Rolling Stone : The Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego is the big island located at the very southernmost tip of South America. The Beagle Channel provides a safe southern route lengthwise from east to west, allowing ships to bypass the treacherous Cape Horn further to the south. This narrow channel through the mountains is named after Captain Robert Fitzroy's ship the "Beagle", used during a British surveying voyage of 1834. On board was Charles Darwin the ship's naturalist and recorder of the expedition. His account is now a classic book and collector's item, the "Voyage of the Beagle" , which was a precursor of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

The Beagle Channel has spectacular mountain scenery with many glacier-filled fiords joining up with the channel. The best way to see everything is to take the weekly cruise ship "Terra Australis" (ca 120 passengers) from the Chilean port of Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan. The cruise goes easterly along the Beagle Channel to as far as Puerto Williams, which is a Chilean naval base on island of Navarino. Next port of call is to the northern shore and the Argentine port of Ushuaia, which is an important tourist and industrial town on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego. At Ushuaia the cruise ship drops off and takes on passengers and goes westward back along the channel to Punta Arenas, taking 6 days in all. When I did the cruise I left the ship at Ushuaia to explore that part of Tierra del Fuego for 10 days, then returned overland by bus to Punta Arenas

Docking at Ushuaia early in the morning. Snow still on the hills early November.

Old Chilean gun emplacement near Puerto Williams, one time guarding the Beagle Channel from intruders.

Allano views the Beagle Channel from the top of Cerro Bandera at Puerto Williams.

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Accommodation in Managua and Granada

Accommodation in Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas is a tourist town with a wide spectrum of accommodation, ranging from five star hotels (5), to large backpackers (2) to numerous small family guest houses, or hospedajes. Hostels can be found from the website Hostel World and provide private rooms for US $20 to $45. Large backpackers, Casa Azul and Compass del Sur are listed with Backpackers Chileand offer economical accommodation ranging from $10 to $20 dorms to shared rooms with a buffet breakfast for $3.50. They are similar to a large South African backpackers and offer tours, excursions, Spanish classes, you name it and they'll provide it.

Most economical are the family guest houses or hospedajes costing $10 to $15 per person, and listed in guide books like Lonely Planet. A family may rent out to travelers a couple of rooms in a large family house. If you are lucky you may get to share their kitchen to cook meals and learn some Spanish for free at the same time. So you learn how a Chilean family operates. In Puerto Varas I have gone back and stayed at the same hospedaje three years in a row. (and with a different companera each time, which confused mama)

Cape Town for backpackers

Backpackers are very well accommodated in Cape Town. There are dozens of exciting backpackers to choose from. A little booklet called "Coast to Coast" lists them all, with details for booking. The same information is on the Internet for Southern Africa, just put in "Cape Town" for the region.

I shall not recommend any backpackers because that would be unfair and half the fun is finding a good one that suits you. Important factors in your choice are that the backpackers should have good Internet facilities, a good kitchen and dining area, a travel bureau office, a swimming pool, and be close to a popular restaurant, plus any more factors? Many backpackers have ALL these facilities and are converted mansions of old. Lucky you!