Day 27 – Walking to Lake Esmeralda
It’s our first full day in Ushuaia, and getting out of bed wasn’t the easiest. Last night we went to the Irish pub right around the corner from where we live and it ended up beeing quite late before I got to bed.
Some of the girls in our groupe hooked up with some local guys and some of us ended up at another club after the irish pub. I guess I was in bed around two thirty last night.
Today we have planned to walk to lake Esmerald, a glazier lake not far from town.
We got a bus booked to pick us up at nine and off we went. The hike is around four kilometres each way and it’s estimated to take two hours. We ended up using about one and a half. You start out on by the road and walk on a trail through the dense forrest, later it thins out some and you get a good view of the mountain. Good hiking boots is a must on this trail unless you can cope with soaked and muddy feet. The trail is very muddy in places and you got to cross som very wet marshes.
One of the girls in our took her shoes of and went barefeet, I guess that’s also an option. For me I’m happy that I had my hiking boots.
Lake Esmeralda is a typical green glacier lake tukked inbetween hight mountains. And the water tastes clear and fresh. I filled my water bottle there for the trip back.
Walking in and by the lake we had sunny clear skies, but on out hike back out it started to get cloudy. I’m glad we did the early start. I’m not envying those we meet going in on our way out.
When we went out we took a wrong turn and ended up a bit further up the road from where we left off. We were an hour and a half to early as well. At the point where we got to the road there was a place that seem to be an restaurant. But of cource it had to be closed.
So we ended up waiting by the road for an hour for our transports. One of the girls managed to hitch a ride with a care that left shortly after we came, and the rest of us hung around for the hour.
Back at the hostel we just dropped off our backpacks and went for lunch. Lunch today again at Tante Sara, close is good.
The rest of the day was spent getting a nice hot shower and relaxing before going out again for some dinner later and then bed.
Day 28 – Exploring Beagle channel and Ushuaia town
Second day in Ushuaia, and today I went on a boat trip on the Beagle channel. We started out going to a small skerry filled with birds, mostly Rock Shags.
Later we went to a small island in the middle of the channel. Here we got the oportunity to go ashore and do a short walk. This island is more or less in the middle of the channel. 100 km to the atlantic and 100 km to the pasific ocean.
The last stop was Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, more birds and a small sea lion colony on one of the rocky skerries. Going on a boat we got quite a bit closer to the animals here than what we did earlier in Puerto Madryn. And they stink 🙂
After the boat trip we had lunch and some of us went to visit the old prison in town. The prison is converted on to a museum covering all king of things Ushuaian. From prison history and the history of the indignious people here to more modern history like ship wrecks and polar exploration.
The place is like a lot of the stores in Argentina, a bit of a mess and loose ends. But with some great stories to be found within the old prison walls.
Again it seem that doing out door activities in the morning pays off. While we were there the rain came. Seem to be the way the weather works here. Sunny mornings and wet afternoons.
In the afternoon I went with Hanna to the Kuar restobar, a great restaurant about two km outside the centre of Ushuaia. We got som great fish, good wine and a great view of the sea. The best meal I’ve had so far on this trip, well worth a visit. It also ended up beeing the priciest meal I’ve had in Ushuaia, mostly because of my choise of fish. For some reason fish seem to be more expencive here than meat. In the north of Argentina I wouldn’t be suprices about that, but down south here I would expect fish to be more accessable.
Day 29 – Last day
Our last day in town and I’ve got no plans. Or rather I was hoping to fins somewhere to exchange some US dollars for some Chilean pesos, but have had no such luck.
I’ve not done a whole lot today, just relaxed. Went for a walk to the shopping mall just outside town to get some stuff for the trip tomorrow and to help Hanna get the food for the next few days.
Later we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and then back to the Irish pub for some more beer.
The place was quite full, but after a while a group of people left a table. We sat down and a few minutes later were asked to move because the table was reserved suddenly.
Guess that’s a sign they didn’t want our money so we left.
Tomorrow we’ll continue north again, going into Chile and then on to Puerto Natales
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