We reached it. After 7 months on the road, all the way from Cartagena, Colombia, we eventually arrived. Ushuaia, the most southern town on planet Earth. The end of the world.
So how far is the end of the world?
More than 30.000km on the continent, 103 buses, 6 planes, 13 boats, 67 taxis, 1 train, 1 car and 1 scooter? The figures speak for themselves. We are far!
Really? The GPS do not leave any doubt, our furthest position is S 54 51’40”. If you are looking for a reference from the north hemisphere, it would be Belfast, in northern Ireland or almost Copenhagen. In other words, living in Stockholm for 3 years, I was closer to the north pole than now, in Ushuaia, to the South one!
Is it really the end of the world?
I am not sure if it’s explorer syndrom (always wanting to see what’s further) or just because I love to be precise, but I have to admit that I am not sure we reached the end of the world. And this for a couple of reasons
Firstly, the presence of the small Chilean town of Puerto Williams on the other side of the Beagle channel makes it easy to contest Ushuaia’s claim. “They are located on an island, not a continent!” would claim some. So is Ushuaia,located on Tierra de Fuego, the 30th biggest island of the globe.
Secondly, as you stand at the waterfront of Ushuaia, thousands of kilometers still separate you from the pole. In the middle, the 6th continent: Antartica. The one that brings every year more and more tourists to Ushuaia, on their way to the real (?) end of the world!
Ushuaia: where ends meet beginnings
Except Antartica, there are only two reasons why travellers go to Ushuaia. For half of us, Ushuaia is the final destination. As we stood 7 months ago, head facing south and our back towards the Carribean Sea, it is now time to turn our back to the Cap Horn and start looking north again. Here (almost) at the end of the world, 14000km from home we have actually never been closer to it: in 2 days, we will fly back to Europe.
The other half have the eyes sparkling of excitement as they just start their own adventure…
Want to start planning your own? Check the itinerary of our 7 months trip across South America
What a beautiful journey !
When we see on the map your trip, it’s impressive !
Congratulations for all
Thanks for your regular posts, they were very interesting and the photos very nice !
Thank you, more to come!
I am fond of your photo ( S 54).
We have travelled with your photos and commentaries. Thank you very much.
You have made a very good preparation for your journey!!!
Thanks. Unfortunately, we did so much that we didn’t had time to write about all our great adventures. The up side? The blog will keep living with these stories for a while!