Established in 1960, it was the first shoreline national park established in Argentina. Before beginning our short trek, we visited the southern most post office which is located here in the national park. It is the "Post Office at the End of the World." Of course, I had to buy a postcard and send it from here! It has a special stamp on it in addition to the regular postage.
We walked the Senda Costera (Coastal Path) which connects Ensenada Bay to Lapataia Bay on Lago Roca. The subantarctic forest vegetation is mainly a species of coihue, nires, and lenga trees, native to the Andes. They are also known as lenga beech trees.
We had the opportunity to stop often and marvel at the beauty of the area.
Our guide, Santi, explained that the mounds you see in the picture were formed as far back as 6500 years ago by the inhabitants of the Onashage coasts. (Beagle Channel) Each family group would build small rounded huts and ate lots of shellfish, discarding the shells around their huts. The results was a large mound of waste that eventually was covered in dirt and are called shell middens.
We were surprised how clear the water was!
Horses are not native to the area, but were introduced by the Spanish. There are actually several wild horses that roam the park now, whether they escaped from nearby farms or were turned loose, they now live in the wild.
Our guide, Santi, explained that the mounds you see in the picture were formed as far back as 6500 years ago by the inhabitants of the Onashage coasts. (Beagle Channel) Each family group would build small rounded huts and ate lots of shellfish, discarding the shells around their huts. The results was a large mound of waste that eventually was covered in dirt and are called shell middens.
We were surprised how clear the water was!
Horses are not native to the area, but were introduced by the Spanish. There are actually several wild horses that roam the park now, whether they escaped from nearby farms or were turned loose, they now live in the wild.
We also spotted a couple caracara birds as we returned to our shuttle bus. They are scavengers and their behavior is similar to vultures.
Next stop was Sendas Del Turbal - Mirador Lapataia. The closest translation is "Peat Bog Path" to the Lapataia Lookout. We followed an easy trail for about 1/2 mile to the lookout.
At this point we stopped. We looked left and could see the peak in Argentina.
When we looked to the right, this part of the Andes is located in Chile.
We passed several trees with a moss growing on it that they call "Old Man's Beard," similar to a Spanish moss.
There was a lookout where we got our first glimpse of Bahia Lapataia. This wilderness area has been inhabited for 10,000 years, recently only by the indigenous Yamana people. They named the bay which means "Bay of Forests" in the native Yamana language. They were known to build fires as a form of communication between islands, which inspired the name Tierra del Fuego, or "Land of Fire."
Many tour buses drive to the boardwalk lookout and don't do the hike, so there were many people down by the bay. The boardwalk is actually along a fjord which is a branch of the Beagle Channel, which was named after the boat carrying Charles Darwain on his journey.
Next stop was Sendas Del Turbal - Mirador Lapataia. The closest translation is "Peat Bog Path" to the Lapataia Lookout. We followed an easy trail for about 1/2 mile to the lookout.
At this point we stopped. We looked left and could see the peak in Argentina.
When we looked to the right, this part of the Andes is located in Chile.
We passed several trees with a moss growing on it that they call "Old Man's Beard," similar to a Spanish moss.
There was a lookout where we got our first glimpse of Bahia Lapataia. This wilderness area has been inhabited for 10,000 years, recently only by the indigenous Yamana people. They named the bay which means "Bay of Forests" in the native Yamana language. They were known to build fires as a form of communication between islands, which inspired the name Tierra del Fuego, or "Land of Fire."
Many tour buses drive to the boardwalk lookout and don't do the hike, so there were many people down by the bay. The boardwalk is actually along a fjord which is a branch of the Beagle Channel, which was named after the boat carrying Charles Darwain on his journey.
This is also the southern point of the longest motorway in the Western Hemisphere, the Pan-American Highway network! Argentina's National Route 3 is the last of the the highway that starts in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Talk about a roadtrip!
We headed off to an "included" lunch in the left dome restaurant before heading back to town. There was a lot of food, most of it okay.
We headed off to an "included" lunch in the left dome restaurant before heading back to town. There was a lot of food, most of it okay.
We spotted more horses as we left the park.
This evening we took a walk down by the water and enjoyed the sights around the town of Ushuaia. Yes, we have to walk down this hill to get to the bay (and back up to our hotel!).
One of the ships that wrecked in the Channel years ago was pulled into the harbor.
We had an early (7:30) dinner tonight and were back to the hotel by 9:00. We were planning to have seafood which is supposed to be fabulous here in Ushuaia, but the line to the restaurant was halfway down the block! We ended up at a steak/lamb restaurant and had probably the best filet we have had since coming to Argentina! We shared one steak and salad and could hardly finish it! Our waiter was really great, too. Tobey asked him what was the best cut of lamb and he brought us a sample. Awesome!
We had an early (7:30) dinner tonight and were back to the hotel by 9:00. We were planning to have seafood which is supposed to be fabulous here in Ushuaia, but the line to the restaurant was halfway down the block! We ended up at a steak/lamb restaurant and had probably the best filet we have had since coming to Argentina! We shared one steak and salad and could hardly finish it! Our waiter was really great, too. Tobey asked him what was the best cut of lamb and he brought us a sample. Awesome!
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