Nearly half a millennium after Magellan, Pepe and us cross the legendary Strait named after him, to Tierra del Fuego, the so-called "Land of Fire", which speaks to everyone's imagination. Rather than by the fires of the native population that gave the peninsula its name, we are greeted by Patagonia's famous "4 seasons in one day" weather phenomenon. In a couple of hours, we pass from sunshine to rain (and flooded roads!) to snow (!) and back to sunshine, before arriving at the only king penguin colony outside of Antarctica!
Impressively, the funnily wobbling penguins seem not the slightest bit impressed by the fierce Patagonian winds that barely allow us (and the trees!) to stay straight. But then again, in comparison with Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego is probably just a walk in the park :)
With very strong headwinds (slowing Pepe down with at least 20 km/h, and requiring some stops to avoid overheating the engine!) - "it's not a slow car, but a fast house" - we continue the last "home stretch" to the most southern point of our trip, and the American continent (well, nearly, dear Chilean friends! ;) ... oh legendary Antarctica... We made it!!!
Looking back to the dark and dusty days in Uyuni, who would have thought all three of us would make it here?
“It’s courage, not luck, that takes us through to the end of the road. ”
To celebrate this important milestone, we decide to treat Pepe and ourselves to a couple of days rest... and enjoy the hypnotising Beagle Channel - and that magical end-of-the-word feeling - in style, with a fine glass of fin del mundo Merlot :)
“It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine :)”
