The Argentine wilderness and Argentines in the wild

Stretching north from the Beagle Channel along the Argentine-Chilean border is Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, a 630 square kilometer of wilderness that encompasses beaches, mountains, lakes, and rivers. Nate and I spent a few days camping and hiking there, after scratching a more ambitious trek we had planned on account of too much snow and cold weather.

The park offered no treks as rugged or challenging as the one we were going to do on Isle Navarino, but we enjoyed the chance to explore the Fuegian ecosystems and observe Argentines on the trail (Mate everywhere! Even on mountaintops! And fires to heat water for mate kept burning round the clock!) In three days we hiked essentially every trail in the park, taking in some spectacular views from mountanintops, and some mundane ones of the Chilean border, which was marked only with a small metal tower. Where was the barbed wire? The guards with guns? The barking dogs? Who is preventing the smuggling of wine between rival countries? I don't know. We also enjoyed camping in the twee-est campsite ever, where pairs of brightly colored birds circled our tent constantly and a flock of bunnies scampered nearby. It felt like a Disney cartoon version of nature.

Perhaps the best thing we saw in the park were some middens left by the Yamana. The Yamana were a tribe who lived in Tierra del Fuego until their civilization was devastated by the arrival of Europeans, who hunted all the sea lions the Yamana relied on, gave them diseases, and attempted to civilize them, but only succeeded in making them more vulnerable to the harsh environment. Almost all that remains of the tribe are these old campsites we saw: the mounds are old trash heaps that formed over generations around the entrances to their huts. They consist mostly of mussel and limpet shells left over from long ago meals and formed a windbreak and protection for the Yamana's homes. -EMW