Ushuaia -> Puerto Iguazu

The morning of the 17th, we packed up, made more ham and cheeses, and got to our morning shuttle by 9am headed for Tierra del Fuego National Park. Unfortunately, the Buff One cards did not get us any discount at the entrance this time around.

After entering the park, the bus stopped at the southern-most post office in the world. The end of the world post office. The same guy has been there for so many years stamping postcards and taking payments, and he didn’t seem pleased when another tourist tried to tell him that his counting was off (literally just threw her money on the ground).

The climate of this area resembles that of the pacific northwest – slightly humid, chilly, and very dense forest. It didn’t take us long to also notice that we were the youngest people there by at least 20 years. The rest of the travelers were taking day excursions from the cruise ships.

From the post office, it was a 5 mile scenic hike along the cost with views of the other islands and mountains. The trail ended at the park visitors center, a very modern building where we sat and got food and a delicious layered hot chocolate coffee drink. Afterwards, we jogged 2.5 more miles into the park to the Lapatia lookout point overlooking a beautiful body of water. Here, the Pan-American highway route 3 officially ends. One day, I will come back this way via motorcycle with my dad. The bus picked us up from here and we headed back to Ushuaia.

For dinner, we again searched for crab, but to no avail. However, on the way, I did get some neat pics with a motorcycle that someone was kind enough to let me borrow for a few moments. We found a restaurant and ate some of the best seafood risotto I have ever had. After dinner, we found an outdoor artisanal market with live music, dancing, and local stands. We talked to one vender for a while about his chocolate-making process and tried some of the fruits of his labor. Delicious indeed.

The morning of the 18th, we said by to Patricia, got breakfast, and found a café to plan the last few weeks of the trip while we waited for our flight. The airport in Ushuaia is also super small and looks more like a modern log cabin. We took the flight back to AEP airport in Palermo, Buenos Aires, and it felt good to return again. Home away from home. It was good to be among others our age again.

The one-night stay in Palermo was very comfortable. Big apartment with provided snacks and super fast wifi. Dinner this night was a different Indian place, the Taj Mahal. The restaurant was ornately decorated, the music was on point, and the waitresses were even wearing kurtis.

Today, we took a mid-day flight from Palermo to Puerto Iguazu, the city from which you can take a bus to the famous Iguazu Falls, the biggest waterfall system in the world. The city is seated right on the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. We are slowly making our way north again. When we landed, it felt like we just arrived to Cancun. The weather was drastically different from what we were used to – 85 degrees, bright sun, humid, and dense forest.

The transport shuttle dropped us off at a a hotel right next to our Airbnb. The host let us in through the main gate to reveal a larger complex of several small apartment units and a shared courtyard.

For lunch, we found a Mexican restaurant. We wanted to see how it compared to tex-mex. The colorful flags and paper art and day-of-the-dead skulls fit the Cancun vibe even more. Their happy-hour lasts all day, everyday, so we had to try some of the cocktails. They were some of the best. We talked to the waiter and he gave us his number if we wanted to meet up with him later on.

It got dark around 7:45pm, much earlier than we are used to. Tonight’s dinner was Shawarma. It was authentic, very flavorful, and cheap. A perfect meal. On the way, we found several street markets opening up for the night. The streets were 10x more crowded than they were at 4pm when we arrived. It was a Sunday night, but the culture mimicked that of Mar del Plata or Palermo with people out and about enjoying food, live DJs, and beer.

One market was very close to our Airbnb and was packed with local artists, cooks, and performers. There were vendors selling gourds, hand-made jewelry, and Brazilian food, which we need to try soon. Another market had over 20 vendors selling massive jars of olives and jugs of olive oil. Must be a common product in the area. Tomorrow, we are going to the Brazilian side of the falls for a boat tour! Should be a lot of fun, and hoping we can beat the rush of midday tourists.