There are ten things you should know about Ushuaia before making the trip.
1. It's quite a jaunt, 1800 miles from Buenos Aires, 3 hours by airplane (in case you were wondering, Buenos Aires is 12 hours from New York and 13 hours from London).
2. It's not actually "the end of the world." There are a few villages farther south. But it's the southernmost city, with 57,000 people.
3. The original inhabitants of the region, the Yaghan or Yamana, went mostly naked even in the below-freezing winter weather ( average July temperature 34 degrees).
Today there are only about 1,000 Yamana left, mostly in Chile.
4. The Yaghan language was a linguistic isolate. The last living speaker, Cristina Calderon, is over 90 years old. Here's a useful Yaghan word.
5. Once you get to Ushuaia, there's not much to do. The Museo del Fin del Mundo tells you about sailing and local wildlife, the Museo Maritimo is an old prison, and the tiny Museo Yamana is closed. You can walk through the historic district, with wooden sidewalks and Swiss chalet-style architecture. But if you go in the Northern Hemisphere's summer, it will be too cold and rainy for much outside exploration anyway
6. Locals tend to be sports enthusiasts. Boxing, wrestling (la lucha), and martial arts are popular.
7. Federico Molinari, a gymnast who participated in the 2012 Olympics, popped up in a search for "Ushuaia" and "swimming," although he's not a swimmer and he's from Rosario, 2000 miles away.
8. The first same-sex marriage in Latin America occurred in Ushuaia in 2009.
9. The International Ice Swimming Association holds an annual competition in Ushuaia.
10. Really foolhardy tourists can go swimming in Antartica. Tours start in Ushuaia, and run about $3000.
