Nov 2 – Day 9 – El Dia de Autobus
There is only one spot in town where all the buses in Ushuaia go, and it is located at the corner of the Maipu and Fadul streets. If you look up Bus Sur on Google it will direct you to the ticket office a few blocks away, but if you have your tickets already you’ll want to go straight to the bus stop. It will be helpful, and the bus drivers will ask to see it before you board, to have your Chilean SAG Declaration form done online in advance. Trust me, this will save you much stress. If you are like us and don’t have local cell service, it is best to complete the SAG form while you have WiFi.
The bus is the best, and pretty much only, way getting from Ushuaia, Arg to Punta Arenas, Chile. Our fare was $63 each for a one way ticket- the bus was comfortable and a ham & cheese sandwich, cookie and water were provided. We were under the impression the bus had Wifi, but that was NOT the case, on our bus at least. The first 1.5 hours were pretty- snow mountains and water. The next 8 hours reminded us of the Texas panhandle- brown, flatish, sheep, cattle and our first sightings of guanacos.
We got to experience our first border crossing on the bus, which was a great way to sense of what they were like. Our bus drivers spoke no english, but one of our fellow passengers helped out- we are always impressed with the helpfulness of the locals! First we all got off the bus at Argentina customs- all they needed was our passport, stand in line, have the guy behind the glass look at it, look at you to make sure they match and you are done. No stamp required. Then 15 minutes later we stop at the Chilean border- everyone off, get all your bags, luggage and personal items stand in line. It is at this point you will need your SAG declaration, so please have that done before you get on the bus! All your bags go through the scanner, there are dogs to sniff for any fresh fruits and vegetables you might be smuggling in… so don’t try. Prepackaged foods are ok, cooked foods usually are, but it also seems up to the whims of the border guards to a certain point. I hold the philosophy that I want to make their lives as easy as possible, so get all the food in one place so they have no reason to search anything else. They mean no harm, they are just very protective of their agriculture industry.
After our successful border crossing we had another 1.5 hours to the ferry that would take us off the island of Tierra del Fuego and on to the continent of South America. The ferry crossing only takes 30 minutes, once you actually get on ferry….but we had to wait well over an hour just to get on the ferry. We had happy hour on the ferry with a Beagle Cream Stout we had picked up in Ushuaia, then another hour or two on the bus, finally arriving at Punta Arenas at 8 pm- roughly 11 hours of travel. We walked to the same hotel we stayed in on the first night here, the Hostal Innata. We were happy to see the owners and Brian again, they helped us carry our luggage to our room. Knowing we are picking up our RV tomorrow and not knowing when we’d have the opportunity to wash again, we washed our clothes in the sink and dried them in front of the toasty warm heater. The hotel was of course clean and comfortable, but a yippy dog nearby interrupted our sleep all night.
Nov 3 – Day 10 – RV Pickup/TDP
After a less than great night of sleeping we were awakened by an interesting sounding bird- actually a pair of bandurrias. We don’t know it yet, but we are slowly becoming birders…
After a nice breakfast with the very apologetic owners we were picked up by Carlo from Campanda who brought us the 45km south of town to pick up our rental RV. The owners are a wonderful German couple, and the camper is in beautiful, well maintained condition- quite a relief when you are going to be far from any mechanic! We were given a lot of good information about border crossings (make sure all the documents get stamped), transporting food, road conditions and operation of the camper.
Once all is order we, upon recommendation of the owner, drive a little further south to “Fin del Camino”, or the end of the road on Ruta 9. This is farthest south you can drive while staying on the continent. Ruta 3 takes you to southernmost part of Tierra del Fuego, but that is an island, not the continent. It’s probably splitting hairs of definitions, but since we were there…might as well go! So we did!
After that we headed back north, stopping in at the Supermercado (supermarket) for groceries. We’ll be in Chile for a while, so we want to stock up while we have access to a grocery store- there is also shopping available in Puerto Natales, but we thought it better to get things in Punta Arenas, as we’d heard it was less expensive. It was a bit of challenge finding the things we needed as supplies were somewhat limited and we were trying to find local versions of what we wanted. Peanut butter in particular was a challenge, and even when we translated what we wanted, they had none available.
TRAVELERS NOTE: Stock up on paper products- toilet paper, paper towels, soap, wipes and any other hygiene products you need – especially if you are camping in any form. Restrooms are often…ummm…understocked with essentials. Get used to carrying a roll of TP into the restroom with you, as well as some soap. Wet Wipes can help make the days between showers (and there are many of those) better for you and your traveling companions. If you get nothing else from this blog, remember this advice!
Stocking up on supplies was a pretty big expense- we bought a lot of food staples that we could cook for many days, plus spices, olive oil and cheese for hiking meals. But once that was accomplished we headed out for the long drive (4 hours/ 318km/197m) to Torres del Paine National Park.
We stopped for pizza in Puerto Natales but kept pushing on to get to the edge of the park before dark- we had bought our tickets online for the following day so we’d have to park along the road. We’d heard that “wild camping” was allowed and so we just found a deserted spot along the side of the road, overlooking a beautiful lake and set up camp there and had a peaceful night, ready for our adventures the next day.
TRAVELERS NOTE: Wild camping is allowed almost anywhere outside of the park. Use some common sense, don’t block a gate or obstruct anyone else. We never had a problem or were disturbed by anyone and felt completely safe the entire time. Be aware though, within the park itself there are only certain areas that camping is allowed, and then only people in RVs. The ranger station will have a list of what is currently open for camping- some areas are closed for high winds or maintenance, so follow the rules.
