First, a confession - we didn't originally plan on going to the End of the World (Fin del Mundo) on our sabbatical. It happened spontaneously, while we were in Esperanza. We bought tickets on a whim. No warm clothes? No warm shoes? No problem! We figured we'd deal with that once we got to Ushuaia. When we got off the plane in our tropical t-shirts, we pretty much froze our bottoms. It was 10deg C (50deg F) on a warm day…and this was middle of the heat wave in the summer time.  

Ushuaia was a place of respite for us. With the exception of the very last week of our sabbatical, this was the only stop along the way where we actually spent one week in one place - one hotel, on time to pack and unpack. And as you can see from the pictures, the beautiful scenery, the calmness of the surroundings and the slow-pace lifestyle of the locals was just perfect for that.

It was mid January 2003, a time when it seemed that the US and other parts of the world were on the brink of the world. Being fairly disconnected from the rest of the world (some by choice), we didn't know the details of the happenings. Ushuaia felt - is - so …safe. No matter what was happening to the north, this place seemed to be forgotten my most of the world. We felt protected by its mountains to the north, and oceans to the south, east and west. A tip of the continent. 

Probably one of the smallest houses in the world. Owned by a local architect, it sits inconspicuously in the middle of a neighborhood. We happened to find it thanks to the taxi driver, who drove by in on a whim on our way to the airport. 

Internet access was pretty prevalent in the town. Increasingly more international cruise ships stop in the town for a day or two; the influx supports handful of Internet Cafés and one-hour photos shops. Note: a green Intel logo sign? Perhaps we should send them a new sticker... 

Just because the town of Ushuaia is the southernmost town in the world (only ~500miles from the shores of Antartica), it doesn't mean it's a hole in the wall. They have a pretty thriving downtown, several great places to eat and selection of hair cutting places. We may have been freezing our behinds, but at least Geoff was stylin'! And Lenka spent time time admiring the skillful Argentinian hands of the barber. Olala! 

In addition to having handsome and skilled barbers, the town also boast some of the best (we thought) barbeque places in Argentina. Meat lovers' paradise. Lenka didn't want to leave. By the time of our departure, she mastered the art of eating 4 blood sausages in one sitting. Geoff still raves about the pork chops. For U$ 5.00 all you can eat, we consumed enough protein for the rest of the trip.  

We ate a lot. We slept a lot. Basically, we wedged. But we did spend a day at the Parque Nacional de Ushuaia (National Park of Ushuaia).

As you may notice from the picture, Lenka is wearing Geoff's new birthday present - a big, warm, Ushuaia winter coat. As crazy as it sounded at the time, the big, bulky cloth article actually came in very handy in Africa…but, I'm getting ahead of myself!  

This scene struck us as funny; I guess no matter where you go in the world, even if it seems like middle of now-where you will always find happy camera people. 

One foot in Argentina, one foot in Chile. 

The park has gorgeous marshes throughout 

It seems appropriate to close our journey through Argentina with this picture. It may be the "Fin" for now, but every end has a new beginning