There and Back Again

Perito Merino Glacier - El Calafate

We were happy to have a few days to relax in Ushuaia and some time off driving.  Ushuaia is characterised by bad weather and cloudy skies - however it would typically only rain for a couple of hours a day and the rain was never heavy.  So while we were there we went on a 4x4 adventure - which involved impressive 4x4 off-roading, a nature tour identifying beaver dams (beavers are a real pest in Tierra del Fuego), a boat trip across the lake and an Argentinian BBQ for lunch.  

Journey to the end of the world

From the Argentine border with Bolivia, the country spans a massive 5,171km to its Southern-most point, the world’s southern most city, Ushuaia.  Our goal was to traverse this distance through a combination of bus and rental car, to travel to within only 1,000km of Antarctica.

White marks on the bus and road from where the fire extinguisher was employed

The journey didn’t exactly start well.  It was a 7 hour bus ride from the border to Salta, a tourist town in northern Argentina.  We had been looking forward to getting back onto the Argentinian buses and once again enjoy the superior levels of safety, service and comfort that they offered.  However, about 4 or 5 hours into the trip the bus caught on fire.  Panic inside the bus ensued and people were clambering over one another to exit the bus.  Even I moved quickly!  With the fire extinguished we re-boarded the bus (I’m sure this was entirely safe) and made our way slowly to the next town, where, fortunately a replacement bus was made available.