From Punta Arenas, it is easy to hire a car to explore the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego. You will find a unique colony of king penguins, historic homesteads, sweeping steppes and beautiful lakes amidst wild mountain scenery.
Estancia San Gregorio
It was a shame that the first building we came to was the slaughterhouse. I was looking at hundreds of dead sheep or at least the skins of dead sheep, with legs still attached, but thankfully no heads.
Even stranger, the friendly chap in the tourist office in Punta Arenas had directed us here though I wondered if he knew of the dead sheep. Even more bizarrely, these animals had been here since the place closed in the 1970’s – I would have hated to see them in a fresh state.
We had left Punta Arenas that morning, the Patagonian climate trying to be all things at once as usual with pouring rain above us and brilliant sun to the side. Needless to say, it was windy, with plastic flapping from fence lines and lorries buffeting us as they came past.
We headed north initially then swung east on Ruta 255 and this is where we found the ghost sheep station of San Gregorio. Bisecting the road, the property dates back to 1876, as proudly proclaimed on the front of its enormous sheep shearing shed. This had 16 stands for shearers with the old steam driven wheels now hanging idly. On the seaward side is the huge slaughterhouse. The carcasses were taken 2 km by railway to a refrigeration plant on the coast, ready for shipping out.
However, the jumbled skins remained, as if the workers had just literally downed tools at the end of the day and never returned. The warehouse still had sacks sitting on the shelves . There were about ten separate buildings, including some large houses and even a church and they had obviously been well made with fine iron and woodwork, painted signs and neat little green picket fences.
Unfortunately, despite the fine structures, they were faded and neglected and overrun with trash. Nevertheless we enjoyed exploring them all. Only the main house was out of bounds down a long tree lined avenue but it looked equally as impressive in the distance.
Another delight was two very photogenic old ships rusting away on the beach behind the buildings . One still had a mooring chain which I think was the only thing keeping it upright. The other, immediately behind it, had elegantly shaped ribs and two large funnels which had collapsed into the water.
To Tierra del Fuego
My picnic lunch was spoiled by images of dead sheep and I was happy to swing south on Ruta 257 to cross the Magellan Strait, which separates the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. There is a little ferry that shuttles back-and-forth at Bahia Azul, which in 20 minutes bought us to Tierra del Fuego, the biggest island in South America.
En route, we were lucky enough to see the little black and white Commersons dolphins frolicking around the boat, as well as some penguins . The crossing with our hire car only cost 15,000 CLP. The main road heads on towards the Argentinian border and ultimately to Ushuaia.
There is another ferry between Punta Arenas and Porvenir which takes two hours but it only runs once a day and is a lot more expensive. I would rather drive than spend the time on the sea, which is always potentially rough here due to the incessant wind, hence we had decided on this route .
We were intending only to explore the Chilean side of the mythic Tierra del Fuego, literally land of fire, and named by Magellan after he had seen the numerous native fires of the Yamana natives. Chile owns the western side of the Isla Grande plus Isla Navarino and the other islands to the due South.
Shortly after the crossing we turned off for Porvenir, a route which took us past the rather over elaborate memorial to the first oil well sunk in 1945 at Manantiales. There is now a big oil and gas industry in the northern part of the island and Cerro Sombrero is their service town. The road wound through undulating sheep farms with only the estancis having the protection of trees. Though largely featureless, the steppes have a wild beauty of their own, especially when the sun lights them in a myriad of greens and yellows.
We took a good gravel road signposted to Puerto Percy, thinking we might find some unspoilt headland. However, the gas industry had already arrived with giant tanks, and, at the very end of the peninsula, a complete abandoned village. We drove down the eerily overgrown roads, past incongruous brilliantly red poppies and out to the end for a fine ocean view.
However, we then noticed the roofs flapping in the wind, along with their insulation which looked suspiciously like asbestos. Giving up thoughts of a sheltered campsite, we drove back to a long, rusty pier and a scenic spot above a shell strewn beach . A resident fox trotted past.
Porvenir
A day when we finally touched on the beauty of Tierra del Fuego – but first we visited Porvenir, which started life due to a 1879 gold rush and does not seem to have progressed since.
Poor little Porvenir: it tries really hard. From a distance the low level housing is quite colorful, but other than a few finer turn of the last century tin dwellings near the plaza, there is not really much to get excited about. Bizarrely, the whole square was barricaded off with boards when we visited ; Simon wondered if they had found oil!
The exterior of the museum had been scorched by a fire in the next door gymnasium, but presented its small array of exhibits well. There was an array of Selk’nam skulls and even a mummy (hidden under a tablecloth) from 1400 AD who was 35 years old when she died, which was probably a good age in those days. She was encased in guanaco skin which was the dress of the time and surprisingly soft. There were other interesting tribal artifacts, a period grocers shop and lots of photos.
On the waterfront we found a timber carving of a Selk’nam indian and at the top of town there was a whole tribe of them recreated in plaster. Sadly theirs is the usual story of European settlement with blackbirding, slaughter and disease wiping them out. The graveyard didn’t offer much in the way of interest either and we were happy to drive on, following the picturesque sweep of Bahia Inutil, or Useless Bay, so named by British surveyors in 1827 as it did not have anywhere suitable for a port. Patched together fishing huts enjoyed wonderful locations and guanacos roamed freely.
At Caleta Josefina , there is another huge old sheep estancia dating back to 1883, and on a little hill, a colonists cemetery. A few headstones survive: ‘accidently drowned in the bay’, or ‘killed by Indians ‘. One was to the wife of the first manager. Other graves were merely hillocks in the grass and the picket fence was broken down.
King Penguins
In 2010, on the beach south of Onaisin, there was a big surprise: king penguins arrived. They are similar to the Emperor penguin but slightly smaller and usually just found in Antarctica or sub Antarctic islands, but this colony now numbers over 200 individuals and has breeding pairs. So if you can’t get to Antarctica, this is the next best thing and the 12,000 CLP entry is well worth it. There are day trips from Punta Arenas for those without a car, but it’s a horribly long day.
The group hangs out on the far side of a river from the observation posts but is only about 100 m away so there is great viewing (binoculars are provided too) and it is easy to hear their cries. They are the nicest penguin to watch, sleek with their black and yellow heads, sharply delineated white chests and grey backs. The yellow at their jaw extends to the top of the chest where it fades to a faint blush. They look for all the world like disgruntled butlers as they waddle ostentatiously around.
This species does not make a nest, but rather coddles the egg under their tummy in a standing up position: the sitting ones were easy to spot with their extra large stomach bulge. Pairs mate for life and take turns looking after the egg, producing just two offspring every three years.
There were several plump chicks in their furry brown plumage, looking rather disgusted with such a state of affairs – it takes some 18 months before they are a fully fledged sleek penguin and in some, one could see flashes of the bird to come where they had lost their baby feathers. Early explorers thought these furry penguins a different species.
We had great fun watching their interactions: preening themselves and each other, sparring with their elegant beaks and elongating their necks as they puffed their chests out in a noisy courtship display. Occasionally one would pop into the river for a dip and others lay flat out in repose. There was certainly a lot happening and they were very entertaining.
Cameron and Russfin
Cameron started life as a Scottish sheep farm on the Rio Shetland and today a tidy shearing shed and settlement survives. I have no idea what the people who live out here do, but there are plenty of them: mostly farming, I guess. It has a pretty location in a narrow valley with a little bay on Bahia Inutil to one end.
Off the nearby cliffs we glimpsed corrales, basically stone pens which are covered at high tide, designed by the Selk’nam Indians to trap fish when the tide receded. What we leave behind us…
We swung inland here and the scenery remarkably improved with deeper valleys and the appearance of trees. The snowy peaks of the Darwin range were bright in the distance. A lagoon had a scattering of flamingos. We passed a massive iron gold dredge, made in England in 1902 and designed to separate the gold from the rock. It was only in use for eight years but it is extremely well-preserved and looks as if it would start again at the touch of a button.
Russfin is basically just a big timber processing plant, but it has a couple of petrol bowsers around the back. We took the opportunity to fill up as the distances are long out here. Soon we were passing estancias offering fishing and we crossed the scenic Rio Grande with its picturesque old bridge.
Lago Blanco
Pampa Guanacos is another tiny settlement, really just a police post, but it is the jumping off spot for Lago Blanco. Suddenly we were in a forest again, a tangled web of southern beech trees and beaver dams. The large lake came into view as we crested a hill. It is famous for fly fishing, the trout weighing up to 14 kg.
There is a flat open area in front of the lake, with some small fishing lodges to one side; to the other, beautifully set amidst the trees on the edge of the water is one of the most spectacular wild campsites that we found in Patagonia. Unfortunately due to the ever present winds, it is impossible to camp at the water’s edge, but evening walks with the sun sinking over the Darwin range were superb.
At night wild horses ventured down to crop the rich grass between the trees and there was fabulous birdlife.
Pampa Guanacos to Caleta Maria
Previously there was a rough road on from Pampa Guanacos which finished at Lago Fagnano. Now Chile has not only improved the existing road, but is in the process of extending it southwards to meet the coast at Bahia Yendegaia. From there, there will be a sea link to Isla Navarino.
It will also open up access to the newest national park in Chile, Parque Nacional Yendegaia in the Cordillera Darwin: We zipped down this excellent gravel road in our 2WD hire car with no problems whatsoever and I can only say that it is one of the most beautiful drives in Patagonia . It amazed us that there could be such a huge difference between the wide open bleak steppes to the north of the island and this wild land of high mountains, remote valleys and serene lakes.
Shortly after leaving Pampa Guanacos you reach Vicuna. This is another sheep farm but it has a rather splendid big house right beside the road. The grand front has a tower to each side and the whole thing, which extends back quite a long way, manages to look really smart, despite being made of silvered tin, plain on the top with the corrugated version giving it a frill around the base.
Of course it was derelict with a riot of cornflowers and lupins to the front that spoke of previous gardening efforts. Wooden paneled rooms were empty and the glass in the windows of the long enclosed verandah was broken. We have seen so many of these beautiful abandoned houses in Patagonia and it is terribly sad; this one could have great potential as a fishing/riding lodge.
Soon after, we passed Karukinka,a wildlife conservation project, which offers accommodation in domes or camping, as well as walks and bike hire. It is in a pretty area of wide open plains and rivers with forested mountains to each side.
The road winds on, guanacos hopping the fences away from us and Colorado geese taking wing in big flocks. At Mirador Deseado, there was a breathtaking view over the mountains, still quite snow covered. Sadly, the beavers which were introduced in the 1940’s and have since become totally out of control, have wreaked havoc in the river valleys and there is a lot of dead timber.
Lago Deseado is another remote lake, with one lodge on its shores, presently under renovation. The road starts climbing again soon after here and zig zags right up to the snowline – there were still snow ledges beside the road – and down again the other side before a final run down the valley to Lake Fagnano. Estancia Lago Fagnano just before it offers camping and cabanas.
Lago Fagnano stretched away to the east, soon becoming Argentinian territory and having its western end only about 70 km from Ushuaia. We crossed a bridge and turned east along another valley which in 12 km led us to Caleta Maria. There was one small old homestead located on a beautiful bay which was also the mouth of two rivers.
The End of the Road
The road ended at the edge of the beach with a colourful timber barricade proclaiming the end of the road and the end of the world – an amusing photo spot. We were now looking out on the sea again, onto Seno Almirantazgo, which led in a pretty direct line to the Magellan Strait and Punta Arenas, about a day by boat.
The mountains to each side were dark and dramatic; a sparkling glacier hung over our heads and an old ruined jetty added to the atmosphere. A whale skull lay on the grass nearby while the beach was littered only with driftwood and stone. It felt suitably end of the world like.
Except it isn’t, nor is it even the end of the road. Retracing our steps to the Lago Fagnano bridge, one could see the new section of road stretching away south on what was once only a horse track. There is another 12 km or so finished and most of the rest is under construction. Within the next few years everyone will have easy access to this incredible wilderness – whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen.
Low on petrol we turned for home. The drive was just as good in reverse, this time with the addition of a minor snowstorm. The country is stunning down there – if you love escaping to the wilderness, don’t miss it.
Exchange Rate: 1£ = 24 CLP