Day: 10
Trajectory: Punta Arenas – Porvenir – San Sebastian – Río Grande – Ushuaia
Distance covered: 489 km
The last leg of the journey south was from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia, where we intended to rest up for a few days. Tiso would then fly back to San Martín de los Andes [via Buenos Aires and Neuquén] and I would drive slowly back up the Atlantic coast, filling in the missing bits of the RN40.
B&B in Punta Arenas, run by a friendly if rather odd old lady
We spent the night in Punta Arenas in a very strange B&B, run by an even stranger old Lady. After an early breakfast, during which she stood over us while we ate, we were off to Tierra del Fuego, jointly owned and accupied by Chile and Argentina.
Route of the day (not driven in straight lines, however!). Chile to the left of the red line.
It is easy to forget which country you are in down here, as there are ferrys that are not borders and inland frontiers which are not ferries. But all our crossings went smoothly and quickly, and we were blessed by good weather.
Boarding the ferry from Punta Arenas to Porvenir
We took the ferry from Punta Arenas to Porvenir, still in Chile. One of us slept on the ferry while the other dropped into sketching mode.
Blog owner catching up on his sleep while Tiso has an artistic moment
As you can see, it was a comfortable ride.
A snapshot of Porvenir, which we hardly visited in our haste to drive on
Soon we were in Porvenir and on firm land again, back on the road and driving West to the border with Argentina at San Sebastian. It was good to be on the road again.
On the road again after our ferry ride
We were now in Tierra del Fuego, the Chilean part. Our road at first hugged the coastline, with some spectacular views:
We hugged the shore line for the first part of the day’s driving
Everything was fine until half away along the inland road we were given a lesson in just how sharp the volcanic rock on the roads down here can be:
Victims of super-sharp volcanic rock
These things happen, and to be fair we had been warned about this. We were carrying two spares but this one was beyond repair and would clearly need to be replaced at the first opportunity. One down and one to go. As Tiso commented, we were using just about everything we had packed for ’emergencies’ like this.
Wheel changed, and kept for the alloy wheel only. Back on our way.
We stopped for a bite to eat and eventually hit the town of San Sebastian (Chile) where we got a bite to eat.
Another remote eating place, one of so many we stopped at during our journey
We drove across the two frontier posts and were now back in Tierra del Fuego, the Argentine part. Our next stop would be Rio Grande if we chose to stop there. We were accompanied along this road –as in much of Tierra de Fuego– by flocks of guanaco, some super timid and some cautiously curious of us.
One of a great many flocks of guanaco that we saw
The guanaco are not fenced in, but roam wild. They are excellent at jumping fences to get to greener grass or to escape passing Jeeps. I began to like the guanacos; they are dignified, independent and essentially free.
Closer view of guanaco – such curious animals
Back in Argentina it was still flat, open country. We decided to drive on to Ushuaia and drove right by Rio Grande (I would visit it on the way north). As we drove closer to Ushuaia we came back into a mountainous area – although not as high as the Andes further north they still offer spectacular views.
Back in the mountains as we continue south to Ushuaia
We arrived in Ushuaia in the evening, tired but well, and fixed up lodgings for a few nights in a hostal and a hosteria, side by side, alternating as bookings at each were tight but between the two we managed. More in the next blog.