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Patagonia Part 5 - Punta Arenas and Ushuaia

Today, we took a bus which brought us from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, another city in the chilean part of Patagonia. After El Calafate and Puerto Natales we didn't really like it. Maybe it was also because we had so much nature around us for the last days that we weren't much motivated to explore the city. We had a nice late lunch at "Los Lomitos" and later explored the cementary (quite impressive!), afterwards a very funny evening at "La Marmita" restaurant. 

Punta Arenas



The next day, we left Punta Arenas. This journey was long. 12 hours to Ushuaia - to the End of the World. Tierra del fuego. Land of fire. We were all a bit afraid of the 12h busride (especially those without netflix...), but it was not as hard as we had thought. In the bus, we got something to eat (better service than at home!!), then we had to change to the ferry. This was a welcome change - even if the waves made us all looking contentrated to the horizon.. :-) Crossing the boarder to Argentina again and the last miles in a minivan that had probably been perfumed with 3l of terrible sweet perfume hours before... 

When we arrived in our hotel in Ushuaia "Cilene del faro" we couldn't believe our eyes. Did we really get the 2 suites on the highest floors?? Yes, we did!! Home parties, here we come!! :-) The view from the balcony was fascinating. I couldn't believe it. Now we really reached the End of the world. The Antarctica only 1000 km away. Ushuaia - the southernmost city on earth. Where so many adventures began. Unbelievable! 

The view from our suites balcony - Ushuaia, the southernmost city on earth

Ushuaia harbor
I think I don't have to mention that we slept very well in our luxury suites... 

 The next day, Carmen (a german member of the group) and me decided to do a tour that took us to Tierra del fuego Nationalpark. Our guide Facu had told us that it's an "old ladies tour" with a hop on-hop off bus, so we were a bit ashamed to do it. But once again it's good if you don't trust your guide sometimes. The tour was great! We had a very good (and handsome!!) guide named Luciano and a funny group - a bunch of loud, spanish ladies, an Austrian couple, Carmen and me. We saw a lot of nice things! For example the Fin del mundo train (End of the world train), which was used between 1909 and 1952 to transport material to the prison of Ushuaia but also to transport prisoners which had to chop wood in the forests. Today it's a huge (and expensive) tourist attraction. 




 We also visited world's southernmost post office... 


... beautiful lakes...



Some mate to go - the first sip tasted...umm.... not so nice.... But after the next sips, I really started to like it! 



 ... Landscapes that are inhabited by the beavers. It was interesting to learn that beavers are a huge problem in Patagonia. They were once brought from Canada to Patagonia to start a fur business. Only 25 animals. But the weather was to warm so the fur wasn't thick enough for a good business. Now there are several thousands who destroy the forests. And no fur business. I don't want to imagine what will happen with those animals in the future! :-( 


We also reached the ending point of the famous Panamericana - route (which goes from Alaska to Patagonia). Ooh, do I feel some inspiration?? 




Luciano had another surprise for us - he pulled out a bottle of Lengui (an Argentinian liquor) out of his pocket. It tasted fantastic - and made the Spanish ladies even more talkative (and fortunately my Spanish better! :-) )... 




Back in Ushuaia, Carmen and I went for coffee and cake (we did this whenever we could and it soon was the running gag of the group. Now that I think of it I guess it wasn't that wrong to put us in an old ladies group! :-) ). We walked along the harbor and later enjoyed the hotel spa. 






Sneak peak: In my next (and last) post about my Patagonia adventure, you'll read about one of my personal highligts. Meet the... 


Some recommendations for you:

 PUERTO NATALES:
- Café "The Coffee Maker": very cosy café, good coffee, nice shops next to it. And good wifi (which you should use if you're in Patagonia! You never know when it's next!) !
- Café and hostel "Amerindia": a very nice hostel with a very cute, public café and great staff. The "Love Cake" we ate was awesome!! 
- Restaurant "Wild": good burgers, nice atmosphere
- Restaurant "El bote": great staff, nice interieur, fantastic local beer and food

 PUNTA ARENAS:
- Visit the local cementary. A bit similar to the one in Buenos Aires. Big, impressive! 
- Eat a tasty sandwich at "Los Lomitos". Recommendation of our tour guide. We enjoyed it! 
- Restaurant "La Marmita": a fantastic restaurant with great food and nice interieur! Try it if you're there! 








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