Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world, was founded in 1884 and is the capital of the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctic and Southern Atlantic Islands. Its name comes from the language of the Indian tribe "Yamaná" and it means “Bay looking to the west”.It is located on the shores of the Beagle Channel, surrounded by the Martial range in a bay of a singular beauty. It offers a unique landscape by combining mountains, lakes, glaciers, forests and a dazzling fauna. It is nature and adventure at its best, a source of inspiration and challenge to myths and legends that last even for those who were never there or have never sailed through the southern sea.These lands with white, blue and golden sceneries were inhabited hundreds of years ago by Onas and Yhagans aborigines, who survived with the fires they made to warm their homes and keep trespassers out. This is the reason why, 400 years ago, Magellan baptized this region as “Tierra del Fuego” (Fire land).
The sea surrounding Ushuaia is rich in shellfishes such as mussels and limpets and crustaceous such as spider crab, and native fishes, which can be consumed in the various restaurants nearby, besides the traditional Fuegian lamb barbecue. In Winter, there are Alpine and Nordic ski activities available and you can enjoy sight seeing in dog sleds. In Summer, there are excursions to Harberton Ranch and various activities such as hiking, trekking, horse riding, mountain biking and sports fishing between November and March. In addition, for the best part of the year there are cruises to Antarctic and catamaran excursions to Lapataia Bay, the Beagle Channel, the End of the World Lighthouse, Cape Horn and even Williams Port.
One of the great attractions of the area is Tierra del Fuego National Park, next to the national border with Chile. This park has a great variety of vegetation, specially mentionable the enchanting forests of tree species such as Lenga, Magellan Coigüe and Guindo. There are a lot of programmed excursions to go sight seeing in the Park, and besides you can do other activities such as camping, sports fishing, practice sea sports and during the Winter you can go skiing. The Tierra del Fuego National Park is Argentina’s southernmost protected area and it is the only National Park with sea coast covering 6 km of the Beagle Channel. It was established in 1960 and its total area is 63.000 hectares.As a part of the Protected Areas system of Patagonia, the National Park ensures the legal protection given to the Sub Antarctic forest. The aim of this National Park is to protect the autochthonous fauna and the ruins of the Yamana aboriginal people.Therefore, in Lapataia Bay you can still find parts of sea shells (build-ups of mussel shells and animal bones that were part of their diet), and even some man-made, all of which give this area an additional interest. Four mountain ranges going Northeast-Southwest enclose deep valleys practically isolated from each other. On the sea coast of the Beagle Channel – some irregular sections of six forested kilometers- you can the deep Lapataia Bay and the innumerous ports and capes, whose beaches and cliffs represent the ideal environment for the sea fauna. Part of two main lakes, Fagnano and Roca, and other minor lakes, provide water for the park, which embeds also a part of the Olivia River, Pipo River and Roca River, which runs from the homonymous lake to Lapataia Bay.