Porvenir

A short trip eastward across the Estrecho de Magallanes, Porvenir ("Future"!) is the principal town on Chile's half of Tierra del Fuego. It's not much to speak of, with a landscape dominated by brightly painted corrugated-iron houses and neat topiary. Located at the eastern end of narrow Bahía Porvenir, it was born during the gold rush of the 1880s. After the boom went bust, it continued to be an important port for the burgeoning cattle and sheep industries. Today Porvenir is home to 6,000 inhabitants, many of whom are of Croatian descent. A signpost in the town even marks the distance to Croatia. There are a number of reasonable places to stay, but nothing noteworthy.