BUENOS días AIRES: Hit the road Jack

Ushuaia, Day 4: To the end of the world and back

»Oh, I'm so hot,« Petra sighed on the back seat. All eyes turned to to thermometer – 20 degrees!! On the first day of April, in the southernmost South, one would expect 5 degrees, at the very best 8 or 9. We realize our luck: The sun and the clouds are fighting for supremacy on the sky, bringing out Patagonian colours in their flashiest nuance: a shiny yellow, a turquoise blue, an emerald green ... all reflecting against the threatening grey of the stormy sky. You have the impression that the sky darkens only for the sake of the colour contrast because in the end it never rains.

Argentina is well known for its legendary Ruta 40 but hardly anybody knows Ruta J. It's the 87 km that bring you nowhere else than – to the end of the world. Properly speaking, to the end of the route: the "Prefectura". It's as far as this that cars or legs can make it. The land beyond is only accessible to the sea adventurers. We spend hours and kilometers without crossing anyone. Peace, quiet and infinite landscapes.

You feel as if stepping on the territory where you are not to step. You feel less like a tourist and more like an explorer, almost an intruder in the nature's perfection: a flock of white birds swishing out of the grey clouds in a matter of a second; a hill of golden Patagonian grass reflecting against the dark blue sky full of almost baroque patterns; the horizon drawing a perfect rainbow arch above the sea as if it was its daily ritual; the waves shaping the pebble stones along the Beagle Channel into perfect circles ... You realize your limits, your smallness – and breathe a sigh of a quiet yet big »whaaau«.

When it's a matter of a day's trip, this landscape is a pure joy. But imagine the first settlers back in the 19th century. No neighbours, no roads, no infrastructure. Three meters of snow trough the whole winter and only 10% of sheep that make it into the spring. We visit Estancia Harberton (1886), the first house ever in the Southern Patagonia. Some 100 km further, Estancia Moet. It is difficult to grasp how people lived and survived here more than 100 years ago. It feels like a trip back in time, in a different geography, into the meeting point between the indigenous yamanas culture and the modern British explorers.

It was definitely the most photogenic day of our holidays. We could have emptied our batteries and memory cards but well, a number of photo stops on the route was limited. We had to make it back to Ushuaia in time for the last »centolla party« (king crab).