I don’t know for how long I slept. Maybe an hour and a half. I woke up at 4:30 and dawn was already breaking on the eastern horizon. I drove past a sign pointing to Tierra del Fuego and doubled back to head down the road to the ferry.
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Dawn |
There was a long line of semis and no ferry and no sign of activity in any of the buildings except for the janitor. I asked him what I was supposed to do. He said the ferry arrives at eight to begin loading, makes its first voyage of the day at eight-thirty, and that I needed to queue next to the trucks. Also Argentina pesos were just fine to pay with. So I parked next to the trucks. I still had a three hour wait so I cleared my backseat and curled up to nap. I woke when the semi next to me roared its engine to life.
I got out of the car, opened the rear, and fished out my mouthwash. Looking behind me I saw I was first in a long line. I was also first to board the ferry. I suppose I could’ve not paid because no one asked to see my receipt when I exited.
The boat was very bare bones. Just one level for cars and semis. Cars to the sides and semis in the middle. It made for a tight squeeze and I had to duck under one trailer to return to my car. I was going to have a coffee but everything, the coffee and the milk, was a powder. I walked out on the upper deck to get a view of the Strait of Magellan. One of the crew asked where I was going and then escorted me into an area blocked off with a chain. He said dolphins swim in the channel sometimes. He also said Punta Arenas is much more beautiful than Ushuaia and that I should visit. I probably will not visit.
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| On the ferry |
It took us about twenty minutes to get to Tierra del Fuego. I snapped a picture of the welcome sign then headed on my way. The paved road gave way to a gravel road that lasted for about eighty miles. It was rainy and wet and I slid on the rocks like on snow and ice. Mud splashed all over the body and windows. The Chilean border was quick and painless but the Argentines thoroughly riffled through all my things throwing them out of order. Two of their dogs pissed on my tires. They cleared me to go. I filled up the tank and washed my windows at the gas station outside the border.
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| Final border crossing |
The cops pulled me over in the next town, Rio Grande and I almost splashed one of them. They told me to drive slower and turn on my lights. The rest of the way was a breeze. I second guessed myself and took a wrong turn in the city though. I stopped along the way to Ushuaia to snap photos of mountains. Cloudy and rainy the whole way but began to clear up the closer I got to Ushuaia.
At the entrance to town a couple who bicycled from Buenos Aires was taking photos at the Welcome to Ushuaia sign. I waited until they left and took a few photos of the sign. Then I drove to the end of the highway which happened to be in a national park. The road turned to dirt outside the city and snaked its way through the park all the way to a parking lot and a large official sign proclaiming the end of the road.
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Ushuaia entrance sign
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There wasn’t anything left after that The park and the town are both gorgeous. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, lakes and the ocean. The end of the road. I headed back to Ushuaia and got a room in a hostel and began the search for the cheapest passage to Antarctica.
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