Ushuaia, even the name has an exotic sound to it. How about “Tierra del Fuego”, “land of fire”? Evocative names for a unique place. This is the southernmost city on the planet. Below here its ocean and then Antarctica.
This is a small new city with a population of only 70,000. It is the starting point for most cruise ships bound for Antarctica but tourism is not the main source of income here with fishing and extraction of oil and gas bigger industries. An interesting new development here is that this is a tax free haven and responding to the government’s attempts to encourage industry to relocate there big players such as Samsung have moved in and the town is experiencing a bit of a construction and population boom. Nonetheless the heart of town is centred around the docks and sees mostly tourist shops and restaurants. Boldly emblazoned on most souvenirs is the phrase “El fin del Mundo” which translates to “the end of the earth”.
The HMS Beagle carrying the naturalist Charles Darwin on his way to scientific fame in the Galapagos sailed through here in 1832. It is from this that the name of the sea channel that Ushuaia straddles derives, the Beagle strait and it forms a spectacular back drop to the city. When sailing through the Beagle’s crew noted multiple fires dotting the countryside lit by the natives, hence the name Tierra del Fuego. Going ashore they meet the indiginous people. Despite the extreme cold they are naked and Darwin describes them as subhuman savages.
Despite it being just on the end of summer the weather here is best described as brooding. Thick clouds fill the sky, there is no rain but all around is grey and the daily maximum struggles to reach 10C. Our hotel here sits on a cliff overlooking the Beagle strait with magnificent views. Across the strait is Chile as they have claimed all the lands south of Ushuaia including the bottom tip of South America, Cape Horn.
