Having safely set foot on the South American continent once more I felt like I just woke up from a wonderful dream called Antarctica. For some reason I still cannot comprehend that I actually went to a place that pure and untouched. It actually was a bit disappointing to leave after just 5 days spending on the continent as I could have stayed there much longer.
Walking to the Torre al Sur hostel, my home away from home, ´reality´started to kick in again and with it new opportunities to meet new friends and make new adventures. Loic, a Frenchman from the Antarctica cruise, and I already decided to go for a hike around Ushuaia whilst waiting for his friend but it somehow felt too secluded. Little did I know that within the first minutes of being at my hostel would I meet my next hiking partner, a Chinese lady named Jinghan, and shortly after that a German girl named Uta. Together the four of us decided to do a 3 day hike connecting the Laguna Submarino, Turquesa and Esmeralda.
Unfortunately when the time came to start the hike Loic was not feeling to well and with his friend, Sulli, arriving sooner than expected he decided to not join us for the first day, but head with Sulli towards Laguna Turquesa the second day where we would meet up.
So heading out with three of us we took the bus to the trail head towards laguna Submarino and started hiking. Uta and I were were setting the pace but Jinghan, this being her first self supportive hike, did not manage to keep up at first so we slowed down a bit. Little by little did we climb through the forest until we came across a beautiful waterfall. At this time Jinghan was already quite tired but we still had a decent stretch before reaching the lake and the walk started to become more tough by the meter. At some point we even had to climb very steep walls and were happy to find out there were ropes to help us out. Luckily we reached the beautiful Laguna Submarino and put our tents out before cooking before the rain would start.
The gang at the start of the hike. 
Yes, the ropes were quite essential at times. 
Uta climbing up the steep slope. 
Uta and her new tent. 
View of our campsite. 
Yes, Pongo joined as well. 
Celebrating we made it halfway the trail. 
Eating in the tent to shelter from the rain. 
Our first ‘Chinese’ meal on the trail. 
Laguna Submarino.
This rain unfortunately did not stop until late next morning which prevented us from getting up early and make a good distance. Combining our late departure with the tough walk over the pass and the extremely steep way down from a tiny lake called Belgica (it resembled a rock wall more than a hiking path) were we unable to reach Turquesa and reunite with Loic and his mysterious friend called Sulli. Luckily we were able to find a good spot to put our tent before it got dark and stayed with the three of us in my tent.
Drinking the fresh mountain water. 
Uta and I climbing to the pass towards Laguna Belgica. 
Jinghan struggling here way to the pass. 
Laguna Belgica. 
Laguna Esmeralda in the distance. 
Having some lunch. 
Our campsite for the night. 
Uta and I dancing some salsa.
The next morning we packed up early and decided to skip Laguna Turquesa altogether and head towards the road instead. Even though our original plan of seeing the three lakes failed the hike itself was quite nice and Jinghan learned a lot in these few days. Furthermore, when reaching the parking lot in front of Laguna Esmeralda we met Loic and his friend Sulli and decided together to head back to town and have a pizza later that evening.
After the pizza Uta had to leave unfortunately but Jinghan, Loic, Sulli and I ended up enjoying Ushuaia for the next couple of days together before my dad would arrive. However, they too would go to Puerto Williams and hike the Dientes de Navarino and we agreed to try and meet up at the trek.