A lot of money passes through Ushuaia – this is where the majority of Antarctic cruises leave from – but not much of that cash seems to stay here. The airport is nice, and there are a couple of expensive hotels, but overall this really does feel like the edge of the earth – the last place in South America (if you don’t count Puerto Williams which can only be reached by air or water and is really only there to claim territorial rights).
All those people spending $10,000 at a minimum to go and see penguins are moping around in their cruiseline branded parkas and may buy a couple of souvenirs; but most of Ushuaia has a hardscrabble frontier feel like Alaska or rural Australia. I can only imagine how hard the life of the poorer inhabitants must be now that Argentina is run by a guy who missed all the lessons of Thatcher and Reagan’s embrace of Austrian economics.
Despite my British passport, everyone was very pleasant to me on my short trip. This was before the Top Gear guys got run out of town under a hail of rocks, but maybe being polite and quiet and trying to order in Spanish helped. Or maybe the locals just didn’t care for rich guys wrecking sports cars on their roads and filming it for entertainment.
I was super broke on this trip – I had no reason to be traveling anywhere, but I had airline miles and hotel points and my credit cards weren’t quite maxed out. I did manage to lose my debit card three days before I left and had to ask my friend Billy to get me $500 in cash to tide me over which was stressful. Vegetarian food is always a challenge in Argentina, and doubly so here. I think I ate pizza most nights, but I survived.
Nonetheless, highly recommended if you like going to the ends of the earth. I’m going to Punta Arenas later this year, so it will be interesting to compare. Major plus point for Ushuaia, there are lots of large dogs that live in or close to various stores, restaurants, and hotels.
“Son muy buenos perros, Bront”
