This past week, I had the privilege to visit the southern-most city in the world, which is so far south that it is on an island south of the South American mainland. This city, Ushuaia, is more like a small, touristy town than an actual city. It is super cute and quaint, and I loved my 5 day adventure there. Here is a brief summary of what I did:
Learned to ski in the Andes Mountains
Ushuaia is one of the few places in the world where you can ski in September and October, so I was learning to ski while surrounded by the Italian women's ski team and another country's freestyle team. I'm not too bad, and I was able to hit some green and blue runs by our third and final day of skiing.
Saw a penguin
During my junior year of high school, I had to write a little summary of an article about Argentine penguins for Spanish class. Back then, I never thought that I would actually see one! I didn't manage to get a picture because it swam away from our boat super fast, but here is a picture of some penguin-looking birds that we saw :)
Rafted in the Lago Escondido (Hidden Lake)
This lake was beautiful and the view, no matter where you were standing (or sitting in a boat, as it were), was absolutely stunning. The mixture of forest greenery, mountains, snow, and lake was picturesque and seemed almost fake.
Drove through a lake in a Range Rover
It's a really good thing that I don't get motion sickness, because we drove off-road through parts of a lake and the surrounding forest. At one point, the water was almost to the bottom of the car window. Basically, I was in an Indiana Jones movie.
Visited the Malvinas War (Falklands War) Memorial
For Argentina, the Malvinas Islands, otherwise known as the Falkland Islands, are a huge topic of debate. The Memorial had a wall of names and an everlasting flame, along with a walking history of the conflict. The Memorial reminded me strongly of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC, and it was a privilege to be able to experience such a significant cultural landmark. This is not a pic of the Memorial, but of me looking at it.
Saw Chile from Argentina
Of course, it is illegal to cross into Chile without completing the appropriate documentation, so we couldn't step onto Chilean soil. However, many of the snow-capped mountains that we saw were the natural boundary between Argentina and Chile, and technically considered part of Chile.
This was my first non-Buenos Aires adventure in Argentina, and it served as a reminder that Argentina has so much more to offer than just its capital city. I have more trips planned outside of BA during the following seven months, and I can't wait to experience them and then share them with you!
Besos,
Tina the Exploradora
