Page 266 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

264  ARGENTINA REGION B Y REGION

1 Ushuaia the former houses historical
and zoological displays, its star
Road map B6. * 60,000. k @
from Río Grande or El Calafate. n Ave exhibit the rescued figurehead
San Martín 674, (02901) 432-000. of the Duchess of Albany, an
_ Festival Música Clásica de Ushuaia English vessel shipwrecked
(Apr). ∑ turismoushuaia.com off the coast in 1883; the latter
traces the history of the region’s
Situated at the bottom tip indigenous people.
of Isla Grande, Ushuaia is best High above Ushuaia, the
reached by air. Coming in to beautiful Glaciar Martial
land over the icy peaks of offers panoramic views of the
Cerro Martial and Monte city and Canal Beagle. To reach it,
Olivia, and the frigid waters take the chairlift from Centro
of Canal Beagle, only heightens Recreativo Glaciar Martial before
one’s sense of arrival at the end trekking the final stretch to its base. Jagged peaks near Ushuaia, seen from
of the world. across Canal Beagle
The city began as a penal E Museo Marítimo de Ushuaia
colony in 1884, part of an Yaganes & Gobernador Paz. 2 Canal Beagle
Argentinian government plan Tel (02901) 437-481. Open mid-Dec– Road map B6. 8 Muelle Turístico,
to populate their half of the mid-Mar: 9am–8pm daily; mid-Mar– Ushuaia, (02901) 437-666.
archipelago as a means of mid-Dec: 10am–8pm daily. &
reaffirming sovereignty. The 8 mid-Dec–mid-Mar: 10am daily. Several agencies run tours
7 - = ∑ museomaritimo.com
colony foundered but the by catamaran along the icy
convicts remained, transferred E Museo del Fin del Mundo waters of Canal Beagle (Beagle
to the infamous Ushuaia prison, Ave Maipú 175. Tel (02901) 421-863. Channel). Tickets can be bought
which, from 1902 to 1947, Open mid-Dec–mid-Mar: 9am–8pm at Ushuaia’s Tourist Pier from
housed the country’s most daily; mid-Mar–mid-Dec: noon–7pm where excursions depart. The
notorious criminals. Mon–Sat. & 8 in Spanish only. shortest of these head for the
Visitors can explore the old 7 = Faro Les Eclaireurs lighthouse,
prison at the fascinating Museo E Museo Yámana before returning via Las Islas de
Marítimo de Ushuaia. Guided Rivadavia 56. Tel (02901) 422-874. los Lobos, home to a sea lion
tours take in the prison’s Open mid-Dec–mid-Mar: 10am–8pm colony, and Las Islas de los
cramped cells and recount the daily; mid-Mar–mid-Dec: noon–7pm Pájaros with its bird colony.
crimes of its most notorious daily. & = ∑ museoya Longer excursions head out
convicts. A separate section is mana.com.ar to the 19th-century Estancia
devoted to Ushuaia’s maritime Centro Recreativo Glaciar Martial Harberton, still managed by
history, with displays covering Ave Luis Fernando Martial. the descendants of an Anglican
500 years of navigation. Also of Open 10:30am–5:30pm daily. & - missionary who named the
interest are Museo del Fin del Note: no buses to the chairlift, best to estancia for his wife’s birthplace
Mundo and Museo Yámana: hire a taxi and walk back down. in England.

3 Cerro Castor
Road map B6. Ruta Nacional 3, Km
26.5, 16 miles (26 km) E of Ushuaia.
Tel (02901) 499-302. @ from Ushuaia.
Open mid-June–mid-Oct. & 0 -
= ® ∑ cerrocastor.com
The world’s southernmost
ski resort, Cerro Castor
boasts 19 slopes with a
maximum drop of 2,532 ft
(772 m), the majority
appropriate for beginner and
intermediate skiers. There is
good off-piste skiing, plus a
snowboarding park and,
at the resort’s base, a cross-
country skiing circuit that has
a good claim to being the
most scenic in Argentina,
passing through forests thick
Exhibits at Museo del Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia with lenga beech trees.
For hotels and restaurants see p283 and pp298–9

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