South: The end of the road, the end of the world

Day 16:

It's our last day in Ushuaia, and I have one more thing to do.  I have to get to the end of the road.  We climb into a cab at the wharf and it takes us to Tierra del Fuego National Park, to Lapataia Bay (Bahia Lapataia).  There, a sign marks the end of the road from Alaska, 17,848 km away.

If you are a geography buff or a stickler for details, you will not be satisfied.  Just where is the end of the road?  Here are the possibilities:

1. Ushuaia-Bahia Lapataia, Argentina.  This is acknowledged by the public as the end of the road because it is the end of Argentine National Route 3.
2. Punta Arenas, Chile.  But, in order to reach Ushuaia, you need to take a ferry.  So the southernmost town you can reach by land only is Punta Arenas.
3. Puerto Hambre, Chile.  But, there is a road south of Punta Arenas that reaches Puerto Hambre.
4. Southeastern Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.  There are dirt roads that lead to this remote corner.  Those spots are more southernly than Ushuaia-Bahia Lapataia.
5. Puerto Williams, Chile.  This navy town is accessible by ferry only but it has roads.  So isn't it, which is even more to the south than 1 through 4, the end of the road?

Just past the signs, there is a boardwalk that provides an impressive view of the End of the World*.

This trip, of course, is a part of my quest to travel by land from Prudhoe Bay on the shores of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska (70 degrees north) to Ushuaia (54 degrees south).  So far, I've traveled from the Arctic Circle (66 degrees north) to Guatemala City (14 degrees north) and from Lima (12 degrees south) to Ushuaia.  I am 75% done with my goal.

My future trips to complete the task include:

• Van (Northern Alaska Tour Company) from the Arctic Circle to Prudhoe Bay, plus BP/ARCO facilities tour to dip toes in Arctic Ocean.
• Tica bus from Guatemala City to Panama City, then another bus to Yaviza, Panama.
• Bus from Turbo, Colombia, to Lima.
• And...the (roadless) Darien Gap along the Panama-Colombia border, by foot and motorboat.

Back to the story.  We head to the airport, where I see one of these Rotel buses.

We fly to El Calafate.  The modern airport is in the middle of nowhere, i.e. desolate and bleak Patagonia.  Its only purpose-- to ferry people to the Perito Moreno glacier.