sierras are.  Gorgeous, grey green mountains that make you feel like you are in a Tolkein-esque landscape, dotted with peregrine falcons and wild horses.  We hitch-hiked to and from the gates of national park, trekking up the Cerro Bahia Blanca whilst we were there.  These photos really don’t do any justice to the vastness of it all, but we hope you enjoy the views as much as we did.