Chile Guide
Tierra del Fuego
At the bottom end of the South American continent, and split between Chile and Argentina, TIERRA DEL FUEGO ("Land of Fires") holds nearly as much fascination for travellers as Patagonia, from which it is separated by the Magellan Strait. Though comprising a number of islands, it's more or less the sum of its most developed part, the Isla Grande, the biggest island in South America. Its eastern section, roughly a third of the island, along with a few islets, belong to Argentina, and the rest is Chilean territory.
On the Chilean side, you'll find the main town of Porvenir, accessible from Punta Arenas by air and ferry, and a string of oil settlements. In fact, the importance of oil is evident throughout the region, from pipelines that follow the road to the remains of windscreens shattered by the flying stones kicked up by the wheels of enormous oil trucks thundering across the steppe.
Further south, hills appear and the countryside becomes less barren, with the thick woodland and clear brooks near little Camerón in Chile. To the southeast, a number of exquisite lakes, including the aptly named Lago Blanco, also in Chile, are principally favoured by anglers. In the far south, the densely forested 2000-metre peaks of the cordillera, the Andes' tail-end, make Chilean territory all but inaccessible, as do the remote Fuegian Channels, where the sea winds its way between hundreds of uninhabited islands.
People tend to visit Tierra del Fuego between December and February. However, in March and April the countryside is daubed with the spectacular autumnal colours of the southern beech, while springtime (October to mid-November), before the tourist season gets going, is also a great time to come, though it can be even windier than normal.
Highlights
1 Isla Navarino Fly or sail to Puerto Williams, the most southerly town on Earth.
2 Cape Horn Even if you don't kayak around it, consider rounding the tip in a ship or viewing its harsh beauty from the air.