The end of the world route (La Ruta del fin del mundo)

The 12 of December we left Rio Gallegos following Route 3 and arrived at the border crossing Paso Integracion Austral which connects Argentina and Chile. From there we followed Route 255 and crossed the Magellan Strait. On the same route, we crossed back into Argentina at the San Sebastian border station following the by now routine paper drill. Eventually we ended up spending the night at Rio Grande at Graciella’s blue house (literally a blue wooden house). We found Graciella by chance searching on I-Overlander for a place to stay, and she turned out to give quite us a host of useful tips on what to do and what to see on the final leg to Ushuaia. Again, a reminder of the importance of talking to locals….   

On the way south – announced as the route to the end of the world – we deviated based on Graciella’s recommendation from Route 3 to the South Atlantic coast (following route A) – about 80 km on a dirt road – until we reached Cabo San Pablo. We parked the Toyota and discovered to our surprise that the camper next to us had Spanish registration…… the first on our approximately 13000 km trip so far.  When hiking up a small mountain with a lighthouse we met a couple from Barcelona (on a maybe, according to them, 3 years’ exploration of the Americas – with Alaska as destination). Sometimes the world feels small indeed 😊.

After this 80 km bumpy deviation, we continued to Tolhuin, reportedly the heart of Tierra de Fuego – but really in the eyes of a hungry and tired driver only a windy half empty small town on the endless steppe……  I ask the locals for forgiveness for my blindness of the local beauty.    We spent the night at a windy but after all cozy camping Hain at the shoreline of lago Fagnano– we met other travelers and had good conversations around the stove at nightfall.

The night, however, turned out to be so windy (though we had sought out the most sheltered area) that I at one stage thought that the tent structure would be tore to pieces. However, nothing happened (thanks to Chinese engineering – our tent is manufactured in China 😊). Eventually, we woke up to a calm and sunny day.