20-March-Tierra del Fuego National Park
Day 3 – written by Suzanne
Tierra del Fuego National Park is always one of the highlights of any visit to Ushuaia and it certainly did not disappoint. The park stretches from the Beagle Channel along the Chilean border and is the southernmost example of the Andean-Patagonian forest which provided the perfect day of exploration and activity after several long-haul flights.
Everyone was up early and even the light drizzle did not dull the enthusiasm of the group. Our tour guide Iris was amazingly informative during our trip educating us on the Yamanas people, the history of the National Park and all the wildlife that we saw. She pointed out the edible fruits of the forest allowing impromptu tasting sessions which included devil berries, Cyttaria fungus better known as “Indian Bread” which is a parasitic fungus that infects trees (surprisingly tasty!!) and calafate blueberries.
The park had such diverse scenery including snow-capped mountains, peat bogs and lakes. It was impossible not to stop and stare in awe at the beauty that surrounded us.
Binoculars were a must for this trip with plenty of opportunities to practice our bird identification skills before our departure to the Antarctic. We were lucky enough to get a Southern Crested Caracara posing nicely for our group which ended our trip on a high.