Ushuaia Park ~ Argentina Pictures & Information

Steam train at Estacion Fin del Mundo in Ushuaia Park

This station is located about 8 kilometres (5 miles) west of Ushuaia, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from the park boundaries, and is where the train leaves for the hour-long ride through the park. In Winter, departures are once each day at 10 a.m. though in busy holiday times, another run may be added. Summer departures are 9 a.m., noon (conditional on minimum number of passengers), and 3 p.m. Depending on the number of tours operating on any given day, the station can be *very* crowded for the half hour or so before each departure. I was quoted a fare of $50 ARS (about $16 USD).

End of the World Train Station

Still at the same location shown above; this is the station where you buy your ticket, and browse the souvenir shop or try to find a table in the coffee shop. There's a web site for the train (trendelfindelmundo.com.ar). The train cars are not large -- think 'can of sardines' and you pretty much have it. I stayed with the bus, though many of my 20 or so fellow day trippers took the train. We met them near the park station about 45 minutes later, and they continued the tour with us.

All aboard the train

Just a few of the buses lined up to transfer passengers to the train. There were 8 or so the morning I was there. There's a broad field off to the right in this shot, and an old cabin, hard against a sudden steep hill. Expect to wait at least half an hour from when you arrive until the train leaves. Then the buses can leave, too, once the drivers are certain that all their passengers who wanted to were able to get on the train.

In Tierra Del Fuego Park Ensenada Bay

Our first stop in the park, other than at the nearby office where we stop to pay the $20 ARS ($6.50 US) entry fee, is here at Ensenada Bay, another section of the Beagle Channel (Canal Beagle.) The park officers were soliciting signatures for a petition that asked they get a raise in pay, their first in 20 years, they said. Across the bay is the Isla Redonda, both much visited by tour company catamarans.

Ensenada Bay walking trail

Bus passengers have the option of taking a 15-20 minute walk along the bay shore trail. Had we come here one day earlier, this scene would have sparkled under bright sunshine. This day, the skies kept threatening rain, then making good on their threat The previous night, torrents of drumming rain had awoken all from their sleep, flooded Ushuaia's bayside streets, and rendered these hiking trails slick mud.

11,181 kilometres (6,947 miles) for this?

Though on this day, I didn't know the actual distance, I remember saying something along the lines of, "You mean to tell me that I have travelled all this distance, at some considerable expense, to find out that 'here' is just like 'home'?" For much of this area and Patagonia, the scenery had seemed oddly familiar. But when the guide launched into her tale of Canadian beavers infesting the park, well, gosh. In Canada, we have those critters everywhere. I later found out this reaction -- a Mirror Image or Deja Vu feeling -- is common among North Americans. How must Andean natives react on seeing Banff or Alaska?

South Argentina . . . Canada's Double?

We stood for some long minutes in the spitting rain watching a dark, sleek shape tease the surface of the river, hoping that an elusive beaver would pop up for a look and a close up shot. But no, it never did. So, we set about salvaging the photo op stop with this bird on a log (I think the guide called it a Great Grebe) anticipating our next stop: Coffee and hot chocolate. Tierra Del Fuego National Park could be a location double for a movie of Canada's North. Better weather here, though, and a favourable currency exchange rate, too!

Boardwalk at the Fiord last stop of day tour

Well, due to the rainy day precluding long, slow forest and river strolls, all the tour buses converged on the park restaurant at the same time. Though at least a half dozen staff did their best to handle the sudden crowd, it was a steamy mad house, and all the inmates were armed with scalding drinks. The washrooms, too, were popular spots, and so much of the half-hour stop was spent standing in line for one thing or another. But, refreshed, we headed to the last stop for the day, where this boardwalk took us to the edge of a fiord.

Bus it? Or cruise back to Ushuaia? Day cruise dock

The boardwalk leads to a small pier, where this catamaran with day trippers from Ushuaia docks just after noon. We were given the option, for $120 ARS ($40 US) including lunch, to board the boat for a ride through the fiords back to Ushuaia. But the low clouds and spitting rain blocked mountain views -- precisely the reason I had decided not to take a cruise at this time of year (November). This is just the start of the season. There's usually better weather in January or February for cruising fiords and admiring glaciers.

Pan America Highway Ends or starts here Bahia Lapataia

The end of the Pan American Highway, or the start, depending whether you are coming from, or going to, Alaska, some 17,848 km (11,090 miles) distant.

Yet again, most visitors, web sites and travel writers have this same shot. The Bahia Lapataia means 'Wooded Bay' in Yamana.

End of the World Men at Work

Much of this park at the end of the world is fragile peat bogs, which is why access is limited to certain areas.

This day, the men were working on a new boardwalk to better serve the bay foot traffic.

This walk links to the boat pier.

You'll find washroom set up at one edge of the parking lot.

This is the last stop before heading back to town.

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