National Park Tierro del Fuego

This morning was very warm and sunny. In our windows we saw blazing snow on mountain peaks and people walking without jackets. It was the best weather for our plans this day. It was reserved for visiting the National nature park Tierro del Fuego.

Our hotel was placed halfway between the city center and the park, so we took a taxi to get there. The taxi dropped us at the ticket office and left. We bought tickets and got a park map.

The park was unexpectedly large. The nearest path was to a Beagle Channel beach, and began at about three kilometers from the tickets office. We walked there cheerfully.

Then the weather changed. Clouds covered the sky, and the wind became very strong. We just saw the water ahead when the rain began. When we reached the coast, everything but the water surface and beach was covered with mist. A family of Magellan Gooses stood near the beginning of the path, waiting for us. Nobody was around, but fortunately the trailhead was marked, and we stepped on it, starting a long 8 km walk to Alakush hostel.

After a few minutes we had reached a wild forest. We hesitated a little bit, wondering if we were going the right way, but met two people, going in the opposite direction. After a hundred meters we had caught up with a group of Americans. Our mood improved, the rain had stopped, and the fog dissipated slightly.

The tail had been washed away by the rain so we went slowly. The weather changes all the time and we were tested by the rain, snow, wind and sun. We saw some birds and nice landscapes. There were many trees, interesting and unusual for us. Some of them were covered by fungus, which looked like yellow golf balls. These balls are named llao-llao, or Indian Bread. It is edible! Unfortunately (or may be fortunately?) we learned about it only later.

It took us about 5 hours to reach Alakush, instead of 3 hours like we expected. We were dirty, wet and cold. Not to make a big point of it! We were very happy, when we entered inside a warm and dry house.