Roaming Ruth: February 25

On February 20, we docked at Ushuaia (pronounced oooSCHWAYyah), Argentina. Ushuaia claims to be the southernmost “city” in the world. Puerto Williams, Chile, is further south, but is technically a “town”, not a city.

I took a tour of the Tierra del Fuego National Park and was surprised to learn that the terminus of Route 3 (the Pan American Highway) is in this park. Highway 3 begins in Fairbanks, Alaska (wish I had taken a picture of the origin - little did I know one day I would be at the end). The distance from Fairbanks to Ushuaia is 17,848 kilometers. (Laura - there are people that bike it!)

Also, the southernmost golf course is in Ushuaia. Might have been fun to play at the southernmost golf course having played at the northernmost in Fairbanks. It was a little nippy here that day and I do have pictures.

Ushuaia Golf Course

Ensenada Bay in Park

Freshwater lake in Park

End of Highway 3

End of the Road!

Our Location

View from Restaurant/Gift Shop

Leaving Ushuaia

From the afternoon of the February 20 through today, we have been cruising the Chilean fjords with a stop in Punta Arenas on Sunday February 21. Tomorrow we arrive in Laguna San Rafael where we will board catamarans and get a real close up of a glacier.

A little tidbit about icebergs. Technically, an iceberg has 10 feet of ice showing above the water. Icebergs have 90% of their ice below water, so minimum size of an iceberg is 100 feet = 10 above, 90 below. One of my pictures shows a piece of ice which would qualify as an iceberg. Unfortunately the rescue boat pulled away before I got the picture, so you can’t see the contrast of the rescue boat next to the iceberg (the boat plus the 6 foot tall men on board).

Here’s a sampling of the glaciers so far: